英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

watercolor (n.)[watercolor 词源字典]: also water-color, 1590s, "pigment that dissolves in water," from water (n.1) + color (n.). Meaning "picture painted in watercolors" is attested from 1854.[watercolor etymology, watercolor origin, 英语词源]
watercourse (n.): also water-course, c. 1500, from water (n.1) + course (n.).
watercress (n.): also water-cress, c. 1300, from water (n.1) + cress. Compare Middle Low German, Middle Dutch waterkerse, German wasserkresse. It grows in or near streams.
waterfall (n.): Old English wætergefeall; see water (n.1) + fall (n.). The modern English word is perhaps a re-formation from c. 1500. Similar formation in German wasserfall, Old Norse vatnfall.
Waterford: city in southeastern Ireland; 1783 in reference to a type of glassware manufactured there.
waterfowl (n.): early 14c., from water (n.1) + fowl (n.). Similar formation in Old High German wazzarvogel, Dutch watervogel.
waterfront (n.): also water-front, 1834, American English, from water (n.1) + front (n.). To cover the waterfront "deal with thoroughly" is attested from 1913; I Cover the Waterfront was a 1932 best-seller by San Diego newspaperman Max Miller.
watergate (n.): mid-14c., "channel for water;" late 14c., "flood-gate;" from water (n.1) + gate (n.). The name of a building in Washington, D.C., that housed the headquarters of the Democratic Party in the 1972 presidential election, it was burglarized June 17, 1972, which led to the resignation of President Nixon.
watering (n.): Old English wæterunge "a carrying water," verbal noun from water (v.). From late 14c. as "a soaking with water;" mid-15c. as "a giving water to (an animal);" c. 1600 as "salivation." Watering-can is from 1690s (earlier water-can, late 14c.); watering-hole is from 1882 (earlier water-hole, 1670s, watering-place, mid-15c.); by 1965 in the figurative sense "place where people meet and socialize over drinks."
waterline (n.): also water-line, 1620s, line where the water rises to on the hull of a ship afloat, from water (n.1) + line (n.).
waterlogged (adj.): 1759 (in an account of the Battle of Lagos in "Universal Magazine," September), from water (n.1) + log (n.); the notion apparently is of "reduce to a log-like condition."
WATER LOGGED, the state of a ship when, by receiving a great quantity of water into her hold, by leaking, &c., she has become heavy and inactive upon the sea, so as to yield without resistance to the efforts of every wave rushing over her decks. As, in this dangerous situation, the center of gravity is no longer fixed, but fluctuating from place to place, the stability of the ship is utterly lost. She is therefore almost totally deprived of the use of her sails, which would operate to overset her, or press the head under water. Hence there is no resource for the crew, except to free her by the pumps, or to abandon her by the boats as soon as possible. [William Falconer, "An Universal Dictionary of the Marine," London, 1784]
The verb waterlog (1779) appears to be a back-formation.
Waterloo (n.): village near Brussels; the great battle there took place June 18, 1815; extended sense of "a final, crushing defeat" is first attested 1816 in letter of Lord Byron. The second element in the place name is from Flemish loo "sacred wood."
watermark (n.): also water-mark, 1708, "distinctive mark on paper," from water (n.1) + mark (n.1). Similar formation in German wassermarke. Not produced by water, but probably so called because it looks like a wet spot. The verb is recorded from 1866. Related: Watermarked.
watermelon (n.): 1610s, from water (n.1) + melon. So called for being full of thin juice. Compare French melon d'eau.
waterproof (adj.): also water-proof, 1725, from water (n.1) + proof (n.). Noun meaning "garment of waterproof material" is from 1799. The verb is first recorded 1843. Related: Waterproofed; waterproofing.
watershed (n.): "line separating waters flowing into different rivers," 1803, from water (n.1) + shed in a topographical sense of "ridge of high ground between two valleys or lower ground, a divide," perhaps from shed (v.) in its extended noun sense of "the part of the hair of the head" (14c.). Perhaps a loan-translation of German Wasser-scheide. Figurative sense is attested from 1878. Meaning "ground of a river system" is from 1878.
waterspout (n.): late 14c., "drainpipe," from water (n.1) + spout (n.). Meaning "whirlwind on open water" is recorded from 1738.
watertight (adj.): also water-tight, late 14c., from water (n.1) + tight (adj.). Figurative use from 1640s.
waterway (n.): Old English wæterweg; see water (n.1) + way (n.).
waterworks (n.): mid-15c., from water (n.1) + work (n.).