英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

concert [concert 词源字典]: concert: [16] Concert probably comes ultimately from Latin concertāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘with’ and certāre ‘strive, contend’, a verb derived from certus ‘sure, fixed’ (source of English certain), which in turn came from cernere (source of English concern). Some etymologists have rejected concertāre as the origin of concert, on the grounds that its meaning – ‘dispute, debate’ – was completely opposite, but it seems that in post-classical times the Latin verb came to mean ‘strive together (in cooperation)’ – a much more plausible sense relationship.

It passed into Italian as concertare ‘bring into agreement’, and developed specific musical connotations of ‘harmony’. English acquired it via French concerter. The noun concerto [18] was an Italian derivative of the verb; French borrowed it as concert, and passed it on to English as the noun concert [17]. Concertina was coined in the 1830s, from the noun concert.
=> certain, concern, concertina, concerto, disconcert[concert etymology, concert origin, 英语词源]
conciliate: conciliate: see council
conclave: conclave: see clavier
concoct: concoct: [16] To concoct an excuse is the same, etymologically, as to ‘cook’ one up. The word concoct comes from the past participle of Latin concoquere, a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and coquere ‘cook’. This was a derivative of the noun coquus ‘cook’, which was the source of English cook. The Latin verb developed several figurative senses, including ‘digest food’ and ‘reflect on something in the mind’, but ‘fabricate’ seems to be an English creation (first recorded in the late 18th century), developed from an earlier ‘make by mixing ingredients’.
=> cook
concomitant: concomitant: see count
concord: concord: [13] Etymologically, concord signifies that two people’s hearts are together, as one. The word comes, via Old French concorde, from Latin concordia, a derivative of the adjective concors. This meant literally ‘hearts together’, and thus ‘of one mind, in harmony’. It was formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and the noun cors ‘heart’ (source of English cordial and French coeur). Concordat [17] comes from the past participle of the Latin verb concordāre ‘agree’. Discord [13], the antonym of concord, has a parallel origin, coming ultimately from Latin discors ‘disagreeing’.
=> concordat, cordial, discord
concourse: concourse: see course
concrete: concrete: [14] In origin, something concrete is something that has ‘grown together’. The word comes, via Old French concret, from Latin concrētus, the past participle of concrēscere ‘grow together’, hence ‘harden’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and crēscere ‘grow’ (source also of English crescent, increase, and accrue). Its original application in English was fairly general – referring to that which is solid or material; its use for the building material did not emerge until the early 19th century.
=> accrue, crescent, decrease, increase
concubine: concubine: [13] A concubine is etymologically a person with whom one goes to bed. It comes via Old French concubine from Latin concubīna, a compound noun formed from the prefix com- ‘with’ and cub-, the stem of the verb cubāre ‘lie down, go to bed’. Another derivative of this verb was Latin cubiculum, whose meaning ‘bedroom’ was carried through into English cubicle [15]; the more general ‘partitioned-off area’ did not emerge fully until the 20th century.
=> cubicle
concupiscence: concupiscence: see cupidity
concussion: concussion: [15] The etymological notion underlying concussion is of ‘violent shaking’; the modern connotation of a ‘jarring injury to the brain’ did not emerge until the 16th century. The word comes from late Latin concussiō, a noun derived from the past participial stem of concutere ‘shake violently’. This was a compound verb formed from the intensive prefix com- and -cutere, an alteration of quatere ‘shake, strike’ (its variant quassāre was the source of English quash and cashier ‘dismiss’, and probably lies behind cascara [19], etymologically ‘bark broken off the tree’).

The verb concuss is 17th-century. The related percussion [16] comes ultimately from Latin percutere ‘strike through’.
=> cascara, cashier, percussion, quash, rescue
condign: condign: [15] From its virtually exclusive modern use in the phrase condign punishment, condign has come to be regarded frequently as meaning ‘severe’, but etymologically it signifies ‘fully deserved’. It comes via Old French condigne from Latin condignus, a compound adjective formed from the intensive prefix comand dignus ‘worthy’ (source of English dainty, deign, dignity, disdain, and indignant, and related to decent). The collocation with punishment arises from the frequent use of the phrase in Tudor acts of parliament.
=> dainty, decent, deign, dignity, disdain, indignant
condiment: condiment: see recondite
condition: condition: [14] Latin condīcere originally meant literally ‘talk together’ – it was a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and dicere ‘talk’ (whose base dic- forms the basis of a wide range of English words from abdicate to vindicate, including diction and dictionary). Gradually the idea of ‘talking together, discussing’ passed to ‘agreeing’, and the derived Latin noun conditiō originally meant ‘agreement’. From this came ‘stipulation, provision’, and hence ‘situation, mode of being’, all of them senses which passed via Old French condicion into English condition.
=> abdicate, diction, dictionary, predict, vindicate
condolence: condolence: [17] Condolence and sympathy are parallel formations: both go back to classical originals (late Latin condolēre and Greek sumpátheia respectively) which meant literally ‘together-suffering’. Latin condolēre was a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and dolēre ‘suffer pain’ (source of English dolour and doleful). This entered English in the 16th century as the now seldom encountered verb condole, but the comparative frequency of the noun condolence is probably due to the early 17th-century adoption of French condoléance (the spelling condoleance was common in English in the 17th and 18th centuries).
=> doleful, dolour
condone: condone: see date
cone: cone: [16] Greek kōnos originally meant ‘pinecone’ – it was the pine-cone’s typical shape which suggested the application of the word to a conical geometrical figure. The word passed into English via Latin cōnus and French cône. Coniferous [17] was formed from Latin cōnifer, literally ‘cone-bearing’ (-ifer goes back to Latin ferre ‘carry’, a relative of English bear).
=> hone
confess: confess: [14] Confess comes from Latin confitērī ‘acknowledge’. This was a compound verb formed from the intensive prefix com- and fatērī ‘admit’ (a relative of English fable, fame, and fate). Its past participle was confessus, and this was taken as the basis of a new Vulgar Latin verb *confessāre, which passed into English via Old French confesser.
=> fable, fame, fate
confetti: confetti: [19] The Latin compound verb conficere meant ‘put together, make, prepare’ (it was formed from the prefix com- and facere ‘do, make’, source of English fact, factory, fashion, etc and related to English do). From its past participial stem was formed the noun confectiō, which passed into English, via Old French, as confection in the 14th century (by which time it already had its present-day association with sweets).

But the past participle confectum also produced Old French confit, whence English comfit [15], and Italian confetto, which was a small sweet traditionally thrown during carnivals. The British adapted the missiles to weddings (displacing the traditional rice) at the end of the 19th century, using symbolic shreds of coloured paper rather than real sweets.
=> comfit, confection, discomfit, do, fact, factory, fashion
confide: confide: [15] To confide in somebody is literally to ‘put one’s trust or faith’ in them. The word comes from the Latin compound verb confidere, which was formed from the intensive prefix com- and fidere ‘trust’. This was a derivative of fides ‘trust’ (whence English faith). Confidant [16] and confidence [15] come from the Latin verb’s present participle, confīdēns, in which the secondary notion of ‘self-assurance’ was already present. The abbreviation con for confidence man, confidence trick, etc originated in the USA in the late 19th century.
=> confident, faith