英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

Darfur [Darfur 词源字典]: region in Sudan, named for its people, from Arabic dar, literally "house" + Fur, ethnic name of the indigenous African population.[Darfur etymology, Darfur origin, 英语词源]
daring (n.): late 14c., verbal noun from dare (v.).
Darius: name of three Persian rulers, notably Darius the Great, Persian emperor 521-485 B.C.E., from Greek Darius, from Old Persian Darayavaus, probably literally "he who holds firm the good," from PIE root *dher- (2) "to hold firmly, support" (see firm (adj.)).
Darjeeling: town in northeastern India, from Tibetan dojeling "diamond island," in reference to Vajrayana (literally "vehicle of the diamond") Buddhism. The "island" being the high ground of the place's site. As a type of tea, from 1882.
dark (adj.): Old English deorc "dark, obscure, gloomy; sad, cheerless; sinister, wicked," from Proto-Germanic *derkaz (cognates: Old High German tarchanjan "to hide, conceal"). "Absence of light" especially at night is the original meaning. Application to colors is 16c. Theater slang for "closed" is from 1916.
dark (n.): early 13c., from dark (adj.). Figurative in the dark "ignorant" first recorded 1670s.
dark ages: 1739, any benighted time in history, period of ignorance; specific focus on the centuries from the fall of Rome to the revival of secular literature is from 1830s.
dark horse (n.): in politics, 1842, an image from horse racing, in which dark is used in its figurative sense of "unknown."
Moonraker is called a "dark horse"; that is neither his sire nor dam is known. ["Pierce Egan's Book of Sports," London, 1832]
darken (v.): c. 1300, "to make dark;" late 14c., "to become dark," from dark (adj.) + -en (1). The more usual verb in Middle English was simply dark, as it is in Chaucer and Shakespeare, and darken did not predominate until 17c. The Anglo-Saxons also had a verb sweorcan meaning "to grow dark." To darken someone's door (usually with a negative) is attested from 1729.
darkling (adv.): "in the dark," mid-15c., from dark (n.) + now-obsolete adverbial ending -ling (compare headlong).
But having nothing to do with the participial -ing it does not mean growing dark &c.; from the mistaken notion that it is a participle spring both the misuse of the word itself and the spurious verb darkle. [Fowler]
darkly (adv.): Old English deorclice "darkly, horribly, foully;" see dark + -ly (2).
darkness (n.): Old English deorcnysse, from dark + -ness. Figurative use is recorded from mid-14c. The 10c. Anglo-Saxon treatise on astronomy uses þeostrum for "darkness."
darky (n.): "black person" (now offensive), 1775, from dark (adj.) + -y (3). Related: Darkies.
darling (n.): Old English deorling "darling, favorite minion," double diminutive of deor "dear" (see dear (adj.)). The vowel shift from -e- to -a- (16c.) is usual for -er- followed by a consonant. "It is better to be An olde mans derlyng, than a yong mans werlyng" (1562).
darn (v.): "to mend" c. 1600, perhaps from Middle French darner "mend," from darne "piece," from Breton darn "piece, fragment, part." Alternative etymology is from obsolete dern (see dern). Related: Darned; darning.
darn (interj.): tame curse word, 1781, American English euphemism for damn, said to have originated in New England when swearing was a punishable offense; if so, its spread was probably influenced by 'tarnal, short for Eternal, as in By the Eternal (God), favorite exclamation of Andrew Jackson, among others (see tarnation). Related: darned (past participle adjective, 1806); darndest (superlative, 1844).
darnel (n.): weed growing in grainfields, c. 1300, from northern dialectal French darnelle; according to one theory, the the second element is Old French neelle (Modern French nielle) "cockle," from Vulgar Latin nigella "black-seeded," from fem. of Latin nigellus "blackish."

But perhaps rather the word is related to Middle Dutch verdaernt, verdarnt "stunned, dumbfounded, angry," Walloon darne, derne "stunned, dazed, drunk," the plant so called from its well-known inebriating property. Long noted for its "poisonous" properties (actually caused by fungus growing on the plant); The French word for it is ivraie, from Latin ebriacus "intoxicated," and the botanical name, Lolium temulentum, is from Latin temulent "drunken," though this sometimes is said to be "from the heavy seed heads lolling over under their own weight."
In some parts of continental Europe it appears the seeds of darnel have the reputation of causing intoxication in men, beasts, and birds, the effects being sometimes so violent as to produce convulsions. In Scotland the name of Sleepies, is applied to darnel, from the seeds causing narcotic effects. [Gouverneur Emerson, "The American Farmer's Encyclopedia," New York, 1860. It also mentions that "Haller speaks of them as communicating these properties to beer."]
dart (n.): early 14c., from Old French dart "throwing spear, arrow," from Proto-Germanic *darothuz cognates: Old English daroð, Old High German tart, Old Norse darraþr "dart"). Italian and Spanish dardo are said to be from Germanic by way of Old Provençal.
dart (v.): late 14c., "to pierce with a dart," from dart (n.). Meaning "to move like a dart" is attested from 1610s. Related: Darted; darter; darting.
Darwin: surname attested from 12c., from Old English deorwine, literally "dear friend," probably used as a given name and also the source of the masc. proper name Derwin.