英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

catacomb (n.)[catacomb 词源字典]: usually catacombs, from Old English catacumbas, from Late Latin (400 C.E.) catacumbae (plural), originally the region of underground tombs between the 2nd and 3rd milestones of the Appian Way (where the bodies of apostles Paul and Peter, among others, were said to have been laid), origin obscure, perhaps once a proper name, or dissimilation from Latin cata tumbas "at the graves," from cata- "among" + tumbas. accusative plural of tumba "tomb" (see tomb).

If so, the word perhaps was altered by influence of Latin -cumbere "to lie." From the same source are French catacombe, Italian catacomba, Spanish catacumba. Extended by 1836 in English to any subterranean receptacle of the dead (as in Paris). Related: Catacumbal.[catacomb etymology, catacomb origin, 英语词源]
catafalque (n.): 1640s, from French catafalque (17c.), from Italian catafalco "scaffold," from Vulgar Latin *catafalicum, from Greek kata- "down" (see cata-), used in Medieval Latin with a sense of "beside, alongside" + fala "scaffolding, wooden siege tower," a word said to be of Etruscan origin. The Medieval Latin word also yielded Old French chaffaut, chafaud (Modern French échafaud) "scaffold."
Catalan (adj.): "pertaining to Catalonia," also as a noun, "person from Catalonia," late 15c., from the indigenous name, which is of Celtic origin and probably means "chiefs of battle." As a noun meaning "a Catalan," Middle English used Catelaner (mid-14c.), Catellain (early 15c., from French). As a language name in English by 1792. Related: Catalonian (1707).
catalectic (adj.): 1580s, in a line of verse, "wanting an unaccented syllable in the last foot," from Late Latin catalecticus, from Greek katalektikos "leaving off," from kata- "down" (see cata-) + legein "to leave off, cease from," from PIE *(s)leg- "to be slack, be languid" (see lax). A complete line is said to be acatalectic.
catalepsy (n.): late 14c., cathalempsia, from Medieval Latin catalepsia, from Late Latin catalepsis, from Greek katalepsis "a seizure, a seizing upon, a taking possession," from kataleptos "seized," from katalambanein "to seize upon," from kata- "down" (see cata-) + lambanein "to take" (see analemma).
cataleptic (adj.): 1680s, from Late Latin catalepticus, from Greek kataleptikos, from kataleptos (see catalepsy). The noun meaning "one affected by catalepsy" is from 1851.
catalog: see catalogue.
catalogue (n.): early 15c., from Old French catalogue "list, index" (14c.), and directly from Late Latin catalogus, from Greek katalogos "a list, register, enrollment" (such as the katalogos neon, the "catalogue of ships" in the "Iliad"), from kata "down; completely" (see cata-) + legein "to say, count" (see lecture (n.)).
catalogue (v.): 1590s, "to make a catalogue;" see catalogue (n.). From 1630s as "to enter into a catalogue." Related: Catalogued; cataloguing.
catalpa (n.): c. 1740, from an American Indian language of the Carolinas, perhaps Creek (Muskogean) /katalpa/, literally "head-wing."
catalyse (v.): variant spelling of catalyze (q.v.); for spelling, see -ize. Related: Catalysed; catalysing.
catalysis (n.): 1650s, "dissolution," from Latinized form of Greek katalysis "dissolution, a dissolving" (of governments, military units, etc.), from katalyein "to dissolve," from kata- "down" (or "completely"), see cata-, + lyein "to loosen" (see lose). Chemical sense "change caused by an agent which itself remains unchanged" is attested from 1836, introduced by Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848).
catalyst (n.): "substance which speeds a chemical reaction but itself remains unchanged," 1902, formed in English (on analogy of analyst) from catalysis. Figurative use by 1943.
catalytic (adj.): 1836, from Latinized form of Greek katalytikos "able to dissolve," from katalyein (see catalysis).
catalyze (v.): 1890, back-formation from catalysis on model of analyze/analysis. Related: Catalyzed; catalyzing. Probably influenced by French catalyser (1842).
catamaran (n.): East Indies log raft, 1670s, from Tamil kattu-maram "tied wood," from kattu "tie, binding" + maram "wood, tree."
catamite (n.): "boy used in pederasty," 1590s, from Latin Catamitus, corruption of Ganymedes, the name of the beloved cup-bearer of Jupiter (see Ganymede). Cicero used it as a contemptuous insult against Antonius.
catamount (n.): 1660s, shortening of cat-o'-mountain (1610s), from cat of the mountain (early 15c.), a name aplied to various types of wildcat.
cataphract (n.): "coat of mail," Middle English, from Latin cataphractes "breastplate of iron scales," from Greek kataphraktes "coat of mail," from kataphraktos "covered up," from kataphrassein "to fortify," from kata "entirely" (see cata-) + phrassein "to fence around, enclose, defend" (see diaphragm).
cataplexy (n.): "the state of an animal when it is feigning death," 1883, from German kataplexie, from Greek kataplexis "stupefaction, amazement, consternation," from kataplessein "to strike down" (with fear, etc.), from kata- "down" (see cata-) + plessein "to strike, hit," from PIE *plak- (2) "to strike" (see plague (n.)). Related: Cataplectic.