英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

medusa (n.)[medusa 词源字典]: "jellyfish," 1758, as genus name, from the name of one of the three Gorgons with snakes for hair, whose glance turned to stone him who looked upon it (attested in English from late 14c.). Her name is from Greek Medousa, literally "guardian," fem. present participle of the verb medein "to protect, rule over" (see Medea). The zoological name was chosen by Linnæus, suggested by the creature's long tentacles. Related: Medusoid.[medusa etymology, medusa origin, 英语词源]
meek (adj.): c. 1200, "gentle, quiet, unaggressive; benevolent, kind; courteous, humble, unassuming;" of a woman, "modest," from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse mjukr "soft, pliant, gentle," from Proto-Germanic *meukaz (cognates: Gothic muka-modei "humility," Dutch muik "soft"), of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE *meug- "slippery, slimy." In the Bible, it translates Latin mansuetus from Vulgate (see mansuetude). Sense of "submissive" is from mid-14c.
meek (n.): "those who are meek," c. 1200, from meek (adj.).
meekly (adv.): c. 1200, from meek (adj.) + -ly (2).
meekness (n.): c. 1200, meknesse; see meek (adj.) + -ness.
meerkat (n.): late 15c., "monkey," from Dutch meerkat "monkey" (related to Old High German mericazza), apparently from meer "lake" + kat "cat." But compare Hindi markat, Sanskrit markata "ape," which might serve as a source of a Teutonic folk-etymology, even though the word was in Germanic before any known direct contact with India. First applied to the small South African mammals in 1801.
meerschaum (n.): type of soft white clay, 1784; from 1789 as "tobacco pipe with a bowl made of meerschaum clay," from German Meerschaum, literally "sea-foam," so called from its frothy appearance; from Old High German mari "sea" (see mere (n.)) + scum "scum" (see skim (v.)). A loan-translation of Latin spuma maris, itself said to be a loan translation of Greek halos akhne, from Persian kaf-i-darya.
meet (v.): Old English metan "to find, find out; fall in with, encounter; obtain," from Proto-Germanic *motjan (cognates: Old Norse mæta, Old Frisian meta, Old Saxon motian "to meet," Gothic gamotijan), from PIE root *mod- "to meet, assemble." Related to Old English gemot "meeting." Meaning "to assemble" is from 1520s. Of things, "to come into contact," c. 1300. Related: Met; meeting. To meet (someone) halfway in the figurative sense is from 1620s.
meet (adj.): "proper, fitting," Old English gemæte, Anglian *gemete, "suitable, having the same dimensions," from Proto-Germanic *ga-mætijaz (cognates: Old Norse mætr, Old High German gimagi, German gemäß "suitable"), from collective prefix *ga- + PIE *med- "to measure" (see medical (adj.)). The basic formation is thus the same as that of commensurate.
meet (n.): 1831 in the sporting sense, originally of gatherings for hunting, from meet (v.).
meeting (n.): "action of coming together," Old English gemeting, verbal noun from meet (v.). Meaning "gathering of people for discussion, etc." is from 1510s. In 17c., it was applied generally to worship assemblies of nonconformists, but this now is retained mostly by Quakers.
meeting-house (n.): also meetinghouse, 1630s, from meeting (n.) + house (n.).
Meg: fem. proper name; before the late 20c. rise in popularity of Megan it typically was a pet form of Margaret, and was "used dial. to indicate a hoyden, coarse woman, etc." [OED]
mega-: before vowels meg-, word-forming element often meaning "large, great," but in precise scientific language "one million" (megaton, megawatt, etc.), from Greek megas "great, large, vast, big, high, tall; mighty, important" (fem. megale), from PIE *meg- "great" (cognates: Latin magnus, Old English micel; see mickle). Mega began to be used alone as an adjective by 1982.
High-speed computer stores 2.5 megabits [headline in "Electronics" magazine, Oct. 1, 1957]
megabucks (n.): 1946, originally "one million dollars," from mega- in the scientific sense + slang buck (n.) "dollar." A jocular coinage of U.S. scientists working on expensive atomic research.
megabyte (n.): 1972, from mega- + byte.
The Sussex team has run the Forrester/Meadows models more than 1000 times on the UK's most powerful computer (the giant two-megabyte IBM 370/165 at Harwell). ["New Scientist," May 4, 1972]
megacity (n.): also mega-city, 1968, from mega- + city.
megacycle (n.): 1928, from mega- + cycle (n.).
megadeath (n.): 1953, from mega- in scientific sense (one million) + death (n.). The death of one million persons, as a measure of the effectiveness of nuclear weapons. The resulting pile of dead bodies would be a megacorpse, according to writings on the topic.
megahertz (n.): 1941, from mega- + Hertz.