英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

peerless (adj.)[peerless 词源字典]: c. 1300, from peer (n.) + -less.[peerless etymology, peerless origin, 英语词源]
peeve (v.): 1907 (implied in peeved), back-formation from peevish. As a noun, attested by 1910. Related: Peeved; peeving; peeves.
peevish (adj.): late 14c., peyvesshe "perverse, capricious, silly," of uncertain origin, possibly modeled on Latin perversus "reversed, perverse," past participle of pervertere "to turn about" (see pervert (v.)). Meaning "cross, fretful" first recorded 1520s. Related: Peevishly; peevishness.
peewee (adj.): 1877, "small, tiny, for children," a dialect word, possibly a varied reduplication of wee. Attested earlier (1848) as a noun meaning "a small marble." (Baseball Hall-of-Famer Harold "Peewee" Reese got his nickname because he was a marbles champion before he became a Dodgers shortstop.) As a type of bird (variously applied on different continents) it is attested from 1886, imitative of a bird cry.
peg (n.): mid-15c., from Middle Dutch pegge "peg," a common Low German word (Low German pigge "peg," German Pegel "gauge rod, watermark," Middle Dutch pegel "little knob used as a mark," Dutch peil "gauge, watermark, standard"), of uncertain origin; perhaps from PIE *bak- "staff used as support" (see bacillus). To be a square peg in a round hole "be inappropriate for one's situation" is attested from 1836; to take someone down a peg is from 1580s, but the original literal sense is uncertain (most of the likely candidates are not attested until centuries later). Peg leg "wooden leg" attested from 1765.
peg (v.): "fasten with or as if on a peg," 1590s, from peg (n.). Slang sense of "identify, classify" first recorded 1920. Related: Pegged; pegging.
Pegasus: winged horse in Greek mythology, late 14c., from Latin, from Greek Pegasos, usually said to be from pege "fountain, spring; a well fed by a spring" (plural pegai), especially in "springs of Ocean," near which Medusa was said to have been killed by Perseus (Pegasus sprang from her blood). But this may be folk etymology, and the ending of the word indicates non-Greek origin. Advances since the 1990s in the study of the Luwians, neighbors of the Hittites in ancient Anatolia, show a notable convergence of the Greek name with Pihaššašši, the name of a Luwian weather-god: "the mythological figure of Pegasus carrying the lightning and thunderbolt of Zeus, ... is likely to represent an avatar of the Luwian Storm-God of Lightning ...." [Alice Mouton, et al., eds., "Luwian Identities," 2013]
Peggy: fem. familiar proper name, alteration of Maggie (see Margaret).
pegomancy (n.): "divination by fountains," 1727, from Latinized form of Greek pege "fountain, spring" (of unknown origin) + -mancy.
peignoir (n.): "lady's loose robe," 1835, from French peignoir, from Middle French peignouoir "garment worn over the shoulders while combing the hair" (16c.), from peigner "to comb the hair," from Latin pectinare, from pecten (genitive pectinis) "a comb," related to pectere "to comb" (see fight (v.)). A gown put on while coming from the bath; misapplied in English to a woman's morning gown.
Peirce: surname, attested from late 12c., from Old French Piers, nominative of proper name Pierre (see Peter) .
pejoration (n.): 1650s, noun of action from pejorate (see pejorative).
pejorative (adj.): "depreciative, disparaging," 1888, from French péjoratif, from Late Latin peiorat-, past participle stem of peiorare "make worse," from Latin peior "worse," related to pessimus "worst," pessum "downward, to the ground," from PIE *ped-yos-, comparative of root *ped- "to walk, stumble, impair" (see peccadillo). As a noun from 1882. English had a verb pejorate "to worsen" from 1640s.
Peking: former transliteration of what is now (in the pinyin system) called Beijing. In the Wade-Giles system it was Peiping; this form Peking pre-dates Wade-Giles and was formed by the old British-run, Hong Kong-based Chinese postal system.
Pekingese: 1907, "small long-haired dog of the pug type," so called because originally brought from the Imperial Palace at Peking, China. Also Pekinese.
pelage (n.): "coat of a mammal," from French pelage "hair or wool of an animal" (16c.), from Old French pel "hair," from Latin pilus "hair" (see pile (n.3)).
Pelagian: 1530s (n.); 1570s (adj.), from Medieval Latin Pelagianus, from Pelagius, Latinized form of the name of 4c. British monk who denied the doctrine of original sin. Combated by Augustine, condemned by Pope Zosimus in 418 C.E. His name in Welsh was said to have been Morgan, literally "sea-dweller" (hence his Church name, from Greek pelagos "sea;" see pelagic). Related: Pelagianism.
pelagic (adj.): "pertaining to the sea," 1650s, from Latin pelagicus, from Greek pelagikos, from pelagos "sea, high sea, open sea, main," from PIE *pelag- "to spread out" (source of Greek plagos "side," Latin plaga "hunting net, curtain, region"), possibly from root *plak- (1) "to spread out, be flat" (see placenta).
Pelasgian: late 15c., "of the Pelasgi," from Latin Pelasgius, from Greek Pelasgios "of the Pelasgi," from Pelasgoi "the Pelasgi," name of a prehistoric people of Greece and Asia Minor who occupied Greece before the Hellenes, probably originally *Pelag-skoi, literally "Sea-people" (see pelagic).
pelf (n.): mid-14c., "stolen goods," from Anglo-French pelf, Old French pelfre "booty, spoils" (11c.), of unknown origin; also see pilfer. Meaning "money, riches," with a pejorative overtone first recorded c. 1500.