quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- Kathmandu[Kathmandu 词源字典]
- Nepalese capital, from Nepalese Kathmandu, from kath "wooden" + mandu "temple."[Kathmandu etymology, Kathmandu origin, 英语词源]
- Katie
- fem. proper name, diminutive form of Kate. Noun Katie-bar-the-door "a brouhaha, a turbulent and combative situation" is by 1888; the notion is "get ready for trouble."
- katydid (n.)
- insect of the locust family (Microsentrum rhombifolium), 1784, American English (perhaps first used by John Bartram), imitative of the stridulous sound the male makes when it rubs its front wings together. The sound itself is more accurately transcribed from 1751 as catedidist.
[T]heir noise is loud and incessant, one perpetually and regularly answering the other in notes exactly similar to the words Katy did, or Katy Katy did, repeated by one, and another immediately bawls out Katy didn't, or Katy Katy didn't. In this loud clamour they continue without ceasing until the fall of the leaf, when they totally disappear. [J.F.D. Smyth, "A Tour in the United States of America," 1784]
- katzenjammer (n.)
- 1849, "a hangover," American English colloquial, from German katzen, comb. form of katze "cat" (see cat (n.)) + jammer "distress, wailing" (see yammer). Hence, "any unpleasant reaction" (1897).
Pleasure can intoxicate, passion can inebriate, success can make you quite as drunk as champagne. The waking from these several stages of delights will bring the same result--Katzenjammer. In English you would call it reaction; but whole pages of English cannot express the sick, empty, weary, vacant feeling which is so concisely contained within these four German syllables. ["Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine," August 1884]
Katzenjammer Kids "spectacularly naughty children" is from title of comic strip first drawn by German-born U.S. comic strip artist Rudolph Dirks (1877-1968) in 1897 for the "New York Journal." It was temporarily de-Germanized during World War I:
"THE SHENANIGAN KIDS" is the new American name for the original "Katzenjammer Kids." Although the original name and idea were pure Holland Dutch, some people may have had the mistaken impression that they were of Germanic origin, and hence the change. It is the same splendid comic as in the past. [International Feature Service advertisement in "Editor & Publisher," July 6, 1918]
- Kay
- fem. proper name, often a shortening of Katherine. As a given name for girls, from 1890s in the U.S.; in the top 100 for girls born there 1936-1945.
- kayak (n.)
- 1757, from Danish kajak, from Greenland Eskimo qayaq, literally "small boat of skins." The verb is attested from 1875, from the noun. Related: Kayaking.
- Kayla
- fem. proper name, extended form of Kay. Rare before 1962; a top-20 name for girls born in the U.S. 1988-2004.
- kayo
- spelled-out form of K.O. (for knockout in the pugilism sense), from 1923. Also used in 1920s as a slang reversal of OK.
- Kazakhstan
- from the indigenous Kazakh people (from the Turkish root kazak "nomad;" see Cossack) + Iranian root -stan "country, land" (see -stan).
- kazoo (n.)
- 1884, American English, probably altered from earlier bazoo "trumpet" (1877); probably ultimately imitative (compare bazooka). In England, formerly called a Timmy Talker, in France, a mirliton.
Kazoos, the great musical wonder, ... anyone can play it; imitates fowls, animals, bagpipes, etc. [1895 Montgomery Ward catalogue, p.245]
But mostly "etc." - kebab (n.)
- "pieces of meat roasted on a skewer," 1813 (compare shish kebab).
- keck (v.)
- "to make a sound as if to vomit," 1530s, echoic. Related: Kecked; kecking.
- Ked
- proprietary name of a brand of canvas sneakers, 1917, registered by United States Rubber Co., N.Y. Based on Latin ped-, stem of pes "foot" (see foot (n.))
"We wanted to call it Peds, but ... it came too close to ... other brand names. So we batted it around for awhile and decided on the hardest-sounding letter in the alphabet, K, and called it Keds, that was in 1916." [J.Healey, in R.L. Cohen, "Footwear Industry," x.93]
- keel (n.)
- "lowest timber of a ship or boat," mid-14c., probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse kjölr "keel," Danish kjøl, Swedish köl), from Proto-Germanic *keluz, of uncertain origin. Some etymologists say this is unconnected with the keel that means "a ship, barge," which also is the root of Middle Dutch kiel "ship," Old English ceol "ship's prow," Old High German kiel, German Kiel "ship," but the two words have influenced each other. Barnhart, however, calls them cognates. Keel still is used locally in England and U.S. for "flat-bottomed boat," especially on the Tyne.
- keel (v.2)
- "to keep cool," from Middle English kelen, from Old English celan "to cool," from col "cool" (see cool). The form kele (from Old English colian) was used by Shakespeare, but it later was assimilated with the adjective form into the modern verb cool. Cognate with Dutch koelen, Old High German chuolen, German kühlen.
- keel (v.1)
- 1838, American English, from keel (n.). To keel over (1876) is from the nautical image of a ship turning keel-up. Related: Keeled; keeling.
- keelboat (n.)
- 1690s, from keel + boat.
- keelhaul (v.)
- 1660s (the experience itself is described from 1620s), from Dutch kielhalen, literally "to haul under the keel," an old punishment. See keel (n.) + haul (v.). Related: Keelhauled. German kielholen, Danish kjølhale, Swedish kölhala also are from Dutch.
- keelson (n.)
- also kelson, 1620s, altered (by influence of keel (n.)) from Middle English kelsyng (late 13c.), which probably is of Scandinavian origin (compare Swedish kölsvin, Danish and Norwegian kjølsvin, from root of Old Norse kjölr; see keel (n.)) + swin "swine," used of timber (see swine). Or else from a similar Low German source.
- keen (adj.)
- c. 1200, from Old English cene "bold brave," later "clever, wise," from Proto-Germanic *kan- "be able to" (see can). Original prehistoric senses seem to have been both "brave" and "skilled;" cognate with Old Norse kænn "skillful, wise," Middle Dutch coene "bold," Dutch koen, Old High German kuon "pugnacious, strong," German kühn "bold, daring." Sense of "eager" is from mid-14c. The meaning "sharp" is peculiar to English: of blades and edges early 13c., of sounds c. 1400, of eyesight c. 1720. A popular word of approval in teenager and student slang from c. 1900.