quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- e.g.[e.g. 词源字典]
- 1680s, abbreviation of Latin exempli gratia "for the sake of example."
[e.g. etymology, e.g. origin, 英语词源]
- e.r.a. (n.)
- 1949 in baseball as initialism (acronym) for earned run average. From 1971 in U.S. politics for Equal Rights Amendment.
- e.s.l.
- 1967, initialism (acronym) for English as a second language.
- e.t.a.
- abbreviation of estimated time (of) arrival, first attested 1939.
- ea (n.)
- the usual Old English word for "river, running water" (still in use in Lancashire, according to OED); see aqua-. "The standard word in place-names for river denoting a watercourse of greater size than a broc or a burna" [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names].
- each
- Old English ælc (n., pron., adj.) "any, all, every, each (one)," short for a-gelic "ever alike," from a "ever" (see aye (2)) + gelic "alike" (see like (adj.)). From a common West Germanic expression *aiwo galika (cognates: Dutch elk, Old Frisian ellik, Old High German iogilih, German jeglich "each, every"). Originally used as we now use every (which is a compound of each) or all; modern use is by influence of Latin quisque. Modern spelling appeared late 1500s. Also see ilk, such, which.
- each other
- reciprocal pronoun, originally in late Old English a phrase, with each as the subject and other inflected (as it were "each to other," "each from other," etc.).
- eager (adj.)
- late 13c., "strenuous, ardent, fierce, angry," from Old French aigre "sour, acid; harsh, bitter, rough; eager greedy; lively, active, forceful," from Latin acrem (nominative acer) "keen, sharp, pointed, piercing; acute, ardent, zealous" (see acrid).
Meaning "full of keen desire" (early 14c.) seems to be peculiar to English. The English word kept a secondary meaning of "pungent, sharp-edged" till 19c. (as in Shakespeare's "The bitter clamour of two eager tongues," in "Richard II"). Related: Eagerly; eagerness. Eager beaver "glutton for work" [OED] is from 1943, U.S. armed forces slang. - eagle (n.)
- mid-14c., from Old French egle, from Old Provençal aigla, from Latin aquila "black eagle," fem. of aquilus, often explained as "dark colored" (bird); see aquiline. The native term was erne. Golf score sense is by 1908 (according to old golf sources, because it "soars higher" than a birdie). As the name of a U.S. $10 coin minted from 1792 to 1933, established in the 1786 resolution for a new monetary system (but at first only the desperately needed small copper coins were minted). The figurative eagle-eyed is attested from c. 1600.
- eaglet (n.)
- 1570s, from French aiglette, diminutive of aigle (see eagle).
- Eames
- type of modern office chair, 1946, named for U.S. architect and designer Charles Eames (1907-1978). The surname is from Old English eam "uncle," cognate with German Ohm.
- ear (n.1)
- "organ of hearing," Old English eare "ear," from Proto-Germanic *auzon (cognates: Old Norse eyra, Danish øre, Old Frisian are, Old Saxon ore, Middle Dutch ore, Dutch oor, Old High German ora, German Ohr, Gothic auso), from PIE *ous- "ear" (cognates: Greek aus, Latin auris, Lithuanian ausis, Old Church Slavonic ucho, Old Irish au "ear," Avestan usi "the two ears").
þe harde harte of man, þat lat in godis word atte ton ere & vt atte toþir. [sermon, c. 1250]
In music, "capability to learn and reproduce by hearing," 1520s, hence play by ear (1670s). The belief that itching or burning ears means someone is talking about you is mentioned in Pliny's "Natural History" (77 C.E.). Until at least the 1880s, even some medical men still believed piercing the ear lobes improved one's eyesight. Meaning "handle of a pitcher" is mid-15c. (but compare Old English earde "having a handle"). To be wet behind the ears "naive" is from 1902, American English. Phrase walls have ears attested from 1610s. French orielle, Spanish oreja are from Latin auricula (Medieval Latin oricula), diminutive of auris. - ear (n.2)
- "grain part of corn," from Old English ear (West Saxon), æher (Northumbrian) "spike, ear of grain," from Proto-Germanic *akhuz (cognates: Dutch aar, Old High German ehir, German Ähre, Old Norse ax, Gothic ahs "ear of corn"), from PIE root *ak- "sharp, pointed" (source of Latin acus "chaff, husk of corn," Greek akoste "barley;" see acrid).
- ear-muff (n.)
- also earplug, 1859, from ear (n.1) + muff (n.).
- ear-plug (n.)
- also earplug, 1841, from ear (n.1) + plug (n.).
- ear-worm (n.)
- 1880, "boll-worm, corn parasite" (corn-ear-worm attested from 1855), from ear (n.2) + worm (n.). Also an old alternative name for "earwig" (from ear (n.1)); from 1881 as "secret counselor." From 1989 as "annoyingly unforgettable pop song or part of a song."
- earache (n.)
- also ear-ache, 1789, from ear (n.1) + ache (n.).
- eardrum (n.)
- also ear-drum, 1640s, from ear (n.1) + drum (n.).
- earful (n.)
- "a piece of one's mind," 1915, from ear (n.1) + -ful. Ear-bash (v.) is Australian slang (1944) for "talk inordinately" (to someone).
- earl (n.)
- Old English eorl "brave man, warrior, leader, chief" (contrasted with ceorl "churl"), from Proto-Germanic *erlaz, which is of uncertain origin. In Anglo-Saxon poetry, "a warrior, a brave man;" in later Old English, "nobleman," especially a Danish under-king (equivalent of cognate Old Norse jarl), then one of the viceroys under the Danish dynasty in England. After 1066 adopted as the equivalent of Latin comes (see count (n.)).