英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

Humpty-dumpty [Humpty-dumpty 词源字典]: from French nursery rhyme hero (the rhyme first attested in English 1810), earlier "a short, clumsy person of either sex" (1785), probably a reduplication of Humpty, a pet form of Humphrey. Originally, humpty-dumpty was a drink (1690s), "ale boiled with brandy," probably from hump and dump, but the connection is obscure and there might not be one.
'It's very provoking,' Humpty Dumpty said, ... 'to be called an egg -- very!' ["Through the Looking-Glass," 1872]
[Humpty-dumpty etymology, Humpty-dumpty origin, 英语词源]
humus (n.): 1796, from Latin humus "earth, soil," probably from humi "on the ground," from PIE *dhghem- "earth" (source also of Latin humilis "low;" see chthonic). Related: Humous (adj.).
humvee: 1983, popularized 1991 in Persian Gulf War military slang, rough acronym for high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle.
Hun: Old English, person from a tribe from central Asia that overran Europe in the 4c. and 5c., from Medieval Latin Hunni, apparently ultimately from Turkic Hun-yü, the name of a tribe (they were known in China as Han or Hiong-nu). Figurative sense of "reckless destroyer of beauty" is from 1806. Applied to the German in World War I by their enemies because of stories of atrocities, but the nickname originally was urged on German soldiers bound for China by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1900, which caused a scandal.
Hunan: Chinese province, literally "south of the lake" (Lake Dongting), from hu "lake" + nan "south."
hunch: originally (c. 1500) a verb, "to push, thrust," of unknown origin. Meaning "raise or bend into a hump" is 1670s. Perhaps a variant of bunch. The noun is attested from 1620s, originally "a push, thrust." Figurative sense of "hint, tip" (a "push" toward a solution or answer), first recorded 1849, led to that of "premonition, presentiment" (1904).
hunchback (n.): âperson with a hunched back,â 1712, back-formation from hunchbacked (1590s; see hunch).
hundred (n.): Old English hundred "the number of 100, a counting of 100," from Proto-Germanic *hundrath (cognates: Old Norse hundrað, German hundert); first element is Proto-Germanic *hundam "hundred" (cognate with Gothic hund, Old High German hunt), from PIE *km-tom "hundred," reduced from *dkm-tom- (cognates: Sanskrit satam, Avestan satem, Greek hekaton, Latin centum, Lithuanian simtas, Old Church Slavonic suto, Old Irish cet, Breton kant "hundred"), from *dekm- "ten" (see ten).

Second element is Proto-Germanic *rath "reckoning, number" (as in Gothic raþjo "a reckoning, account, number," garaþjan "to count;" see read (v.)). The common word for the number in Old English was simple hund, and Old English also used hund-teontig.
In Old Norse hundrath meant 120, that is the long hundred of six score, and at a later date, when both the six-score hundred and the five-score hundred were in use, the old or long hundred was styled hundrath tolf-roett ... meaning "duodecimal hundred," and the new or short hundred was called hundrath ti-rætt, meaning "decimal hundred." "The Long Hundred and its use in England" was discussed by Mr W.H. Stevenson, in 1889, in the Archcæological Review (iv. 313-27), where he stated that amongst the Teutons, who longest preserved their native customs unimpaired by the influence of Latin Christianity, the hundred was generally the six-score hundred. The short hundred was introduced among the Northmen in the train of Christianity. ["Transactions" of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1907]
Meaning "division of a county or shire with its own court" (still in some British place names and U.S. state of Delaware) was in Old English and probably represents 100 hides of land. The Hundred Years War (which ran intermittently from 1337 to 1453) was first so called in 1874. The original Hundred Days was the period between Napoleon's restoration and his final abdication in 1815.
hundredfold: c. 1200, from hundred + -fold.
hundredth: early 14c., from hundred + -th (1). Old English used hundrað.
hung (adj.): past tense and past participle of hang (v.); meaning "having impressive male genitals" is from 1640s; of a jury, "unable to agree," 1838, American English. Hung-over (also hungover) in the drinking sense is from 1950 (see hangover); hung-up "obsessed" is from 1961.
Hungary: c. 1300, from Medieval Latin Hungaria (also source of French Hongrie), probably literally meaning "land of the Huns," who ruled a vast territory from there under Attila in 5c. The people's name for themselves we transliterate as Magyar. Middle English uses the same words for both Attila's people and the Magyars, who appeared in Europe in 9c. From the same source as Medieval Greek Oungroi, German Ungarn, Russian Vengriya, Ukrainian Ugorshchina. The Turkish name for the country, Macaristan, reflects the indigenous name. Related: Hungarian.
hunger (n.): Old English hungor "unease or pain caused by lack of food, craving appetite, debility from lack of food," from Proto-Germanic *hungruz (cognates: Old Frisian hunger, Old Saxon hungar, Old High German hungar, Old Norse hungr, German hunger, Dutch honger, Gothic huhrus), probably from PIE root *kenk- (2) "to suffer hunger or thirst." Hunger strike attested from 1885; earliest references are to prisoners in Russia.
hunger (v.): Old English hyngran (cognates: Old Saxon gihungrjan, Old High German hungaran, German hungern, Gothic huggrjan), from the source of hunger (n.). Related: Hungered; hungering.
hungry: Old English hungrig "hungry, famished;" see hunger + -y (2). Compare Old Frisian hungerig, Dutch hongerig, German hungrig. Figurative use from c. 1200. Related: Hungrily.
hunk (n.): 1813, "large piece cut off," possibly from West Flemish hunke (used of bread and meat), which is perhaps related to Dutch homp "lump, hump." Meaning "attractive, sexually appealing man" is first attested 1945 in jive talk (in Australian slang, it is recorded from 1941).
hunker (v.): "to squat, crouch," 1720, Scottish, of uncertain origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse huka "to crouch," hoka, hokra "to crawl." Hunker down, Southern U.S. dialectal phrase, popularized c. 1965, from northern British hunker "haunch." Related: Hunkered; hunkering.
hunky-dory (adj.): 1866, American English (popularized c. 1870 by a Christy Minstrel song), perhaps a reduplication of hunkey "all right, satisfactory" (1861), from hunk "in a safe position" (1847) New York City slang, from Dutch honk "goal, home," from Middle Dutch honc "place of refuge, hiding place." A theory from 1876, however, traces it to Honcho dori, said to be a street in Yokohama, Japan, where sailors went for diversions of the sort sailors enjoy.
hunt (v.): Old English huntian "chase game," related to hentan "to seize," from Proto-Germanic *huntojan (cognates: Gothic hinþan "to seize, capture," Old High German hunda "booty"), from PIE *kend-.

General sense of "search diligently" (for anything) is first recorded c. 1200. Related: Hunted; hunting. Happy hunting-grounds "Native American afterlife paradise" is from "Last of the Mohicans" (1826).
hunt (n.): early 12c., from hunt (v.). Meaning "body of persons associated for the purpose of hunting with a pack of hounds" is first recorded 1570s.