英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

limn (v.)[limn 词源字典]: early 15c., "to illuminate" (manuscripts), altered from Middle English luminen, "to illuminate manuscripts" (late 14c.), from Old French luminer "light up, illuminate," from Latin luminare "illuminate, burnish," from lumen (genitive luminis) "radiant energy, light," related to lucere "to shine" (see light (n.)). Sense of "portray, depict" first recorded 1590s. Related: Limned.[limn etymology, limn origin, 英语词源]
limnology (n.): study of lakes and fresh water, 1892, with -logy + limno-, comb. form of Greek limne "pool of standing water, tidal pool, marsh, lake," from PIE root *(s)lei- "slime" (see slime (n.)). The science founded and the name probably coined by Swiss geologist François-Alphonse Forel (1841-1912). Related: Limnological; limnologist.
limo (n.): abbreviation of limousine, by 1959, American English.
Limoges (n.): painted porcelain or enamel from Limoges in France, 1838; for place name see Limousine.
limousine (n.): 1902, "enclosed automobile with open driver's seat," from French limousine, from Limousin, region in central France, originally an adjective referring to its chief city, Limoges, from Latin Lemovices, name of a people who lived near there, perhaps named in reference to their elm spears or bows. The Latin adjective form of the name, Lemovicinus, is the source of French Limousin.

Modern automobile meaning evolved from perceived similarity of the car's profile to a type of hood worn by the inhabitants of that province. Since 1930s, synonymous in American English with "luxury car;" applied from 1959 to vehicles that take people to and from large airports. Limousine liberal first attested 1969.
limp (v.): 1560s, of unknown origin, perhaps related to Middle English lympen "to fall short" (c. 1400), which is probably from Old English lemphealt "halting, lame, limping," which has a lone cognate in the rare Middle High German limphin, and perhaps is from a PIE root meaning "slack, loose, to hang down" (cognates: Sanskrit lambate "hangs down," Middle High German lampen "to hang down"). Related: Limped; limping. As a noun, 1818, from the verb.
limp (adj.): 1706, "flaccid, drooping," of obscure origin, perhaps related to limp (v.).
limpet (n.): marine gastropod mollusk, early 14c., from Old English lempedu, from Medieval Latin lampreda "limpet" (see lamprey).
limpid (adj.): c. 1600, from French limpide (15c.) and directly from Latin limpidus "clear," from limpa "water goddess, water;" probably cognate with lympha "clear liquid" (see lymph). Related: Limpidly.
limpidity (n.): 1650s, from French limpidité or directly from Late Latin limpiditatem (nominative limpiditas) "clarity," from Latin limpidus (see limpid).
limy (adj.): resembling or coated with lime, 1550s, from lime (n.1) + -y (2).
linch (n.): early 14c., lins, from Old English lynis "linchpin," from Proto-Germanic *luniso (cognates: Old Saxon lunisa, Middle Dutch lunse, Dutch luns, German Lünse).
linchpin (n.): also linch-pin, late 14c., earlier linspin, from Middle English lins "axletree" (see linch) + pin (n.). The peg that holds a wheel on an axle; now mainly figurative.
Lincoln: English city, county town of Lincolnshire, Old English Lindcylene, from Latin Lindum Colonia from a Latinized form of British *lindo "pool, lake" (corresponding to Welsh llyn). Originally a station for retired IX Legion veterans. Lincoln green as a type of dyed cloth fabric made there is from c. 1500. In reference to U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), Lincolnesque is from 1894 (earlierst reference is to the beard); Lincolniana is from (1862).
linden (n.): "the lime tree," 1570s, noun use of an adjective, "of linden wood," from Old English lind "linden" (n.), from Proto-Germanic *lindjo (cognates: Old Saxon linda, Old Norse lind, Old High German linta, German linde), probably from PIE *lent-o- "flexible" (see lithe); with reference to the tree's pliant bast. Compare Russian lutĭijó "forest of lime trees," Polish łęt "switch, twig," Lithuanian lenta "board, plank."
Lindy Hop (n.): popular dance, 1931, it originated in Harlem, N.Y., named for Lindy, nickname of U.S. aviator Charles A. Lindbergh (1902-1974) who in 1927 made the first solo nonstop trans-Atlantic flight.
line (n.): a Middle English merger of Old English line "cable, rope; series, row, row of letters; rule, direction," and Old French ligne "guideline, cord, string; lineage, descent;" both from Latin linea "linen thread, string, line," from phrase linea restis "linen cord," from fem. of lineus (adj.) "of linen," from linum "linen" (see linen).

Oldest sense is "rope, cord, string;" extended late 14c. to "a thread-like mark" (from sense "cord used by builders for making things level," mid-14c.), also "track, course, direction." Sense of "things or people arranged in a straight line" is from 1550s. That of "cord bearing hooks used in fishing" is from c. 1300. Meaning "one's occupation, branch of business" is from 1630s, probably from misunderstood KJV translation of 2 Cor. x:16, "And not to boast in another mans line of things made ready to our hand," where line translates Greek kanon, literally "measuring rod." Meaning "class of goods in stock" is from 1834. Meaning "telegraph wire" is from 1847 (later "telephone wire").

Meaning "policy or set of policies of a political faction" is 1892, American English, from notion of a procession of followers; this is the sense in party line. In British army, the Line (1802) is the regular, numbered troops, as distinguished from guards and auxiliaries. In the Navy (1704, as in ship of the line) it refers to the battle line. Lines "words of an actor's part" is from 1882. Lines of communication were originally transverse trenches in siegeworks.
line (v.1): "to cover the inner side of," late 14c., from Old English lin "linen cloth" (see linen). Linen was frequently used in the Middle Ages as a second layer of material on the inner side of a garment. Related: Lined; lining.
line (v.2): late 14c., "to tie with a cord," from line (n.). Meaning "to mark or mark off with lines" is from mid-15c. Sense of "to arrange in a line" is from 1640s; that of "to join a line" is by 1773. To line up "form a line" is attested by 1889, in U.S. football.
lineage (n.): late 17c. alteration (by influence of line (n.)) of Middle English linage (c. 1300), from Old French lignage "descent, extraction, race," from ligne "line," from Latin linea "string, line, thread" (see line (n.)).