英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

vinyl (n.)[vinyl 词源字典]: in modern use, in reference to a plastic or synthetic resin, 1939, short for polyvinyl; not in widespread use until late 1950s. Slang meaning "phonograph record" (1976) replaced wax (n.) in that sense. In chemistry, vinyl was used from 1851 as the name of a univalent radical derived from ethylene, from Latin vinum "wine" (see wine (n.)), because ethyl alcohol is the ordinary alcohol present in wine.[vinyl etymology, vinyl origin, 英语词源]
viol (n.): stringed musical instrument played with a bow, late 15c., viel, from Middle French viole, from Old French viol "stringed instrument like a fiddle," from Old Provençal viola (see viola).
viola (n.): "tenor violin," 1797, from Italian viola, from Old Provençal viola, from Medieval Latin vitula "stringed instrument," perhaps from Vitula, Roman goddess of joy (see fiddle), or from related Latin verb vitulari "to exult, be joyful." Viola da gamba "bass viol" (1724) is from Italian, literally "a viola for the leg" (i.e. to hold between the legs).
Viola: fem. proper name, from Latin viola "the violet" (see violet).
violate (v.): early 15c., "to break" (an oath, etc.), from Latin violatus, past participle of violare "treat with violence, dishonor, outrage" (see violation). Sense of "ravish" is first recorded mid-15c. Related: Violated; violating.
violation (n.): c. 1400, from Old French violacion and directly from Latin violationem (nominative violatio) "an injury, irreverence, profanation," from past participle stem of violare "to treat with violence, outrage, dishonor," perhaps an irregular derivative of vis "strength, force, power, energy," from PIE root *weie- "to go after, pursue with vigor or desire," with noun derivatives meaning "force, desire" (see venison).
violative (adj.): "tending to or causing violation," 1765, from violate + -ive.
violence (n.): late 13c., "physical force used to inflict injury or damage," from Anglo-French and Old French violence (13c.), from Latin violentia "vehemence, impetuosity," from violentus "vehement, forcible," probably related to violare (see violation). Weakened sense of "improper treatment" is attested from 1590s.
violent (adj.): mid-14c., from Old French violent or directly from Latin violentus, related to violare (see violation). In Middle English the word also was applied in reference to heat, sunlight, smoke, etc., with the sense "having some quality so strongly as to produce a powerful effect." Related: Violently.
violet (n.): small wild plant with purplish-blue flowers, c. 1300, from Old French violete (12c.), diminutive of viole "violet," from Latin viola "the violet, a violet color," cognate with Greek ion (see iodine), probably from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language. The color sense (late 14c.) developed from the flower.
violin (n.): 1570s, from Italian violino, diminutive of viola (see viola). The modern form of the smaller, medieval viola da braccio.
violinist (n.): 1660s, from Italian violinista, from violino (see violin).
violon d'Ingres (n.): "an occasional pastime, an activity other than that for which one is well-known, or at which one excells," 1963, from French, literally "Ingres' violin," from the story that the great painter prefered to play his violin (badly) for visitors instead of showing them his pictures.
Une légende, assez suspecte, prétend que le peintre Ingres état plus fier de son jeu sur le violon, jeu qui était fort ordinaire, que de sa peinture, qui l'avait rendu illustre. [Larousse du XXe Siecle, 1931]
violoncello (n.): 1724, from Italian violoncello, diminutive of violone "bass viol," from viola (see viola) + augmentative suffix -one (see -oon). Related: Violoncellist.
VIP (n.): also V.I.P., 1933, initialism (acronym) for very important person or personage; not common until after World War II.
At most, the greatest persons, are but great wens, and excrescences; men of wit and delightfull conversation, but as moales for ornament, except they be so incorporated into the body of the world, that they contribute something to the sustentation of the whole. [John Donne, letter to Sir Henry Goodere, Sept. 1608]
viper (n.): early 15c., from Middle French vipere, earlier in English as vipera (c. 1200), directly from Latin vipera "viper, snake, serpent," contraction of *vivipera, from vivus "alive, living" (see vital) + parere "bring forth, bear" (see pare). In common with many snake species in cooler climates, in most cases the viper's eggs are kept inside the mother until hatching.

Applied to persons of spiteful character since at least 1590s. The only venomous snake found in Great Britain, but not especially dangerous. The word replaced native adder. "The flesh of the viper was formerly regarded as possessing great nutritive or restorative properties, and was frequently used medicinally" [OED]; hence viper-wine, wine medicated with some kind of extract from vipers, used 17c. by "gray-bearded gallants" in a bid "to feele new lust, and youthfull flames agin." [Massinger]
viperine (adj.): 1540s, from Latin viperinus "pertaining to a viper or vipers," from vipera (see viper).
virago (n.): late 14c., "man-like or heroic woman, woman of extraordinary stature, strength and courage," from Latin virago "female warrior, heroine, amazon," from vir "man" (see virile). Ælfric (c. 1000), following Vulgate, used it in Gen. ii:23 as the name Adam gave to Eve (KJV = woman):
Beo hire nama Uirago, þæt is, fæmne, forðan ðe heo is of hire were genumen.
Related: Viraginous.
viral (adj.): "of the nature of, or caused by, a virus," 1944, see virus + -al (1). Sense of "become suddenly widely popular through Internet sharing" is attested by 1999, originally in reference to marketing and based on the similarity of the effect to the spread of a computer virus. Related: Virally.
vireo (n.): small American bird, 1834, a modern use of Latin vireo, a word Pliny applied to some kind of bird, believed to be the European greenfinch, from virere "be green" (see verdure).