英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

wasp (n.)[wasp 词源字典]: Old English wæps, wæsp "wasp," altered (probably by influence of Latin vespa) from Proto-Germanic *wabis- (cognates: Old Saxon waspa, Middle Dutch wespe, Dutch wesp, Old High German wafsa, German Wespe, Danish hveps), from PIE *wopsa-/*wospa- "wasp" (cognates: Latin vespa, Lithuanian vapsa, Old Church Slavonic vosa "wasp," Old Irish foich "drone"), perhaps from *webh- "weave" (see weave (v.)). If that is the correct derivation, the insect would be so called for the shape of its nest. Of persons with wasp-like tendencies, from c. 1500. Wasp-waist in reference to women's figures is recorded from 1870 (wasp-waisted is from 1775).[wasp etymology, wasp origin, 英语词源]
WASP (n.): acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, by 1955.
waspish (adj.): "irascible, quick to take offense; spiteful," 1560s, from wasp + -ish. Related: Waspishly; waspishness.
wassail: mid-12c., from Old Norse ves heill "be healthy," a salutation, from ves, imperative of vesa "to be" (see was) + heill "healthy," from Proto-Germanic *haila- (see health). Use as a drinking phrase appears to have arisen among Danes in England and spread to native inhabitants.

A similar formation appears in Old English wes þu hal, but this is not recorded as a drinking salutation. Sense extended c. 1300 to "liquor in which healths were drunk," especially spiced ale used in Christmas Eve celebrations. Meaning "a carousal, reveling" first attested c. 1600. Wassailing "custom of going caroling house to house at Christmas time" is recorded from 1742.
Wassermann (n.): test for syphillis, 1909, from German bacteriorologist August Paul Wassermann (1866-1925), who devised it in 1906.
wassup (interj.): slang form of common greeting what's up?, popular 2000.
wastage (n.): 1673, a hybrid from waste (v.) + -age.
waste (v.): c. 1200, "devastate, ravage, ruin," from Anglo-French and Old North French waster "to waste, squander, spoil, ruin" (Old French gaster; Modern French gâter), altered (by influence of Frankish *wostjan) from Latin vastare "lay waste," from vastus "empty, desolate, waste" (see vain). Related: wasted; wasting.

The Germanic word also existed in Old English as westan "to lay waste, ravage." Spanish gastar, Italian guastare also are from Germanic. Meaning "to lose strength or health; pine; weaken" is attested from c. 1300; the sense of "squander, spend or consume uselessly" is first recorded mid-14c.; meaning "to kill" is from 1964. Waste not, want not attested from 1778.
waste (n.): c. 1200, "desolate regions," from Anglo-French and Old North French wast "waste, damage, destruction; wasteland, moor" (Old French gast), from Latin vastum, neuter of vastus "waste" (see waste (v.)).

Replaced or merged with Old English westen, woesten "a desert, wilderness," from the Latin word. Meanings "consumption, depletion," also "useless expenditure" are from c. 1300; sense of "refuse matter" is attested from c. 1400. Waste basket first recorded 1850.
waste (adj.): c. 1300, of land, "desolate, uncultivated," from Anglo-French and Old North French waste (Old French gaste), from Latin vastus (see waste (v.)). From c. 1400 as "superfluous, excess;" 1670s as "unfit for use." Waste-paper attested from 1580s.
wasted (adj.): late 14c., "enfeebled," past participle adjective from waste (v.). Slang meaning "intoxicated" is from 1950s.
wasteful (adj.): early 14c., "destructive," from waste (n.) + -ful. Meaning "lavish" is from mid-15c. Related: Wastefully; wastefulness.
wasteland (n.): 1825 as one word, from waste (adj.) + land (n.). Figurative sense is attested from 1868. Eliot's poem is from 1922.
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
wastewater (n.): also waste-water, mid-15c., from waste (adj.) + water (n.1).
wastrel (n.): "spendthrift, idler," 1847, from waste (v.) + pejorative suffix -rel. Earlier "something useless or imperfect" (1790).
wat (n.): Thai Buddhist temple, said to be from Sanskrit vata "enclosure, grove."
watch (v.): Old English wæccan "keep watch, be awake," from Proto-Germanic *wakjan, from PIE *weg- (2) "to be strong, lively;" essentially the same word as Old English wacian "be or remain awake" (see wake (v.)); perhaps a Northumbrian form of it. Meaning "be vigilant" is from c. 1200. That of "to guard (someone or some place), stand guard" is late 14c. Sense of "to observe, keep under observance" is mid-15c. Related: Watched; watching.
watch (n.): Old English wæcce "a watching, state of being or remaining awake, wakefulness;" also "act or practice of refraining from sleep for devotional or penitential purposes;" from wæccan (see watch (v.)). From c. 1200 as "one of the periods into which the night is divided," in reference to ancient times translating Latin vigilia, Greek phylake, Hebrew ashmoreth.
The Hebrews divided the night into three watches, the Greeks usually into four (sometimes five), the Romans (followed by the Jews in New Testament times) into four. [OED]

On þis niht beð fowuer niht wecches: Biforen euen þe bilimpeð to children; Mid-niht ðe bilimpeð to frumberdligges; hanecrau þe bilimpeð þowuene men; morgewile to alde men. [Trinity Homilies, c. 1200]
From mid-13c. as "a shift of guard duty; an assignment as municipal watchman;" late 13c. as "person or group obligated to patrol a town (especially at night) to keep order, etc." Also in Middle English, "the practice of remaining awake at night for purposes of debauchery and dissipation;" hence wacches of wodnesse "late-night revels and debauchery." The alliterative combination watch and ward preserves the old distinction of watch for night-time municipal patrols and ward for guarding by day; in combination, they meant "continuous vigilance."

Military sense of "military guard, sentinel" is from late 14c. General sense of "careful observation, watchfulness, vigilance" is from late 14c.; to keep watch is from late 14c. Meaning "period of time in which a division of a ship's crew remains on deck" is from 1580s. The meaning "small timepiece" is from 1580s, developing from that of "a clock to wake up sleepers" (mid-15c.).
watch-chain (n.): 1739, from watch (n.) in the "timepiece" sense + chain (n.).
watch-work (n.): 1660s, from watch (n.) in the "timepiece" sense + work (n.).