英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

faithful (adj.)[faithful 词源字典]: early 14c., "sincerely religious, devout, pious," especially in reference to Christian practice; mid-14c., "loyal (to a lord, friend, spouse, etc.); true; honest, trustworthy," from faith + -ful. From late 14c. in reference to a tale, a report, etc., "accurate, reliable, true to the facts." The noun sense of "true believer, one who is full of faith" is from late 14c. (Church Latin used fideles in same sense). Related: Faithfully; faithfulness. Old Faithful geyser named 1870 by explorer Gen. Henry Dana Washburn (1832-1871), surveyor-general of the Montana Territory, in reference to the regularity of its outbursts.[faithful etymology, faithful origin, 英语词源]
faithless (adj.): c. 1300, "unbelieving," from faith + -less. Meaning "insincere, deceptive" is mid-14c. Related: Faithlessly; faithlessness.
faitor (n.): "impostor, cheat," mid-14c., from Anglo-French faiteor, faiture "evildoer; slothful person," apparently a specialized use of Old French faiture "sorcery, spell," literally "deed, action," from Latin facere "do, make, perform" (see factitious), an etymologically neutral term taken in a bad sense.
fajita (n.): by 1979, from Spanish fajita, diminutive of faja "bandage, wrapper," from Latin fascia "band, bandage" (see fascia).
fake: of unknown origin; attested in London criminal slang as adjective (1775 "a counterfeit"), verb (1812 "to rob"), and noun (1851, "a swindle;" of persons 1888, "a swindler"), but probably older. A likely source is feague "to spruce up by artificial means," from German fegen "polish, sweep," also "to clear out, plunder" in colloquial use. "Much of our early thieves' slang is Ger. or Du., and dates from the Thirty Years' War" [Weekley]. Or it may be from Latin facere "to do." Century Dictionary notes that "thieves' slang is shifting and has no history."

The nautical word meaning "one of the windings of a cable or hawser in a coil" probably is unrelated, from Swedish veck "a fold." As a verb, "to feign, simulate" from 1941. To fake it is from 1915, jazz slang; to fake (someone) out is from 1940s, originally in sports. Related: Faked; fakes; faking. The jazz musician's fake book is attested from 1951.
fakement (n.): "forgery," 1811, from fake + -ment.
faker (n.): 1846, agent noun from fake (v.).
fakir (n.): c. 1600, from Arabic faqir "a poor man," from faqura "he was poor." Term for Muslim holy man who lived by begging, supposedly from a saying of Muhammad's, el fakr fakhri ("poverty is my pride"). Misapplied in 19c. English (possibly under influence of faker) to Hindu ascetics. Arabic plural form fuqara may have led to variant early English forms such as fuckeire (1630s).
falafel (n.): by 1951 as a traveler's word, not common or domestic in English until 1970s; from Arabic falafil, said to mean "crunchy."
Falange: Spanish political party founded 1933 as a fascist movement; see Falangist. Related: Falangista.
Falangist (n.): 1937, member of the Falange, the fascist party in Spain (founded 1933), from Spanish Falange (Española) "(Spanish) Phalanx," from Latin phalanx (genitive phalangis); see phalanx.
Falasha (n.): "dark-skinned Jewish tribe of Abyssinia," 1710, from Ethiopian, literally "exiled, wanderer, immigrant," from falasa "he wandered."
falcate (adj.): "hooked, curved like a scythe or sickle," 1801, from Latin falcatus "sickle-shaped, hooked, curved," from falcem (nominative falx) "sickle," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps a borrowing from a non-Latin Indo-European language of Italy. De Vaan lists cognates as Old Irish delg "thorn, pin," Welsh dala "sting," Lithuanian dilge "nettle," Old Norse dalkr "pin, spine, dagger," Old English delg "clasp." Related: Falcated; falcation; falciform (1766).
falchion (n.): "a broad sword, somewhat curved," c. 1300, fauchoun, from Old French fauchon "curved sword," from Vulgar Latin *falcionem, from diminutive of Latin falx "sickle" (see falcate). Partially re-Latinized in early Modern English.
falcon (n.): mid-13c., faucon, from Old French faucon "falcon" (12c.), from Late Latin falconem (nominative falco) "falcon" (source also of Old Spanish falcon, Portuguese falcão, Italian falcone, Old High German falcho, German Falke, Dutch valk), probably from Latin falx (genitive falcis) "curved blade, pruning hook, sickle, war-scythe" (see falcate); the bird said to be so called for the shape of its talons, legs, or beak, but also possibly from the shape of its spread wings.

The other theory is that the Latin bird name falx is of Germanic origin and means "gray bird" (from the source of fallow (adj.)), which is supported by the antiquity of the word in Germanic but opposed by those who point out that falconry by all evidences was imported from the East, and the Germans got it from the Romans, not the other way round.
falconer (n.): late 14c., "one who hunts with falcons" (as a surname from late 12c.), from Old French fauconier "falconer" (Modern French fauconnier), from faucon (see falcon). Meaning "one who keeps and trains hawks" is from early 15c.
falconry (n.): 1570s, from French fauconnerie, from faucon (see falcon).
falderol (n.): also falderal, falderall, folderol, etc., 18c. nonsense words from refrains of songs; meaning "gewgaw, trifle" is attested from 1820.
fall (v.): Old English feallan (class VII strong verb; past tense feoll, past participle feallen) "to drop from a height; fail, decay, die," from Proto-Germanic *fallan (cognates: Old Frisian falla, Old Saxon fallan, Dutch vallen, Old Norse falla, Old High German fallan, German fallen, absent in Gothic).

These are from PIE root *pol- "to fall" (cognates: Armenian p'ul "downfall," Lithuanian puola "to fall," Old Prussian aupallai "finds," literally "falls upon").

Meaning "come suddenly to the ground" is from late Old English. Of darkness, night, from c. 1600; of land sloping from 1570s; of prices from 1570s. Of empires, governments, etc., from c. 1200. Of the face or countenance from late 14c. Meaning "to be reduced" (as temperature) is from 1650s. Meaning "die in battle" is from 1570s. Meaning "to pass casually (into some condition)" is from early 13c.

To fall in "take place or position" is from 1751. To fall in love is attested from 1520s; to fall asleep is late 14c. To fall down is early 13c. (a-dun follon); to fall behind is from 1856. Fall through "fail, come to nothing" is from 1781. To fall for something is from 1903.

To fall out is by mid-13c. in a literal sense; military use is from 1832. Meaning "have a disagreement, begin to quarrel" is attested from 1560s (to fall out with "quarrel with" is from late 15c.).
fall (n.): c. 1200, "a falling to the ground; a dropping from a height, a descent from a higher to a lower position (as by gravity); a collapsing of a building," from the source of fall (n.). (Old English noun fealle meant "snare, trap.") Meaning "a sinking down, subsidence" Of the coming of night from 1650s. Meaning "downward direction of a surface" is from 1560s, of a value from 1550s. Theological sense, "a succumbing to sin or temptation" (especially of Adam and Eve) is from early 13c.

Sense of "autumn" (now only in U.S. but formerly common in England) is by 1660s, short for fall of the leaf (1540s). Meaning "cascade, waterfall" is from 1570s (often plural, falls, when the descent is in stages; fall of water is attested from mid-15c.). Wrestling sense is from 1550s. Of a city under siege, etc., 1580s. Fall guy is from 1906.