lungyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[lung 词源字典]
lung: [OE] Lungs, insubstantial air-filled sacs, got their name because they weigh so little. It comes ultimately from Indo-European *lnggh-, a variant of which produced English light ‘not heavy’. In prehistoric Germanic this became *lungg-, which over the centuries has differentiated to German lunge, Dutch long, Swedish lunga, and English lung. The similarly motivated use of the word lights for ‘lungs’ dates from the 12th century; it is now restricted to ‘animals’ lungs used as food’, but it was formerly a general term.
=> light[lung etymology, lung origin, 英语词源]
lungeyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lunge: [18] ‘Length’ is the etymological notion underlying the word lunge. It comes ultimately from French allonger ‘lengthen’, a verb based on the adjective long ‘long’. Its fencing application derived, in French, from the idea of ‘extending one’s sword to strike a blow’. It was originally borrowed into English in the 17th century as allonge, but this was soon shortened to lunge.
lupinyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lupin: see wolf
lurchyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lurch: English has two words lurch, both with rather obscure histories. The verb, ‘stagger’ [19], appears to come from an earlier lee-lurch, which in turn may have been an alteration of an 18th-century nautical term lee-latch, denoting ‘drifting to leeward’. The latch element may have come from French lâcher ‘let go’. The lurch of leave someone in the lurch [16] originated as a term in backgammon, denoting a ‘defeat’, ‘low score’, or ‘position of disadvantage’. It was borrowed from French lourche, which probably goes back to Middle High German lurz ‘left’, hence ‘wrong’, ‘defeat’.
lustyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lust: [OE] Lust is a Germanic word; it goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *lust-, which as well as English lust had produced German lust (now used for ‘pleasure’ rather than ‘desire’). Swedish lust ‘inclination, pleasure, desire’ was borrowed from Low German. From the same Germanic ancestor came the now archaic verb list ‘desire’, source of listless. And it is possible that lascivious [15], acquired from late Latin lascīviōsus, may ultimately be related.
=> lascivious, listless
lustreyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lustre: see light
luxuryyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
luxury: [14] Luxury was originally a pejorative word, denoting ‘sinful self-indulgence’. Not until the 17th century did it begin to acquire its positive modern connotations of costliness, comfort, and desirability. It came via Old French from Latin luxuria ‘excess’, a derivative of luxus ‘excess, abundance, extravagance’. The Latin derived verb luxuriāre ‘grow profusely’ has given English luxuriant [16] and luxuriate [17].
lycanthropyyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lycanthropy: see wolf
lychgateyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lychgate: see like
lymphyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lymph: [17] Despite its Greek appearance, lymph comes, perhaps via French, from Latin. Its distant ancestor was Latin limpa or lumpa, which meant ‘water’. And that was the original sense of English lymph; not until the 18th century was it used for ‘clear bodily fluid’. The alteration of the Latin word to lympha appears to have been due to association with Greek númphē ‘nymph’. English limpid [17] comes from Latin limpidus ‘clear’, which may have been related to limpa.
lynchyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lynch: [19] This verb for ‘punishing someone without an official trial’ owes its existence to one William Lynch, a planter and justice of the peace of Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA, who at the beginning of the 19th century took it upon himself to set up unofficial tribunals to try suspects. His rough and ready method of administering justice was termed Lynch’s law, later lynch law, and the verb followed in the 1830s.
lynxyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
lynx: [14] The lynx, a member of the cat family, probably gets its name from its clear sight. It comes via Latin lynx from Greek lúgx, which probably derived from the same Indo-European root (*leuk-) as produced English light and (via Latin) illuminate, illustrate, lucid, luminous, lunar, and lustre. A precedent for its application to ‘seeing’ is provided by Greek leússein ‘see’.
=> illustrate, light, ounce
LyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
Roman letter, from Greek lambda, from Semitic lamed. The shape of the Roman letter is an early one in Greek, adopted before it was superseded in Greek by the inverted form which became the Greek lambda.
L.A.youdaoicibaDictYouDict
abbreviation for Los Angeles, attested from 1949.
L.L.youdaoicibaDictYouDict
contraction of Latin legum "of laws, in degrees;" as in L.L.D., which stands for Legum Doctor "Doctor of Laws." Plural abbreviations in Latin were formed by doubling the letter.
l.s.d.youdaoicibaDictYouDict
abbreviation of British currency units, from Latin librae, soldi, denarii, Roman equivalent of "pounds, shillings, pence."
layoudaoicibaDictYouDict
musical note (sixth note of the diatonic scale), early 14c., see gamut. It represents the initial syllable of Latin labii "of the lips."
la-di-dayoudaoicibaDictYouDict
mocking of affected gentility, 1874, in derisive imitation of "swell" way of talking.
la-layoudaoicibaDictYouDict
nonsense refrain in songs, probably from Old English la, a common exclamation; but la-la is imitative of babbling speech in many languages (compare Greek lalage "babble, prattle," Sanskrit lalalla "imitation of stammering" Latin lallare "to sing to sleep, lull," German lallen "to stammer," Lithuanian laluoti "to stammer").
La-Z-BoyyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
brand of recliner chair, named 1929, Floral City Furniture Co., Monroe, Michigan, U.S. According to company lore, chosen from names submitted in a contest.