quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- scape (n.1)[scape 词源字典]
- "scenery view," 1773, abstracted from landscape (n.); as a comb. element, first attested use is 1796, in prisonscape.[scape etymology, scape origin, 英语词源]
- scape (v.)
- late 13c., shortened form of escape; frequent in prose till late 17c. Related: Scaped (sometimes 15c.-16c. with strong past tense scope); scaping. As a noun from c. 1300.
- scape (n.2)
- "shaft, stem," c. 1600, from Latin scapus "a stalk, shaft," cognate with Greek skapos "staff," skeptron "staff, scepter" (see scepter).
- scapegoat (n.)
- 1530, "goat sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement, symbolic bearer of the sins of the people," coined by Tyndale from scape (n.1) + goat to translate Latin caper emissarius, itself a translation in Vulgate of Hebrew 'azazel (Lev. xvi:8,10,26), which was read as 'ez ozel "goat that departs," but which others hold to be the proper name of a devil or demon in Jewish mythology (sometimes identified with Canaanite deity Aziz).
Jerome's reading also was followed by Martin Luther (der ledige Bock), Symmachus (tragos aperkhomenos), and others (compare French bouc émissaire), but the question of who, or what (or even where) is meant by 'azazel is a vexed one. The Revised Version (1884) simply restores Azazel. But the old translation has its modern defenders:
Azazel is an active participle or participial noun, derived ultimately from azal (connected with the Arabic word azala, and meaning removed), but immediately from the reduplicate form of that verb, azazal. The reduplication of the consonants of the root in Hebrew and Arabic gives the force of repetition, so that while azal means removed, azalzal means removed by a repetition of acts. Azalzel or azazel, therefore, means one who removes by a series of acts. ... The interpretation is founded on sound etymological grounds, it suits the context wherever the word occurs, it is consistent with the remaining ceremonial of the Day of Atonement, and it accords with the otherwise known religious beliefs and symbolical practices of the Israelites. [Rev. F. Meyrick, "Leviticus," London, 1882]
Meaning "one who is blamed or punished for the mistakes or sins of others" first recorded 1824; the verb is attested from 1943. Related: Scapegoated; scapegoating.
For the formation, compare scapegrace, also scape-gallows "one who deserves hanging." - scapegrace (n.)
- 1767, from scape (v.) + grace (n.); as if "one who escapes the grace of God." Possibly influenced by scapegoat.
- scaphoid (adj.)
- 1741, from Modern Latin scaphoides "boat-shaped," from Greek skaphoeides, with -oeides (see -oid) + skaphe "light boat, skiff;" also "basin, trough, a bowl;" literally "thing dug or cut out," from PIE *skabh-, from root *(s)kep- "to cut" (see scabies). Related: Scaphoidal (1680s).
- scapula (n.)
- "shoulder blade," 1570s, Modern Latin, from Late Latin scapula "shoulder," from Latin scapulae (plural) "shoulders, shoulder blades," perhaps originally "spades, shovels," on notion of similar shape, but animal shoulder blades might have been used as scraping tools in primitive times, from PIE *skap-, variant of *skep- "to cut, scrape" (see scabies).
- scapular (adj.)
- 1680s, "pertaining to the scapula," from Modern Latin scapularis, from Latin scapula "shoulder" (see scapula). The noun (late 15c., also in Old English) in reference to a short cloak for the shoulders prescribed for certain monks, is from Medieval Latin scapulare, from scapula. Related: Scapulary.
- scapulimancy (n.)
- divination by means of the cracks in a shoulder-blade put into a fire, 1871, from comb. form of scapula + -mancy.
- scar (n.)
- late 14c., from Old French escare "scab" (Modern French escarre), from Late Latin eschara, from Greek eskhara "scab formed after a burn," literally "hearth, fireplace," of unknown origin. English sense probably influenced by Middle English skar (late 14c.) "crack, cut, incision," from Old Norse skarð, related to score (n.). Figurative sense attested from 1580s.
- scar (v.)
- 1550s, from scar (n.1). Figurative use from 1590s. Related: Scarred; scarring.
- scar (n.2)
- "bare and broken rocky face of a cliff or mountain," 1670s, earlier "rock, crag" (14c.), perhaps from Old Norse sker "isolated rock or low reef in the sea," from Proto-Germanic *sker- "to cut" (see shear (v.)).
- scarab (n.)
- "black dung beetle," held sacred by the ancient Egyptians, 1570s, from Middle French scarabeé, from Latin scarabaeus, name of a type of beetle, from Greek karabos "beetle, crayfish," a foreign word, according to Klein probably Macedonian (the suffix -bos is non-Greek). Related: Scarabaean. In ancient use, also a gem cut in a shape like a scarab beetle and with an inscription on the underside.
- scaramouche (n.)
- 1660s, name of a cowardly braggart (supposed by some to represent a Spanish don) in traditional Italian comedy, from Italian Scaramuccia, literally "skirmish," from schermire "to fence," from a Germanic source (such as Old High German skirmen "defend"); see skirmish (n.). According to OED, a vogue word in late 17c. London due to the popularity of Italian actor Tiberio Fiurelli (1608-1694) in the part.
- Scarborough
- place in Yorkshire, earlier Scarðabork, etc., apparently a viking name, from Old Norse and meaning "fortified place of a man called Skarthi," identified in old chronicles as Thorgils Skarthi, literally "Thorgils Harelip," from Old Norse skartð "notch, hack (in the edge of a thing); mountain pass." It has been noted that a literal reading of the name as "gap-hill" suits the location. Scarborough warning "short notice or none" is from 1540s.
- scarce (adj.)
- c. 1300, "restricted in quantity," from Old North French scars "scanty, scarce" (Old French eschars, Modern French échars) from Vulgar Latin *scarsus, from *escarpsus, from *excarpere "pluck out," from classical Latin excerpere "pluck out" (see excerpt). As an adverb early 14c. from the adjective. Phrase to make oneself scarce "go away" first attested 1771, noted as a current "cant phrase." Related: Scarcely.
- scarcity (n.)
- c. 1300, from Old North French escarcete (Old French escharsete), from eschars (see scarce).
- scare (v.)
- 1590s, alteration of Middle English skerren (c. 1200), from Old Norse skirra "to frighten; to shrink from, shun; to prevent, avert," related to skjarr "timid, shy, afraid of," of unknown origin. In Scottish also skair, skar, and in dialectal English skeer, skear, which seems to preserve the older pronunciation. To scare up "procure, obtain" is first recorded 1846, American English, from notion of rousing game from cover. Related: Scared; scaring.
- scare (n.)
- "something that frightens; sudden panic, sudden terror inspired by a trifling cause, false alarm," 1520s, alteration of Middle English sker "fear, dread" (c. 1400), from scare (v.). Scare tactic attested from 1948.
- scarecrow (n.)
- 1550s, from scare (v.) + crow (n.). Earliest reference is to a person employed to scare birds. Meaning "device of straw and cloth in grotesque resemblance of a man, set up in a grain field or garden to frighten crows," is implied by 1580s; hence "gaunt, ridiculous person" (1590s). An older name for such a thing was shewel. Shoy-hoy apparently is another old word for a straw-stuffed scarecrow (Cobbett began using it as a political insult in 1819 and others picked it up; OED defines it as "one who scares away birds from a sown field," and says it is imitative of their cry). Also fray-boggard (1530s).