英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

maxi-[maxi- 词源字典]: word-forming element meaning "maximum, very large, very long," from comb. form of maximum.[maxi- etymology, maxi- origin, 英语词源]
maxilla (n.): "jaw, jawbone," 1670s, from Latin maxilla "upper jaw," diminutive of mala "jaw, cheekbone." "Maxilla stands to mala as axilla, 'armpit,' stands to ala 'wing'" [Klein]. Related: Maxillar; maxilliform.
maxillary (adj.): 1620s, from Latin maxilla (see maxilla) + -ary.
maxim (n.): "precept, principle," early 15c., from Middle French maxime, from Late Latin maxima, shortened from phrases such as maxima propositio, maxima sententarium "axiom," literally "greatest premise, greatest among propositions" (one which is general and absolute), from fem. of maximus "greatest" (see maximum).
Maxim: single-barreled water-cooled machine gun, 1885, named for inventor, U.S.-born British engineer Sir Hiram S. Maxim (1840-1916).
maximal (adj.): 1872, from Latin maximus (see maximum (n.)) + -al (1). Related: Maximally.
maximalist (n.): "extreme radical in the Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party," early 20c., from maximal + -ist; denoting "one who insists on all his demands." Related: Maximalism.
Maximilian: masc. proper name, from Latin Maximus and Aemilianus, both proper names. According to Camden, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III (1415-1493) coined the name and gave it to his son in hopes the boy would grow up to have the virtues of Fabius Maximus and Scipio Aemilianus.
maximise (v.): chiefly British English spelling of maximize. For suffix, see -ize. Related: Maximised; maximising.
maximization (n.): 1802, noun of action from maximize.
maximize (v.): 1802, formed in English from maximum + -ize; first attested in Bentham, who used it often. Related: Maximized; maximizing.
maximum (n.): 1740, from French maximum and directly from Latin maximum (plural maxima), neuter of maximus "greatest," which is superlative of magnus "great, large" (see magnum).
maximum (adj.): 1834, from maximum (n.).
may (v.1): Old English mæg "am able" (infinitive magan, past tense meahte, mihte), from Proto-Germanic root *mag-, infinitive *maganan (Old Frisian mei/muga/machte "have power, may;" Old Saxon mag/mugan/mahte; Middle Dutch mach/moghen/mohte; Dutch mag/mogen/mocht; Old High German mag/magan/mahta; German mag/mögen/mochte; Old Norse ma/mega/matte; Gothic mag/magan/mahte "to be able"), from PIE *magh- (1) "to be able, have power" (cognates: Greek mekhos, makhos "means, instrument," Old Church Slavonic mogo "to be able," mosti "power, force," Sanskrit mahan "great"). Also used in Old English as a "auxiliary of prediction."
May: fifth month, early 12c., from Old French mai and directly from Latin Majus, Maius mensis "month of May," possibly from Maja, Maia, a Roman earth goddess (wife of Vulcan) whose name is of unknown origin; possibly from PIE *mag-ya "she who is great," fem. suffixed form of root *meg- "great" (cognate with Latin magnus). Replaced Old English þrimilce, month in which cows can be milked three times a day. May marriages have been considered unlucky at least since Ovid's day. May-apple attested from 1733, American English.
may (v.2): "to take part in May Day festivities," late 15c., from May. Related: Mayed; maying.
May Day: "first of May," mid-15c. Accounts of merrymaking on this date are attested from mid-13c. Synonymous with "communist procession" from at least 1906. The May Queen seems to be a Victorian re-invented tradition.
Maya: 1822, from the native name. Related: Mayan (1831).
maybe (adv.): early 15c., from (it) may be; see may (v.1) + be (v.). Still sometimes written as two words early 19c.
mayday (interj.): distress call, 1923, apparently an Englished spelling of French m'aider, shortening of venez m'aider "come help me!" But possibly a random coinage with coincidental resemblance:
"May Day" Is Airplane SOS
ENGLISH aviators who use radio telephone transmitting sets on their planes, instead of telegraph sets, have been puzzling over the problem of choosing a distress call for transmission by voice. The letters SOS wouldn't do, and just plain "help!" was not liked, and so "May Day" was chosen. This was thought particularly fitting since it sounds very much like the French m'aidez, which means "help me." ["The Wireless Age," June 1923]