quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- fit (n.1)



[fit 词源字典] - 1680s, "process of fitting," from fit (v.). From 1823 as "the fitting of one thing to another;" 1831 as "the way something fits."[fit etymology, fit origin, 英语词源]
- fit (v.)




- c. 1400, "to marshal or deploy (troops);" early 15c. as "be fitting or proper, be suitable," from fit (adj.) and perhaps in part from Scandinavian (compare Old Norse fitja "knit"). From 1580s as "be the right shape." Transitive sense of "provide with what is suitable" is from 1590s; that of "make fit or suitable, bring into corresponding form or condition" is from c. 1600. Related: Fitted; fitting. Fitted sheets is attested from 1948.
- fit (n.2)




- "paroxysm, sudden attack" (as of anger), 1540s, probably via Middle English sense of "painful, exciting experience" (early 14c.), from Old English fitt "conflict, struggle," which is of uncertain origin, with no clear cognates outside English. Perhaps ultimately cognate with fit (adj.) on notion of "to meet." Meaning "sudden impulse toward activity or effort" is from 1580s. Phrase by fits and starts first attested 1610s (by fits is from 1580s).
- fit (adj.)




- "suited to the circumstances, proper," mid-15c., of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle English noun fit "an adversary of equal power" (mid-13c.), which is perhaps connected to fit (n.1). In athletics, "in condition, properly trained for action," from 1869. Related: Fitter; fittest. Survival of the fittest (1867) coined by H. Spencer.
- fit (n.3)




- part of a poem, Old English fitt, of unknown origin; perhaps related to fit (n.2).
- fitful (adj.)




- used once by Shakespeare ("Life's fitful fever," "Macbeth," 1605) in sense of "characterized by fits," from fit (n.2) + -ful. then Revived in Romantic poetry late 18c. with a sense of "shifting, changing." Related: Fitfully (1792); fitfulness.
- fitness (n.)




- 1570s, "state or quality of being suitable," from fit (adj.) + -ness. Meaning "state of being physically fit" is from 1935.
- fitter (n.)




- 1650s, agent noun from fit (v.).
- fitting (adj.)




- "proper, befitting, right," early 15c., present-participle adjective from fit (v.). Related: Fittingly.
- fitting (n.)




- c. 1600, verbal noun from fit (v.). Meaning "action of fitting on a garment" is from 1900.
- fitz (n.)




- Anglo-French fitz, from Old French fils, from Latin filius "son of" (see filial); used regularly in official rolls and hence the first element of many modern surnames; in later times used of illegitimate issue of royalty.
- five (n.)




- Old English fif "five," from Proto-Germanic *fimfe (cognates: Old Frisian fif, Old Saxon fif, Dutch vijf, Old Norse fimm, Old High German funf, Gothic fimf), from PIE *penkwe- (cognates: Sanskrit panca, Greek pente, Latin quinque, Old Church Slavonic peti, Lithuanian penke, Old Welsh pimp). The sound shift that removed the *-m- is a regular development involving Old English, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon (as in thought, from stem of think; couth from *kunthaz; us from *uns).
Five-and-ten (Cent Store) is from 1880, American English, with reference to prices of goods for sale. Five-star (adj.) is from 1913 of hotels, 1945 of generals. Slang five-finger discount "theft" is from 1966. The original five-year plan was 1928 in the U.S.S.R. Five o'clock shadow attested by 1937.
[under picture of a pretty girl] "If I were a man I'd pay attention to that phrase '5 O'Clock Shadow.' It's that messy beard growth which appears prematurely about 5 P.M." [Advertisement for Gem razors and blades, Life," May 9, 1938]
- fivefold (adv.)




- 1570s, from earlier use as an adjective, from Old English fiffeald (adj.); see five + -fold.
- fiver (n.)




- 1843, "five-pound note," from five + -er.
- fix (v.)




- late 14c., "set (one's eyes or mind) on something" (a figurative use), probably from Old French verb *fixer, from fixe "fixed," from Latin fixus "fixed, fast, immovable; established, settled," past participle adjective from figere "to fix, fasten, drive, thrust in; pierce through, transfix," also figurative, from PIE root *dhigw- "to stick, to fix" (see dike).
Sense of "fasten, attach" is c. 1400; that of "to make (colors, etc.) fast or permanent" is from 1660s. The meaning "settle, assign" evolved into "adjust, arrange" (1660s), then "repair" (1737). Sense of "tamper with" (a fight, a jury, etc.) is from 1790. As euphemism for "castrate a pet" it dates from 1930. Related: Fixed; fixing. - fix (n.)




- "position from which it is difficult to move," 1809, American English, from fix (v.). Meaning "dose of narcotic" is from 1934, shortened from fix-up (1867, originally in reference to liquor). Meaning "reliable indication of the position of a ship, plane, etc." (by reference to fixed positions) is from 1902.
- fixable (adj.)




- late 15c., from fix (v.) + -able.
- fixate (v.)




- 1885, "to fix, make stable," from fix (v.) + -ate. Meaning "to gaze upon" is from 1889. Psychological sense is from 1926, originally in Freudian theory, in this case perhaps a back-formation from fixation. Meaning "become fixed" is from 1888. Related: Fixated; fixating.
- fixation (n.)




- late 14c., fixacion, an alchemical word, "action of reducing a volatile substance to a permanent bodily form," from Medieval Latin fixationem (nominative fixatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin fixare, frequentative of figere "to fix" (see fix (v.)). Meaning "condition of being fixed" is from 1630s. Used in the Freudian sense since 1910.
- fixative (adj.)




- 1640s, from fix (v.) + -ative, suffix meaning "of or related to; tending to." As a noun, from 1870, "that which fixes."