英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

mesoderm (n.)[mesoderm 词源字典]: 1858, from French mésoderme or German Mesoderm, literally "middle skin," coined by German physician Robert Remak (1815-1865) from meso- + Greek derma (see -derm).[mesoderm etymology, mesoderm origin, 英语词源]
mesolithic (adj.): 1866 in archaeology (somewhat earlier in geology); see meso- + lithic.
mesomorph (n.): 1940, from meso- + -morph, from Greek morphe "form" (see Morpheus). Coined by W.H. Shelton; the reference is to the mesodermal layer of the embryo. Related: Mesomorphic (attested from 1923 in chemistry).
meson (n.): subatomic particle, 1939, from Greek mesos "middle" (see medial (adj.)) + subatomic particle suffix -on. Earlier mesotron (1938). So called for being intermediate in mass between protons and electrons.
Mesopotamia: ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern Iraq), from Greek mesopotamia (khora), literally "a country between two rivers," from fem. of mesopotamos, from mesos "middle" (see medial (adj.)) + potamos "river" (see potamo-).

In 19c. the word sometimes was used in the sense of "anything which gives irrational or inexplicable comfort to the hearer," based on the story of the old woman who told her pastor that she "found great support in that comfortable word Mesopotamia" ["Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable," 1870]. The place was called Mespot (1917) by British soldiers serving there in World War I. Related: Mesopotamian.
mesosphere (n.): 1950, from meso- + second element in atmosphere.
Mesozoic (adj.): 1840, from Greek mesos "middle" (see meso-) + zoe "life" (see zoo) + -ic. Name coined by British geologist John Phillips for the fossil era "between" the Paleozoic and the Cenozoic.
mesquite (n.): type of North American shrub of the pea family, 1759, from Mexican Spanish mezquite, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) mizquitl "mesquite."
mess (n.): c. 1300, "food for one meal, pottage," from Old French mes "portion of food, course at dinner," from Late Latin missus "course at dinner," literally "a placing, a putting (on a table, etc.)," from past participle of mittere "to put, place," in classical Latin "to send, let go" (see mission).

Meaning "communal eating place" (especially a military one) is first attested 1530s, from earlier sense of "company of persons eating together" (early 15c.), originally a group of four. Sense of "mixed food," especially for animals, (1738) led to contemptuous use for "jumble, mixed mass" (1828) and figurative sense of "state of confusion" (1834), as well as "condition of untidiness" (1851). General use for "a quantity" of anything is attested by 1830. Meaning "excrement" (of animals) is from 1903.
mess (v.): late 14c., "serve up in portions," from mess (n.). Meaning "take one's meals" is from 1701; that of "make a mess" is from 1853. Related: Messed; messing. To mess with "interfere, get involved" is from 1903; mess up "make a mistake, get in trouble" is from 1933 (earlier "make a mess of," 1909), both originally American English colloquial.
message (n.): c. 1300, "communication transmitted via a messenger," from Old French message "message, news, tidings, embassy" (11c.), from Medieval Latin missaticum, from Latin missus "a sending away, sending, despatching; a throwing, hurling," noun use of past participle of mittere "to send" (see mission). The Latin word is glossed in Old English by ærende. Specific religious sense of "divinely inspired communication via a prophet" (1540s) led to transferred sense of "the broad meaning (of something)," first attested 1828. To get the message "understand" is from 1960.
message (v.): "to send messages," 1580s, from message (n.). Related: Messaged; messaging.
messaging (n.): 1865, verbal noun from message (v.).
Messalina: "scheming and licentious woman," 1887, in reference to Valeria Messalina, notorious third wife of Roman emperor Claudius.
messenger (n.): c. 1200, messager, from Old French messagier "messenger, envoy, ambassador," from message (see message (n.)). With parasitic -n- inserted by c. 1300 for no apparent reason except that people liked to say it that way (compare passenger, harbinger, scavenger).
Messerschmitt (n.): type of German warplane, 1940, from name of Willy Messerschmitt (1898-1978), German aircraft designer. The surname is literally "cutler, knife-maker."
messiah (n.): c. 1300, Messias, from Late Latin Messias, from Greek Messias, from Aramaic meshiha and Hebrew mashiah "the anointed" (of the Lord), from mashah "anoint." This is the word rendered in Septuagint as Greek Khristos (see Christ). In Old Testament prophetic writing, it was used of an expected deliverer of the Jewish nation. The modern English form represents an attempt to make the word look more Hebrew, and dates from the Geneva Bible (1560). Transferred sense of "an expected liberator or savior of a captive people" is attested from 1660s.
messianic (adj.): 1831, from Modern Latin messianicus, from Messias (see messiah).
Messier: in reference to a catalogue of about 100 nebulae, star clusters and galaxies begun in 1758 by French astronomer and comet-hunter Charles Messier (1730-1817), who found his telescopic searches deceived by fuzzy objects that resembled distant comets but turned out to be fixed.
What caused me to undertake the catalog was the nebula I discovered above the southern horn of Taurus on September 12, 1758, whilst observing the comet of that year. This nebula had such a resemblance to a comet in its form and brightness that I endeavored to find others, so that astronomers would no more confuse these same nebulae with comets just beginning to appear. [Messier, 1800]
The first version of the catalogue was published 1771, and the fuller version in 1781.
messmate (n.): 1746, from mess (n.) + mate (n.). Etymologically pleonastic.