英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

mescal (n.)[mescal 词源字典]: "plant of the genus Agave," found in deserts of Mexico and southwestern U.S., especially the American aloe, or maguey plant, 1702, from Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) mexcalli "fermented drink made from agave," from metl "agave" + ixcalli "stew." Meaning "intoxicating liquor from fermented juice of the agave" is attested in English from 1828. Also the name of a small desert cactus (peyote) found in northern Mexico and southern Texas (1885).[mescal etymology, mescal origin, 英语词源]
mescaline (n.): crystalline alkaloid, 1896, from German mezcalin (1896), so called because it originally was found in the buttons that grow atop the mescal cacti (see mescal). With chemical suffix -ine (2).
mesdames: plural of French madame (see madam).
meseems (v.): late 14c., me semeth, from me (pron.) + seem (v.).
mesel: "leprous" (adj.); "a leper" (n.); both c. 1300, from Old French mesel "wretched, leprous; a wretch," from Latin misellus "wretched, unfortunate," as a noun, "a wretch," in Medieval Latin, "a leper," diminutive of miser "wretched, unfortunate, miserable" (see miser). Also from Latin misellus are Old Italian misello "sick, leprous," Catalan mesell "sick."
mesenteritis (n.): "inflammation of the mesentery," 1802; see mesentery + -itis "inflammation."
mesentery (n.): fold of the peritoneum, early 15c., from medical Latin mesenterium "middle of the intestine," from medical Greek mesenterion, from mesos "middle" (see medial (adj.)) + enteron "intestine" (see enteric). Related: Mesenteric.
mesh (n.): late 14c., mesche, "open space in a net," probably from late Old English max "net," earlier mæscre, from Proto-Germanic *mask- (cognates: Old Norse möskvi, Danish maske, Swedish maska, Old Saxon masca, Middle Dutch maessce, Dutch maas "mesh," Old High German masca, German Masche "mesh"), from PIE root *mezg- "to knit, plait, twist" (cognates: Lithuanian mezgu "to knit," mazgas "knot").
mesh (v.): 1530s, originally in the figurative sense of "entangle, involve," from mesh (n.). Literal sense "to become enmeshed" is from 1580s. Meaning "to fit in, combine" is from 1944. Related: Meshed; meshing.
meshuga (adj.): "mad, crazy, stupid," 1892, from Hebrew meshugga, part. of shagag "to go astray, wander." The adjective has forms meshugener, meshugenah before a noun.
mesial (adj.): "middle, median," 1803, an irregular formation from Greek mesos "middle" (see meso-) + -al (1). Related: Mesially.
mesic (adj.): 1926, in ecology sense, from Greek mesos "middle" (see meso-) + -ic. From 1939 in physics (from meson).
mesmeric (adj.): "pertaining to mesmerism," 1829; see mesmerism + -ic.
mesmerise (v.): chiefly British English spelling of mesmerize (v.); for suffix, see -ize. Related: Mesmerised; mesmerising.
mesmerism (n.): "hypnotism," 1802, from French mesmérisme, named for Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), Austrian physician who developed a theory of animal magnetism and a mysterious body fluid which allows one person to hypnotize another. Related: Mesmerist.
mesmerize (v.): 1829, back-formation from mesmerism. Transferred sense of "enthrall" is first attested 1862. Related: Mesmerized; mesmerizing.
mesne (adj.): mid-15c., "mean;" altered spelling (by French influence) of Anglo-French meen "mean" (Old French meien "middle;" see mean (adj.); also see demesne).
meso-: word-forming element meaning "middle, intermediate, halfway," sometimes mes- before vowels, comb. form of Greek mesos "middle, in the middle; middling, moderate; between" (see medial (adj.)).
Mesoamerica (n.): 1948, from meso- + America.
mesocracy (n.): "government by the middle classes," 1858, from meso- + -cracy. Related: Mesocratic (1857).