英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

hour (n.)[hour 词源字典]: mid-13c., from Old French hore "one-twelfth of a day" (sunrise to sunset), from Latin hora "hour, time, season," from Greek hora "any limited time," from PIE *yor-a-, from root *yer- "year, season" (see year). Greek hora was "a season; 'the season;'" in classical times, sometimes, "a part of the day," such as morning, evening, noon, night.

The Greek astronomers apparently borrowed the notion of dividing the day into twelve parts (mentioned in Herodotus) from the Babylonians (night continued to be divided into four watches), but as the amount of daylight changed throughout the year, the hours were not fixed or of equal length. Equinoctal hours did not become established in Europe until the 4c., and as late as 16c. distinction sometimes was made between temporary (unequal) hours and sidereal (equal) ones. The h- has persisted in this word despite not being pronounced since Roman times. Replaced Old English tid, literally "time" (see tide (n.)) and stund "period of time, point of time, hour" (compare German Stunde "hour"), As a measure of distance ("the distance that can be covered in an hour") it is recorded from 1785.[hour etymology, hour origin, 英语词源]
hourglass (n.): 1510s, from hour + glass. Used 19c. in a variety of technical and scientific senses to describe the shape; reference to women's bodies is attested by 1897.
Men condemn corsets in the abstract, and are sometimes brave enough to insist that the women of their households shall be emancipated from them; and yet their eyes have been so generally educated to the approval of the small waist, and the hourglass figure, that they often hinder women who seek a hygienic style of dress. [Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, "The Story of My Life," 1898]
houri (n.): "nymph of Muslim paradise," 1737, from French houri (1650s), from Persian huri "nymph in Paradise," from Arabic haura "to be beautifully dark-eyed," like a gazelle + -i, Persian formative element denoting the singular.
hourly: late 15c. (adv.); 1510s (adj.), from hour + -ly (2).
house (n.): Old English hus "dwelling, shelter, house," from Proto-Germanic *husan (cognates: Old Norse, Old Frisian hus, Dutch huis, German Haus), of unknown origin, perhaps connected to the root of hide (v.) [OED]. In Gothic only in gudhus "temple," literally "god-house;" the usual word for "house" in Gothic being razn.

Meaning "family, including ancestors and descendants, especially if noble" is from c. 1000. The legislative sense (1540s) is transferred from the building in which the body meets. Meaning "audience in a theater" is from 1660s (transferred from the theater itself, playhouse); as a dance club DJ music style, probably from the Warehouse, a Chicago nightclub where the style is said to have originated. Zodiac sense is first attested late 14c. To play house is from 1871; as suggestive of "have sex, shack up," 1968. House arrest first attested 1936. On the house "free" is from 1889.
And the Prophet Isaiah the sonne of Amos came to him, and saide vnto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not liue. [2 Kings xx:1, version of 1611]
house (v.): "give shelter to," Old English husian "to take into a house" (cognate with German hausen, Dutch huizen); see house (n.). Related: Housed; housing.
houseboat (n.): 1790, from house (n.) + boat (n.).
housebreak (v.): 1820, "to break into a house criminally;" see house (n.) + break (v.). Perhaps a back-formation from housebreaker, attested from mid-14c. Sense of "to train a domestic animal to be clean in the house" is from 1881. Related: Housebreaking; housebroken.
housefly (n.): also house-fly, early 15c., from house (n.) + fly (n.).
houseful: c. 1300, from house (n.) + -ful.
household (n.): late 14c., "members of a family collectively (including servants)," also "furniture and articles belonging to a house," from house (n.) + hold (n.1). Related: Householder.
housekeeper (n.): mid-15c., "householder," from house (n.) + agent noun of keep (v.). Sense of "female head domestic servant of a house" is from c. 1600.
housekeeping (n.): 1540s, from house (n.) + present participle of keep (v.).
housewarming (n.): "celebration of a new home," 1570s, from house (n.) + present participle of warm.
housewife (n.): early 13c., husewif, "woman, usually married, in charge of a family or household" (compare husebonde; see husband), from huse "house" (see house (n.)) + wif "woman" (see wife). Also see hussy. Related: Housewifely.
housing (n.1): "buildings, lodgings," early 14c., husing, from the root of house (n.).
housing (n.2): "ornamental covering," c. 1300, houce "covering for the back and flanks of a horse," from Old French houce "mantle, horse-blanket" (Modern French housse), from Medieval Latin hultia "protective covering," from a Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hulfti (cognates: Middle Dutch hulfte "pocket for bow and arrow," Middle High German hulft "covering"), from PIE root *kel- (2) "to cover, conceal" (see cell). Sense of "case or enclosure for machine or part" is first recorded 1882.
Houston: city in Texas, U.S., founded 1836 and named for first president of Texas, Sam Houston. The family name is from the barony of Houston in Lanark.
Houyhnhnm: 1727, in "Gulliver's Travels," coined by Swift to suggest whinnying.
hove (v.1): "wait, linger, hover," mid-13c., of unknown origin. Chiefly nautical at first, of ships standing off a coast, also of birds in the air. Common 13c.-16c., then superseded by its derivative, hover.