quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- schuhplattler (n.)[schuhplattler 词源字典]
- lively Alpine folk dance, 1874, from German Schuhplattler, from schuh "shoe" (see shoe (n.)) + south German dialectal plattler, from platteln "to dance."[schuhplattler etymology, schuhplattler origin, 英语词源]
- Schutzstaffel
- internal security force of Nazi Germany, 1930, German, literally "defense squadron." Better known by its initials, S.S.
- schvartze (n.)
- also schvartzer, "black person" (somewhat derogatory), 1961, Yiddish, from schvarts "black" (see swarthy). Perhaps originally a code word to refer to black servants when they were within earshot, as German cognate Schwarze appears to have been used mid-19c.:
In Baltimore in the 80s of the last century, the German-speaking householders, when they had occasion to speak of Negro servants in their presence, called them die Blaue (blues). In the 70s die Schwartze (blacks) had been used, but it was believed that the Negroes had fathomed it. [H.L. Mencken, "The American Language," Supplement I, 1945]
- schwa (n.)
- 1895, from German Schwa, ultimately from Hebrew shewa "a neutral vowel quality," literally "emptiness."
- Schwenkfeldian
- 1560s, from Casper Schwenkfeld (1490-1561), Silesian Protestant mystic who founded the sect. Schwenkfelder is attested from 1882.
- sciamachy (n.)
- "fighting with shadows, shadow-boxing" 1620s, from Greek skiamakhia "shadow-fighting, a sham fight" but perhaps literally "fighting in the shade" (i.e., in school; ancient teachers taught in shaded public places such as porches and groves), from skia "shade, shadow" (see shine (v.)) + makhe "battle" (see -machy).
- sciatic (adj.)
- "pertaining to the hip," also in reference to the large nerve from the pelvis to the thigh, 1540s, from Middle French sciatique (14c.), from Medieval Latin sciaticus (see sciatica).
- sciatica (n.)
- late 14c., from Medieval Latin sciatica, in sciatica passio "sciatic disease," fem. of sciaticus "sciatic," corruption of Latin ischiadicus "of pain in the hip," from Greek iskhiadikos, from iskhias (genitive iskhiados) "pain in the hips," from iskhion "hip joint."
- science (n.)
- mid-14c., "what is known, knowledge (of something) acquired by study; information;" also "assurance of knowledge, certitude, certainty," from Old French science "knowledge, learning, application; corpus of human knowledge" (12c.), from Latin scientia "knowledge, a knowing; expertness," from sciens (genitive scientis) "intelligent, skilled," present participle of scire "to know," probably originally "to separate one thing from another, to distinguish," related to scindere "to cut, divide," from PIE root *skei- "to cut, to split" (cognates: Greek skhizein "to split, rend, cleave," Gothic skaidan, Old English sceadan "to divide, separate;" see shed (v.)).
From late 14c. in English as "book-learning," also "a particular branch of knowledge or of learning;" also "skillfulness, cleverness; craftiness." From c. 1400 as "experiential knowledge;" also "a skill, handicraft; a trade." From late 14c. as "collective human knowledge" (especially "that gained by systematic observation, experiment, and reasoning). Modern (restricted) sense of "body of regular or methodical observations or propositions concerning a particular subject or speculation" is attested from 1725; in 17c.-18c. this concept commonly was called philosophy. Sense of "non-arts studies" is attested from 1670s.
Science, since people must do it, is a socially embedded activity. It progresses by hunch, vision, and intuition. Much of its change through time does not record a closer approach to absolute truth, but the alteration of cultural contexts that influence it so strongly. Facts are not pure and unsullied bits of information; culture also influences what we see and how we see it. Theories, moreover, are not inexorable inductions from facts. The most creative theories are often imaginative visions imposed upon facts; the source of imagination is also strongly cultural. [Stephen Jay Gould, introduction to "The Mismeasure of Man," 1981]
In science you must not talk before you know. In art you must not talk before you do. In literature you must not talk before you think. [John Ruskin, "The Eagle's Nest," 1872]
The distinction is commonly understood as between theoretical truth (Greek episteme) and methods for effecting practical results (tekhne), but science sometimes is used for practical applications and art for applications of skill. To blind (someone) with science "confuse by the use of big words or complex explanations" is attested from 1937, originally noted as a phrase from Australia and New Zealand. - science fiction (n.)
