英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

caffeine (n.)[caffeine 词源字典]: trimethyl-derivative of xanthine, 1830, from German Kaffein, coined by chemist F.F. Runge (1795-1867), apparently from German Kaffee "coffee" (see coffee) + chemical suffix -ine (2) (German -in). The form of the English word may be via French caféine.[caffeine etymology, caffeine origin, 英语词源]
caftan (n.): 1590s, "long tunic worn in Turkey, etc.," from Turkish qaftan (also in Arabic), from Persian khaftan. As a similar shirt or dress style in the West, it is attested from c. 1955.
cage (n.): early 13c., from Old French cage "cage, prison; retreat, hideout" (12c.), from Latin cavea "hollow place, enclosure for animals, coop, hive, stall, dungeon, spectators' seats in the theater" (source also of Italian gabbia "basket for fowls, coop;" see cave (n.)).
cage (v.): 1570s, from cage (n.). Related: Caged; caging.
cagey (adj.): "evasive, reticent," 1896, U.S. colloquial, of unknown origin. Earlier in English dialect it meant "sportive."
cahier (n.): "exercise book," c. 1845, from French cahier "writing book, copy-book," from Old French cayer, originally quaier "sheet of paper folded in four" (see quire).
cahoot: see cahoots.
cahoots (n.): 1829, American English, of unknown origin; said to be perhaps from French cahute "cabin, hut" (12c.), but U.S. sources credit it to French cohorte (see cohort), a word said to have been in use in the U.S. South and West with a sense of "companions, confederates."
caiman (n.): also cayman, 1570s, from Portuguese or Spanish caiman, from Carib acayouman "crocodile," or perhaps from a Congo African word applied to the reptiles in the new world by African slaves. "The name appears to be one of those like anaconda and bom, boma, which the Portuguese or Spaniards very early caught up in one part of the world, and naturalized in another." [OED]
Cain: elder son of Adam and Eve, from Hebrew Qayin, literally "created one," also "smith," from Semitic stem q-y-n "to form, to fashion." To raise Cain is first recorded 1840. Surnames McCain, McCann, etc., are a contraction of Irish Mac Cathan "son of Cathan," from Celtic cathan, literally "warrior," from cath "battle."
cairn (n.): 1530s, from Scottish carne, from Gaelic carn "heap of stones, rocky hill," akin to Gaulish karnon "horn," perhaps from PIE *ker-n- "highest part of the body, horn," thus "tip, peak" (see horn (n.)).
Cairo: city in Egypt, from Arabic al-Kahira "the strong," the name given 973 C.E. to the new city built north of the old one, Egyptian khere-ohe, said to mean "place of combat" and to be in reference to a battle between the gods Seth and Horus that took place here.
caisson (n.): 1704, from French caisson "ammunition wagon, box, crate," from Middle French caisson "large box" (16c.), from Italian cassone, augmentative form of cassa "a chest," from Latin capsa "a box" (see case (n.2)).
caitiff (adj.): c. 1300, "wicked, base, cowardly," from Old North French caitive "captive, miserable" (Old French chaitif, 12c., Modern French chétif "puny, sickly, poor, weak"), from Latin captivum (see captive, which was a later, scholarly borrowing of the same word). In most Romance languages, it has acquired a pejorative sense.
caitiff (n.): c. 1300, "wicked man, scoundrel," from Anglo-French caitif, noun use from Old North French caitive "captive, miserable" (see caitiff (adj.)). From mid-14c as "prisoner."
Caitlin: fem. proper name, alternative spelling of Kathleen, not much used in U.S. then suddenly popular from c. 1985.
Caius: variant of Gaius, common Roman praenomen. Both forms have the abbreviation C., and the confusion reflects the early Roman uncertainty about the use of gamma (see C).
cajole (v.): 1640s, from French cajoler "to cajole, wheedle, coax," perhaps a blend of Middle French cageoler "to chatter like a jay" (16c., from gajole, southern diminutive of geai "jay;" see jay (n.)), and Old French gaioler "to cage, entice into a cage" (see jail (n.)). Related: Cajoled; cajoling.
cajolery (n.): 1640s, from French cajolerie "persuasion by flattery" (16c.), from cajoler (see cajole).
Cajun: 1868, Cagian, dialectic pronunciation of Acadian, from Acadia, former French colony in what is now Canadian Maritimes. Its French setters were dispersed and exiled by the English and thousands made their way to New Orleans in the period 1764-1788.