英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

sublime [sublime 词源字典]: sublime: [16] Sublime was borrowed from Latin sublīmis ‘lofty, exalted’. This was a compound adjective formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’ and probably līmen ‘lintel, threshold’ (a relative of līmes ‘boundary’, from which English gets limit). Sub- here probably has the force of ‘up to’, so that the word denotes etymologically ‘as high as the top of a door’. The same elements were used in the 1880s to coin subliminal, as a direct rendering of the German psychological term unter der schwelle des bewusstseins ‘below the threshold of consciousness’.
=> limit[sublime etymology, sublime origin, 英语词源]
submerge: submerge: see merge
suborn: suborn: see ornament
subsequent: subsequent: see sequence
subsidy: subsidy: see session
substance: substance: [13] Latin substantia denoted the ‘essence’ of something. Derived from the present participle of substāre ‘be present’, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’ and stāre ‘stand’ (a relative of English stand), it was virtually a loan-translation of Greek hupóstasis ‘substance, existence, essence’, which likewise was formed from elements meaning literally ‘under’ and ‘stand’. The word’s ultimate etymological meaning is thus ‘that which underlies or is the essence of something’.
=> stand, station, statue
substitute: substitute: see statue
subtle: subtle: [14] Latin subtīlis, the ultimate source of English subtle, seems to have originated as a weaving term. It probably goes back ultimately to the phrase sub tēla ‘beneath the lengthwise threads in a loom’ (tēla, source of English toilet and toils, was a contraction of *texla, a relative of English textile). As this was lexicalized via *subtēlis to subtīlis, it developed the meaning ‘finely woven’, which subsequently broadened out to ‘fine, thin’. By the time it reached English, via Old French sutil, it had evolved further, to ‘making fine discriminations’.
=> textile, toilet
subtract: subtract: [16] To subtract something is etymologically to ‘pull it away’. The word comes from subtractus, the past participle of Latin subtrahere ‘pull away’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix sub-, usually ‘under’ but here used in the sense ‘away’, and trahere ‘pull’ (source of English traction, tractor, trait, etc). The strictly mathematical use of the word is a post-Latin development.
=> contract, retract, traction, tractor, trait
suburb: suburb: see urban
succeed: succeed: [15] To succeed someone is etymologically to ‘go next to them’, hence to follow them. The word comes via Old French succeder from Latin succēdere, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’ (used here in the sense ‘next below’, hence ‘next to, after’) and cēdere ‘go’ (source also of English cede, exceed, proceed, etc). The notion of ‘getting near to something’ evolved in Latin into ‘doing well, prospering’ – whence the other main meaning of English succeed.
=> cede, excede, proceed, success
succour: succour: [13] If you succour someone, you are literally ‘running under’ them. The word comes via Old French socorre from Latin succurrere, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’ and currere ‘run’ (source of English courier, course, current, etc). The original sense ‘run under’ evolved metaphorically to ‘run to someone’s assistance’, and then to simply ‘help’.
=> courier, course, current
succubus: succubus: see incubate
succumb: succumb: [15] Someone who succumbs to something is etymologically ‘lying down under’ it. The word comes via Old French succomber from Latin succumbere, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’ and -cumbere ‘lie’. This verbal element also produced English incumbent and recumbent, and the non-nasalized version of its stem lies behind covey, incubate, incubus, and succubus.
=> covey, incubate, incumbent, recumbent
such: such: [OE] Etymologically, such means ‘so formed’. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic compound formed from *swa ‘so’ (ancestor of English so) and *līk- ‘form, body’ (source of English like). This reached Old English as swylc, which gradually lost its l and w and evolved into modern English such. Amongst its Germanic relatives are German solch, Dutch zulk, Swedish silk, and Danish slig.
=> like, so
suck: suck: [OE] Suck is part of a widespread Indo- European family of ‘suck’-words which go back to the base *seug-, *seuk-. This no doubt originated in imitation of the sound of sucking from the mother’s breast. Amongst its relatives are Latin sūgere (whose past participle sūctus gave English suction [17]), Welsh sugno, German saugen, Dutch zuigen, Swedish suga, and Danish suge. Suckle [15] was probably a back-formation from suckling [13], itself a derivative of suck.

Also from suck comes sucker [14], which originally denoted a ‘baby still at the breast’; its use for a ‘gullible person’ (that is, someone as naive as an unweaned child) originated in American English in the early 19th century.
=> suction, suckle
sudden: sudden: [13] The etymological notion underlying sudden is of something approaching stealthily or without warning, so that it takes one by surprise. It comes via Anglo-Norman sudein from late Latin subitānus, an alteration of Latin subitāneus ‘sudden’. This was derived from subitus ‘sudden’, an adjectival use of the past participle of subīre ‘approach stealthily’. And subīre was a compound verb formed from the prefix sub-, used here in the sense ‘secretly’, and īre ‘go’ (source of English ambition, exit, issue, etc).
=> ambition, exit, issue
suds: suds: [16] Suds was probably borrowed from Middle Dutch sudse ‘marsh, swamp’ (it was used in the East Anglian dialect for ‘muddy swamp water’ or ‘flood water’, and probably the notion of scum or flotsam on such water led on to ‘floating bubbles, lather’ – first recorded at the end of the 15th century). The word’s ultimate source is no doubt the prehistoric Germanic base *suth- ‘boil’, which also produced English seethe and sodden.
=> seethe, sodden
sue: sue: [13] Sue, like its close relative pursue, originally meant ‘follow’ (‘My wickednesses ever follow me, as men may see the shadow a body sue’, Thomas Hoccleve, Complaint 1421). It comes via Anglo-Norman suer from Vulgar Latin *sequere ‘follow’, an alteration of Latin sequī ‘follow’ (source also of English consecutive, ensue [14], persecute, pursue, sequence, sect, set, suit, etc). Its legal use, which emerged in the 14th century, is based on the notion of ‘following’ up a matter in court (a similar inspiration underlies the related prosecute).
=> consecutive, ensue, persecute, prosecute, pursue, sect, sequence, set, suit
suet: suet: [14] Suet goes back ultimately to Latin sēbum ‘tallow’, which also produced English sebaceous [18]. This passed into Anglo-Norman as seu or sue, of which a presumed diminutive form *sewet gave English suet.
=> sebaceous