- 1929 (first attested in advertisements for "Air Wonder Stories" magazine), though there is an isolated use from 1851; abbreviated form sci-fi is from 1955. Earlier in same sense was scientifiction (1916).
- scienter (adv.)
- legalese Latin, literally "knowingly," from sciens, present participle of scire "to know" (see science) + adverbial suffix -ter.
- scientific (adj.)
- 1580s, from Middle French scientifique, from Medieval Latin scientificus "pertaining to science," from Latin scientia "knowledge" (see science) + -ficus "making" + facere "to make" (see factitious). Originally used to translate Greek epistemonikos "making knowledge" in Aristotle's "Ethics."
Sciential (mid-15c., "based on knowledge," from Latin scientialis) is the classical purists' choice for an adjective based on science. Scientic (1540s) and scient (late 15c.) also have been used. First record of scientific revolution is from 1803; scientific method is from 1854; scientific notation is from 1961. Related: Scientifical; scientifically. - scientist (n.)
- 1834, a hybrid coined from Latin scientia (see science) by the Rev. William Whewell (1794-1866), English polymath, by analogy with artist, in the same paragraph in which he coined physicist (q.v.).
- Scientology (n.)
- 1951, system of beliefs founded by L. Ron Hubbard. According to www.scientology.org:
The word Scientology, conceived by L. Ron Hubbard, comes from the Latin scio which means "knowing, in the fullest meaning of the word" and the Greek word logos which means "study of." It means knowing how to know. Scientology is further defined as "the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life."
There was a German scientologie (A. Nordenholz, 1937). - scilicet
- late 14c., Latin, "you may know, you may be sure, it is certain," used in sense "that is to say, namely," contraction of scire licit "it is permitted to know," from scire "to know" (see science); for second element see licit. Used as was Old English hit is to witanne, literally "it is to wit" (see wit (v.)). Often abbreviated sc. or scil.
Its function is to introduce : (a) a more intelligible or definite substitute, sometimes the English, for an expression already used ... (b) a word &c. that was omitted in the original as unnecessary, but is thought to require specifying for the present audience .... [Fowler]
- Scilly
- isles off Cornwall, of unknown origin. Pliny has Silumnus, Silimnis. Perhaps connected with the Roman god Sulis (compare Aquae sulis "Bath"). The -y might be Old Norse ey "island" The -c- added 16c.-17c. "[A]bout the only certain thing that can be said is that the c of the modern spelling is not original but was added for distinction from ModE silly as this word developed in meaning from 'happy, blissful' to 'foolish.'" [Victor Watts, "Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names," 2004].
- scimitar (n.)
- 1540s, cimiterie, from Middle French cimeterre (15c.) or Italian scimitarra, of uncertain origin. Turkish would be the expected source, but no such word has been found there. Perhaps from Persian shimshir (pronounced "shamsher," compare Greek sampsera "a barbarian sword," from this source), but OED finds this "unsatisfactory as to form." Many early variations; the modern spelling is from influence of the Italian form of the word. Century Dictionary (1902) has simitar as preferred spelling.
- scintilla (n.)
- 1690s, "spark, glimmer," hence "least particle, trace," from figurative use of Latin scintilla "particle of fire, spark, glittering speck, atom," probably from PIE *ski-nto-, from root *skai- "to shine, to gleam" (cognates: Gothic skeinan, Old English scinan "to shine;" see shine (v.)).
- scintillate (v.)
- 1620s, from Latin scintillatus, past participle of scintillare "to sparkle, glitter, gleam, flash," from scintilla "spark" (see scintilla). Related: Scintillated; scintillating.
- scintillation (n.)
- 1620s, from Latin scintilationem (nominative scintillatio), noun of action from past participle stem of scintillare (see scintillate).