英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

geek (n.)[geek 词源字典]: "sideshow freak," 1916, U.S. carnival and circus slang, perhaps a variant of geck "a fool, dupe, simpleton" (1510s), apparently from Dutch gek or Low German geck, from an imitative verb found in North Sea Germanic and Scandinavian meaning "to croak, cackle," and also "to mock, cheat" (Dutch gekken, German gecken, Danish gjække, Swedish gäcka). The modern form and the popular use with reference to circus sideshow "wild men" is from 1946, in William Lindsay Gresham's novel "Nightmare Alley" (made into a film in 1947 starring Tyrone Power).
"An ordinary geek doesn't actually eat snakes, just bites off chunks of 'em, chicken heads and rats." [Arthur H. Lewis, "Carnival," 1970]
By c. 1983, used in teenager slang in reference to peers who lacked social graces but were obsessed with new technology and computers (such as the Anthony Michael Hall character in 1984's "Sixteen Candles").
geek out vi. To temporarily enter techno-nerd mode while in a non-hackish context, for example at parties held near computer equipment. [Eric S. Raymond, "The New Hacker's Dictionary," 1996]
[geek etymology, geek origin, 英语词源]
geeky (adj.): by 1985, from geek (n.) in teen slang sense + -y (2).
geese (n.): plural of goose (n.).
geezer (n.): derisive word for an old man, 1885, according to OED a variant of obsolete Cockney guiser "mummer" (late 15c.; see guise).
gefilte fish (n.): 1892, gefüllte Fisch, not a species but a loaf made from various kinds of ground fish and other ingredients; the first word is Yiddish, from German gefüllte "stuffed," from füllen "to fill" (see full (v.)).
gehenna (n.): "hell," 1620s (earlier "a place of torture," 1590s), from Church Latin gehenna (Tertullian), from Greek geenna, from post-biblical Hebrew gehinnom "Hell, place of fiery torment for the dead," figurative use of the place name Ge Hinnom "the Valley of Hinnom," southwest of Jerusalem, where, according to Jer. xix:5, children were sacrificed to Moloch. Middle English had gehenne (late 15c.) from Middle French gehenne.
Geiger counter (n.): 1924, named for German physicist Hans Geiger (1882-1945), who invented it with Walther Müller. The surname is literally "fiddler."
geisha (n.): 1887, "Japanese girl whose profession is to sing and dance to entertain men;" hence, loosely, "prostitute," from Japanese, literally "person accomplished in the social arts," from gei "art, performance" + sha "person." Compare almah, and Athenian auletrides "flute-girls," female musicians who entertained guests at a symposium with music at the start of the party and sex at the end of it.
geist (n.): 1871, "intellectuality," also, variously, after German, "spirit" of a place or time; "spirituality," from German Geist (see ghost (n.), and compare zeitgeist).
gel (n.): "semi-solid substance," 1899, as a chemical term, short for gelatin and perhaps influenced by jell. The invention of this word is credited to Scottish chemist Thomas Graham (1805-1869). Hair-styling sense is from 1958.
gel (v.): 1902, "to become a gel," from gel (n.). Figurative sense "come together and agree well" is from 1958. Related: Gelled; gelling.
gelatin (n.): see gelatine.
gelatine (n.): 1713, from French gélatine (17c.) "clear jelly-like substance from animals; fish broth," from Italian gelatina, from gelata "jelly," from gelare "to jell," from Latin gelare "to freeze, congeal" (see cold (adj.)). With chemical suffix -ine (2). Spelling gelatin is from 1800. "The form without final -e is in scientific (or pseudo-scientific) use only ..." [Fowler].
gelatinous (adj.): 1724, from gelatine + -ous; probably modeled on French gélatineux. Related: Gelatinously; gelatinousness.
gelato (n.): by 1970, from Italian gelato, literally "frozen," past participle of gelare "to freeze, congeal" (see cold (adj.)).
geld (n.): royal tax in medieval England, c. 1600, as a historical term, from Medieval Latin geldum, from Old English gield "payment, tax, tribute, compensation," from Proto-Germanic *geldam "payment" (cognates: Middle High German gelt "payment, contribution," German geld "money," Old Norse gjald "payment," Gothic gild "tribute, tax"), from PIE root *gheldh- "to pay" (see yield (v.)).
geld (v.): "to castrate," c. 1300, from Old Norse gelda "to castrate," said in Watkins to be from Proto-Germanic *galdjan "to castrate," from PIE *ghel- (3) "to cut." Related to other words which, if the derivation is correct, indicate a general sense of "barren." Compare Old Norse geld-fe "barren sheep" and geldr (adj.) "barren, yielding no milk, dry," which yielded Middle English geld "barren" (of women and female animals); also Old High German galt "barren," said of a cow. Related: Gelded; gelding.
gelding (n.): late 14c., "castrated animal" (especially a horse), also "a eunuch" (late 13c. as a surname), from Old Norse geldingr "wether; eunuch," from gelda "castrate" (see geld (v.)).
gelid (adj.): "very cold," c. 1600, from Latin gelidus "icy, cold, frosty," from gelum "frost, ice, intense cold" (see cold (adj.)). Related: Gelidity.
geloscopy (n.): "divination of a person's qualities or character by laughter," 1730s, from Greek gelos "laughter" + -scopy.