英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

skyhook (n.)[skyhook 词源字典]: also sky-hook, "imaginary device to hold things up," 1915, originally aviators' jargon, from sky (n.) + hook (n.). Applied from 1935 to actual device for lifting things into the air.[skyhook etymology, skyhook origin, 英语词源]
skyjack (v.): "to hijack an airplane," 1961, apparently coined in New York "Mirror" headlines, from sky (n.) + second element of hijack (q.v.).
Skylab (n.): name of a U.S. space program, first attested 1970, launched 1973, fell to earth 1979. From sky (n.) + lab (n.).
skylark (n.): the common European lark, 1680s, from sky (n.) + lark (n.1). So called because it sings as it mounts toward the sky in flight.
skylark (v.): "to frolic or play," 1809, originally nautical, in reference to "wanton play about the rigging, and tops," probably from skylark (n.), influenced by (or from) lark (n.2). Related: Skylarked; skylarking.
skylight (n.): 1670s, "light from the sky," from sky (n.) + light (n.). Meaning "small opening in a roof to admit light" is recorded from 1680s. Related: Sky-lit.
skyline (n.): "horizon," 1824, from sky (n.) + line (n.).
skyrocket (n.): 1680s, type of firework, from sky (n.) + rocket (n.2). The verb, in the figurative sense of "to rise abruptly and rapidly" (often with suggestion of 'and then explode and vanish'") is attested from 1895.
skyscraper (n.): very tall urban building, 1888, in a Chicago context, from sky (n.) + agent noun of scrape (v.). Used earlier for "ornament atop a building" (1883), "very tall man" (1857), "high-flying bird" (1840), "light sail at the top of a mast" (1794), and the name of a racehorse (1789). Compare cognate French gratte-ciel, from gratter "to scrape" + ciel "sky;" German Wolkenkratzer, from Wolke "cloud" + Kratzer "scraper."
cloud-cleaver, an imaginary sail jokingly assumed to be carried by Yankee ships. [W. Clark Russell, "Sailors' Word Book," 1883]
slab (n.): late 13c., "large, flat mass," of unknown origin, possibly related to Old French escopel, escalpe "thin fragment of wood," which according to Klein is possibly a Gaulish word (compare Breton scolp, Welsh ysgolp "splinter, chip"). But OED rejects this on formal grounds. Meaning "rectangular block of pre-cast concrete used in building" is from 1927. Slab-sided is "having flat sides like slabs," hence "tall and lank" (1817, American English).
slack (n.2): "coal dust," mid-15c., sleck, of uncertain origin, probably related to Middle Dutch slacke, Middle Low German slecke "slag, small pieces left after coal is screened," perhaps related to slagge "splinter flying off metal when it is struck" (see slag (n.)).
slack (adj.): Old English slæc "remiss, lax, characterized by lack of energy, sluggish, indolent, languid; slow, gentle, easy," from Proto-Germanic *slakas (cognates: Old Saxon slak, Old Norse slakr, Old High German slah "slack," Middle Dutch lac "fault, lack"), from PIE root *(s)leg- "to be slack" (see lax).

Sense of "not tight" (in reference to things) is first recorded c. 1300. As an adverb from late 14c. Slack-key (1975) translates Hawaiian ki ho'alu. Slack water (n.) "time when tide is not flowing" is from 1769. Slack-handed "remiss" is from 1670s. Slack-baked "baked imperfectly, half-baked" is from 1823; figuratively from 1840.
slack (n.1): early 14c., "cessation" (of pain, grief, etc.), from slack (adj.). Meaning "a cessation of flow in a current or tide" is from 1756; that of "still stretch of a river" is from 1825. Meaning "loose part or end" (of a rope, sail, etc.) is from 1794; hence figurative senses in take up the slack (1930 figuratively) and slang cut (someone) some slack (1968). Meaning "quiet period, lull" is from 1851. Slacks "loose trousers" first recorded 1824, originally military.
slack (v.): 1510s, "to moderate, make slack," back-formed from slack (adj.) after the original verb veered into the specialized sense of slake. Meaning "be remiss, inactive or idle, fail to exert oneself" is attested from 1540s; current use is probably a re-coining from c. 1904 (see slacker, and compare Old English slacful "lazy," sleacmodnes "laziness"). Related: Slacked; slacking.
slack-jawed (adj.): 1882, "over-talkative," from slack-jaw (n.) "impertinent language" (1797), from slack (adj.) + jaw (n.). Meaning "open-mouthed and speechless" from astonishment, stupidity, etc., is from 1905.
slacken (v.): early 15c., from slack (adj.) + -en (1). Related: Slackened; slackening.
slacker (n.): popularized 1994, but the meaning "person who shirks work" dates to 1897; agent noun from slack (v.). In early use also slackster (1901). Compare Old English sleacornes "laziness," which is not, however, an agent noun. Related: Slackerly; slackerish.
slackly (adv.): Old English slæclice; see slack (adj.) + -ly (2).
slackness (n.): Old English slæcnes "slowness, remissness, laziness;" see slack (adj.) + -ness.
slag (n.): "refuse from smelting," 1550s, from Middle Low German slagge (German Schlacke) "splinter flying off when metal is struck," related to Old High German slahan "to strike, slay" (see slay (v.)).