英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

Helen [Helen 词源字典]: fem. proper name, from French Hélène, from Latin Helena, from Greek Helene, fem. proper name, probably fem. of helenos "the bright one." Among the top 10 popular names for girl babies in the U.S. born between 1890 and 1934.[Helen etymology, Helen origin, 英语词源]
Helena: fem. proper name, Latin form of Helen.
heliacal (adj.): "pertaining to the sun," c. 1600, with -al (1) and Greek heliakos "of the sun," from helios "sun" (see sol). The heliacal year is reckoned from the heliacal rising of Sirius; thus it also is known as the canicular year.
helical (adj.): "spiral-shaped," 1590s, from Latin helicem (see helix) + -al (1).
Helicon: 1520s, from Greek Helikon, mountain in Boeotia, sacred to the Muses, in which arose the fountains of Aganippe and Hippocrene. Literally "the tortuous mountain," from helix (genitive helikos) "spiral" (see helix).
helicopter (n.): 1861, from French hélicoptère "device for enabling airplanes to rise perpendicularly," thus "flying machine propelled by screws." The idea was to gain lift from spiral aerofoils, and it didn't work. Used by Jules Verne and the Wright Brothers, the word transferred to helicopters in the modern sense when those were developed in the 1920s. From Greek helix (genitive helikos) "spiral" (see helix) + pteron "wing" (see pterodactyl). Nativized in Flemish as wentelwiek "with rotary vanes."
helio-: word-forming element meaning "sun," from Greek helio-, comb. form of helios "sun" (see sol).
heliocentric (adj.): 1680s, from helio- + -centric.
heliograph (n.): product of a certain type of engraving process, 1853, from helio- + -graph "something written." Earlier, "a description of the sun" (1706, implied in heliographic). Heliography (1845 in the engraving sense) also (1840) was an early term for what came to be called photography.
heliotrope (n.): "plant which turns its flowers and leaves to the sun," 1620s, from French héliotrope (14c.) and directly from Latin heliotropium, from Greek heliotropion, from helios "sun" (see sol) + tropos "turn" (see trope). The word was applied c. 1000-1600 in Latin form to sunflowers and marigolds. Related: Heliotropic.
heliotropism (n.): 1854, from heliotrope + -ism.
heliport (n.): 1948, from helicopter + second element abstracted from airport.
helium (n.): 1868, coined from Greek helios "sun" (see sol), because the element was detected in the solar spectrum during the eclipse of Aug. 18, 1868, by English astronomer Sir Joseph N. Lockyer (1836-1920) and English chemist Sir Edward Frankland (1825-1899). It was not actually obtained until 1895; it was assumed before that to be an alkali metal, hence the ending in -ium.
helix (n.): "a spiral thing," 1560s, from Latin helix "spiral," from Greek helix (genitive helikos), related to eilein "to turn, twist, roll," from PIE *wel-ik-, from root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve" (see volvox).
hell (n.): Old English hel, helle, "nether world, abode of the dead, infernal regions," from Proto-Germanic *haljo "the underworld" (cognates: f. Old Frisian helle, Dutch hel, Old Norse hel, German Hölle, Gothic halja "hell") "the underworld," literally "concealed place" (compare Old Norse hellir "cave, cavern"), from PIE *kel- (2) "to cover, conceal" (see cell).

The English word may be in part from Old Norse Hel (from Proto-Germanic *halija "one who covers up or hides something"), in Norse mythology the name of Loki's daughter, who rules over the evil dead in Niflheim, the lowest of all worlds (nifl "mist"). Transfer of a pagan concept and word to a Christian idiom. In Middle English, also of the Limbus Patrum, place where the Patriarchs, Prophets, etc. awaited the Atonement. Used in the KJV for Old Testament Hebrew Sheol and New Testament Greek Hades, Gehenna. Used figuratively for "state of misery, any bad experience" since at least late 14c. As an expression of disgust, etc., first recorded 1670s.

Expression Hell in a handbasket is attested by 1867, in a context implying use from a few years before, and the notion of going to Heaven in a handbasket is from 1853, with a sense of "easy passage" to the destination. Hell or high water (1874) apparently is a variation of between the devil and the deep blue sea. To wish someone would go to hell is in Shakespeare ("Merchant of Venice"). Snowball's chance in hell "no chance" is from 1931; till hell freezes over "never" is from 1832. To ride hell for leather is from 1889, originally with reference to riding on horseback. Hell on wheels is said to be from 1843 in DAS; popularity dates from 1869 in reference to the temporary workers' towns along the U.S. transcontinental railroad and their vices.
Hell's Kitchen: disreputable, impoverished New York City neighborhood, the name attested from 1879. The phrase was used from at least 1866 as an intensive form of Hell.
Hell's kitchen (American), a horrible slum. Hell's Kitchen, Murderer's Row, and the Burnt Rag are names of localities which form collectively the worst place in New York. [Albert Barrère and Charles G. Leland, "A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant," 1889]
hell-fired (adj.): a euphemism for damned attested from 1756. See hellfire.
hell-raiser (n.): 1914 (to raise hell is from 1896), from hell + agent noun from raise (v.).
hellacious (adj.): 1930s, college slang, from hell + fanciful ending (see bodacious).
hellbender (n.): large salamander of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, 1812, supposedly so called for its ugliness.