quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- grinding (adj.)



[grinding 词源字典] - Old English, past participle adjective from grind (v.). Meaning "oppressive, burdensome" is from 1580s. The verbal noun is from mid-14c.[grinding etymology, grinding origin, 英语词源]
- grindstone (n.)




- early 13c. "millstone," from grind (v.) in sense of "sharpen" + stone (n.); meaning
"revolving stone disc used for sharpening, etc." is from c. 1400. Phrase nose to the grindstone in use by 1530s; originally to get control of another and treat him harshly:
This Text holdeth their noses so hard to the grindstone, that it clean disfigureth their Faces. [John Frith, "Mirror to know Thyself," 1532]
The phrase's main modern (reflexive) sense of "working hard" is from 1828. - gringo (n.)




- term for a European or Anglo-American, 1847, from American Spanish gringo "foreigner," from Spanish gringo "foreign speech, unintelligible talk, gibberish," perhaps ultimately from griego "Greek." The "Diccionario Castellano" (1787) says gringo was used in Malaga for "anyone who spoke Spanish badly," and in Madrid for "the Irish." Hence the American Spanish verb engringarse "to act like a foreigner."
- griot (n.)




- northwest African poet/performer, 1820, from French griot (17c.), which is of unknown origin.
- grip (v.)




- Old English grippan "to grip, seize, obtain" (class I strong verb; past tense grap, past participle gripen), from West Germanic *gripjan (cognates: Old High German gripfen "to rob," Old English gripan "to seize;" see gripe (v.)). Related: Gripped; gripping. French gripper "to seize," griffe "claw" are Germanic loan-words.
- grip (n.)




- c. 1200, "act of grasping or seizing; power or ability to grip," fusion of Old English gripe "grasp, clutch" and gripa "handful, sheaf" (see grip (v.)). Figurative use from mid-15c. Meaning "a handshake" (especially one of a secret society) is from 1785. Meaning "that by which anything is grasped" is from 1867. Meaning "stage hand" is from 1888, from their work shifting scenery.
- gripe (v.)




- c. 1200, "to clutch, seize firmly," from Old English gripan "grasp at, lay hold, attack, take, seek to get hold of," from Proto-Germanic *gripan (cognates: Old Saxon gripan, Old Norse gripa, Dutch grijpen, Gothic greipan, Old High German grifan, German greifen "to seize"), from PIE root *ghreib- "to grip" (cognates: Lithuanian griebiu "to seize"). Figurative sense of "complain, grouse" is first attested 1932, probably from earlier meaning "produce a gripping pain in the bowels" (c. 1600; compare bellyache). Related: Griped; griping.
- gripe (n.)




- late 14c., "a fast hold, clutch, grasp," from gripe (v.). From c. 1600 as "cramp, pain in the bowels" (earlier of pangs of grief, etc., 1540s). Figurative sense of "a complaint" is by 1934.
- grippe (n.)




- "epidemic influenza," 1776, probably from French grippe "influenza," originally "seizure," verbal noun from gripper "to grasp, hook," from Frankish or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *gripanan (see grip (v.), gripe (v.)). Supposedly in reference to constriction of the throat felt by sufferers; the word spread through European languages after the influenza epidemic during the Russian occupation of Prussia in the Seven Years' War (c. 1760), and Russian chirpu, said to be imitative of the sound of the cough, is sometimes said to be the origin or inspiration for the word.
- gripping (adj.)




- "grasping the emotions," 1896, figurative use of present participle adjective from grip (v.).
- grisaille (n.)




- painting technique using gray tints, 1848, from French grisaille (17c.), from gris "gray" (12c.), which is from Frankish *gris or some other Germanic source (cognates: Dutch grijs, Old High German gris; see gray (adj.)).
- Griselda




- fem. proper name, from Italian, from German Grishilda, from Old High German grisja hilda, literally "gray battle-maid" (see gray (adj.) + Hilda). The English form, Grisilde, provided Chaucer's Grizel, the name of the meek, patient wife in the Clerk's Tale, the story and the name both from Boccaccio.
- grisette (n.)




- c. 1700, "gray woolen fabric," from French grisette, diminutive of gris "grey," which is from Frankish or some other Germanic source (see grey (adj.)). From 1723 as "young French working girl," especially a shopgirl or seamstress, on the notion of wearing clothing made from such fabric; "commonly applied by foreigners in Paris to the young women of this class who are free in their manners on the streets and in the shops" [Century Dictionary].
- grisly (adj.)




- Old English grislic (in compounds) "horrible, dreadful," from root of grisan "to shudder, fear," a general Germanic word (cognates: Old Frisian grislik "horrible," Middle Dutch grisen "to shudder," Dutch griezelen, German grausen "to shudder, fear," Old High German grisenlik "horrible;" of unknown origin; Watkins connects it with the PIE root *ghrei- "to rub," on notion of "to grate on the mind" (see chrism). See also gruesome, to which it probably is connected in some way. Related: Grisliness.
- grist (n.)




- Old English grist "action of grinding; grain to be ground," perhaps related to grindan "to grind" (see grind (v.)), though OED calls this connection "difficult." Meaning "wheat which is to be ground" is early 15c., as is the figurative extension from this sense.
- grist-mill (n.)




- also gristmill, c. 1600, from grist (n.) in the sense "amount ground at one time," hence "grain carried to the mill by the owner for grinding at one time," + mill (n.).
- gristle (n.)




- Old English gristle "cartilage," related to grost "gristle," from a common West Germanic word (cognates: Old Frisian and Middle Low German gristel, Old High German crostila, Middle High German gruschel) of obscure origin.
- grit (n.)




- Old English greot "sand, dust, earth, gravel," from Proto-Germanic *greutan "tiny particles of crushed rock" (cognates: Old Saxon griot, Old Frisian gret, Old Norse grjot "rock, stone," German Grieß "grit, sand"), from PIE *ghreu- "rub, grind" (cognates: Lithuanian grudas "corn, kernel," Old Church Slavonic gruda "clod"). Sense of "pluck, spirit, firmness of mind" first recorded American English, 1808.
If he hadn't a had the clear grit in him, and showed teeth and claws, they'd a nullified him so, you wouldn't have see'd a grease spot of him no more. [Thomas Chandler Haliburton, "Sam Slick in England," 1843]
- grit (v.)




- "make a grating sound," 1762, probably from grit (n.). Meaning "to grate, grind" is from 1797. Related: Gritted; gritting.
- grits (n.)




- plural of grit "coarsely ground grain," Old English grytt (plural grytta) "coarse meal, groats, grits," from Proto-Germanic *grutja-, from the same root as grit (n.), the two words having influenced one another in sound development.
In American English, corn-based grits and hominy (q.v.) were used interchangeably in Colonial times. Later, hominy meant whole kernels that had been skinned but not ground, but in the U.S. South, hominy meant skinned kernels that could be ground coarsely to make grits. In New Orleans, whole kernels are big hominy and ground kernels little hominy.