quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- obliviate (v.)[obliviate 词源字典]
- 1660s, from Latin oblivium (see oblivion). Related: Obliviated; obliviating.[obliviate etymology, obliviate origin, 英语词源]
- oblivion (n.)
- late 14c., "state or fact of forgetting," from Old French oblivion (13c.) and directly from Latin oblivionem (nominative oblivio) "forgetfulness; a being forgotten," from oblivisci (past participle oblitus) "forget," originally "even out, smooth over, efface," from ob "over" (see ob-) + root of levis "smooth," from PIE *lei-w-, from root *(s)lei- "slime, slimy, sticky" (see slime (n.)). Meaning "state of being forgotten" is early 15c.
- oblivious (adj.)
- mid-15c., from Latin obliviosus "forgetful, that easily forgets; producing forgetfulness," from oblivion (see oblivion). Meaning "unaware, unconscious (of something)" is from 1862, formerly regarded as erroneous, this is now the general meaning and the word has lost its original sense of "no longer aware or mindful." Properly should be used with to, not of. Related: Obliviously; obliviousness.
- oblong (adj.)
- early 15c., from Latin oblongus "more long than broad," originally "somewhat long," from ob "to, toward," here perhaps intensive (see ob-) + longus "long" (see long (adj.)). As a noun from c. 1600.
- obloquy (n.)
- mid-15c., "evil speaking," from Late Latin obloquium "speaking against, contradiction," from Latin obloqui "to speak against, contradict," from ob "against" (see ob-) + loqui "to speak," from PIE *tolk(w)- "to speak" (see locution). Related: Obloquious.
- obnoxious (adj.)
- 1580s, "subject to the authority of another," from Latin obnoxiosus "hurtful, injurious," from obnoxius "subject, exposed to harm," from ob "to, toward" (see ob-) + noxa "injury, hurt, damage entailing liability" (see noxious). Meaning "subject to something harmful" is 1590s; meaning "offensive, hateful" is first recorded 1670s, influenced by noxious.
Obnoxious has two very different senses, one of which (exposed or open or liable to attack or injury) requires notice because its currency is now so restricted that it is puzzling to the uninstructed. It is the word's rightful or de jure meaning, and we may hope that scholarly writers will keep it alive. [Fowler]
Related: Obnoxiously; obnoxiousness. - obnubilate (v.)
- 1580s, from Latin obnibulatus, past participle of obnubilare "to cover with clouds or fog," from ob- (see ob-) + verb from Latin nubes "cloud" (see nuance). Related: Obnubilated; obnubilating; obnubilation.
- obo
- also o.b.o., abbreviation of or best offer, by 1969.
- oboe (n.)
- 1724, from Italian oboe, from phonetic spelling of Middle French hautbois (itself borrowed in English 16c. as hautboy), from haut "high, loud, high-pitched" (see haught) + bois "wood" (see bush (n.)). So called because it had the highest register among woodwind instruments. Related: Oboist.
- obol (n.)
- ancient Greek small coin and weight, 1660s, from Latin obolus, from Greek obolos, identical with obelos "a spit, needle." From the original shape.
- obscene (adj.)
- 1590s, "offensive to the senses, or to taste and refinement," from Middle French obscène (16c.), from Latin obscenus "offensive," especially to modesty, originally "boding ill, inauspicious," of unknown origin; perhaps from ob "onto" (see ob-) + caenum "filth." Meaning "offensive to modesty or decency" is attested from 1590s. Legally, in U.S., it hinged on "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest." [Justice William Brennan, "Roth v. United States," June 24, 1957]; refined in 1973 by "Miller v. California":
The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
Related: Obscenely. - obscenity (n.)
- 1580s, "obscene quality," from French obscénité, from Latin obscenitatem (nominative obscenitas) "inauspiciousness, filthiness," from obscenus "offensive" (see obscene). Meaning "a foul or loathsome act" is 1610s. Sense of "an obscene utterance or word" is attested by 1690. Related: Obscenities.
- obscurant (adj.)
- 1878, from Latin obscurantem (nominative obscurans), present participle of obscurare (see obscure (v.)).
- obscurantism (n.)
- "opposition to enlightenment," 1834, from German obscurantismus (18c.); see obscurant + -ism.
- obscurantist (n.)
- 1841; see obscurantism + -ist.
- obscuration (n.)
- late 15c., from Latin obscurationem (nominative obscuratio) "a darkening, obscuring," noun of action from past participle stem of obscurare (see obscure (v.)).
- obscure (adj.)
- c. 1400, "dark," figuratively "morally unenlightened; gloomy," from Old French obscur, oscur "dark, clouded, gloomy; dim, not clear" (12c.) and directly from Latin obscurus "dark, dusky, shady," figuratively "unknown; unintelligible; hard to discern; from insignificant ancestors," from ob "over" (see ob-) + -scurus "covered," from PIE *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal" (see sky). Related: Obscurely.
- obscure (v.)
- early 15c., "to cover (something), cloud over," from obscure (adj.) or else from Middle French obscurer, from Latin obscurare "to make dark, darken, obscure," from obscurus. Related: Obscured; obscuring.
- obscurity (n.)
- late 15c., "absence of light;" 1610s with meaning "condition of being unknown;" from obscure (adj.) + -ity; or else from Middle French obscurité, variant of Old French oscureté "darkness, gloom; vagueness, confusion; insignificance" (14c.), from Latin obscuritatem (nominative obscuritas) "darkness, indistinctness, uncertainty," from obscurus.
- obsecration (n.)
- late 14c., from Latin obsecrationem (nominative obsecratio) "a beseeching, imploring, supplication, entreaty," noun of action from past participle stem of obsecrare "to beseech, entreat" (on religious grounds), from ob- (see ob-) + sacrare "to make or declare sacred" (see sacred).