英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

whoop (v.)[whoop 词源字典]: mid-14c., houpen, partly imitative, partly from Old French huper, houper "to cry out, shout," also imitative. It is attested as an interjection from at least mid-15c. Spelling with wh- is from mid-15c. The noun is recorded from c. 1600. Phrase whoop it up "create a disturbance" is recorded from 1881. Expression whoop-de-do is recorded from 1929. Whooping cough (1739) is now the prevalent spelling of hooping cough; whooping crane is recorded from 1791.[whoop etymology, whoop origin, 英语词源]
whoopee (n.): 1845, "noisy, unrestrained revelry," extended form of whoop, originally American English. Popular song "Makin' Whoopee is from 1928. The novelty whoopee cushion is from 1931.
whoops: exclamation of dismay, 1925; see oops.
whoosh (v.): 1856, of imitative origin. Related: Whooshed; whooshing. As a noun from 1880; as an interjection by 1899.
whoot (v.): early 15c. variant of hoot (v.).
whop (v.): "to beat, strike," mid-15c., of imitative origin. Compare Welsh chwap "a stroke," also of imitative origin; also see wap. Related: Whopped; whopping.
whopper (n.): 1767, "uncommonly large thing," originally and especially an audacious lie, formed as if from whop (v.) "to beat, overcome." Whopping "large, big, impressive" is attested by 1620s.
whore (n.): 1530s spelling alteration (see wh-) of Middle English hore, from Old English hore "prostitute, harlot," from Proto-Germanic *horaz (fem. *horon-) "one who desires" (cognates: Old Norse hora "adulteress," Danish hore, Swedish hora, Dutch hoer, Old High German huora "whore;" in Gothic only in the masc. hors "adulterer, fornicator," also as a verb, horinon "commit adultery"), from PIE *ka- "to like, desire," a base that has produced words in other languages for "lover" (cognates: Latin carus "dear;" Old Irish cara "friend;" Old Persian kama "desire;" Sanskrit Kama, name of the Hindu god of love, kamah "love, desire," the first element in Kama Sutra).

Whore itself is perhaps a Germanic euphemism for a word that has not survived. The Old English vowel naturally would have yielded *hoor, which is the pronunciation in some dialects; it might have shifted by influence of Middle English homonym hore "physical filth, slime," also "moral corruption, sin," from Old English horh. The wh- form became current 16c. A general term of abuse for an unchaste or lewd woman (without regard to money) from at least c. 1200. Of male prostitutes from 1630s. Whore of Babylon is from Rev. xvii:1, 5, etc. In Middle English with occasional plural forms horen, heoranna.
The word, with its derivatives, is now avoided polite speech; its survival in literature, so as it survives, is due to the fact that it is a favorite word with Shakspere (who uses it, with its derivatives, 99 times) and is common in the authorized English version of the Bible ... though the American revisers recommended the substitution of harlot as less gross .... [Century Dictionary]
Some equivalent words in other languages also derive from sources not originally pejorative, such as Bohemian nevestka, diminutive of nevesta "bride;" Dutch deern, German dirne originally "girl, lass, wench;" also perhaps Old French pute, perhaps literally "girl," fem. of Vulgar Latin *puttus (but perhaps rather from Latin putidus "stinking;" see poontang). Welsh putain "whore" is from French, probably via Middle English. Among other languages, Greek porne "prostitute" is related to pernemi "sell," with an original notion probably of a female slave sold for prostitution; Latin meretrix is literally "one who earns wages" (source of Irish mertrech, Old English miltestre "whore, prostitute").

The vulgar Roman word was scortum, literally "skin, hide." Another term was lupa, literally "she-wolf" (preserved in Spanish loba, Italian lupa, French louve; see wolf (n.)). And of course there was prostituta, literally "placed in front," thus "publicly exposed," from the fem. past participle of prostituere (see prostitute (n.)). Another Old Norse term was skækja, which yielded Danish skøge, Swedish sköka; probably from Middle Low German schoke, which is perhaps from schode "foreskin of a horse's penis," perhaps with the sense of "skin" (compare Latin scortum) or perhaps via an intermediary sense of "vagina." Spanish ramera, Portuguese ramiera are from fem. form of ramero "young bird of prey," literally "little branch," from ramo "branch." Breton gast is cognate with Welsh gast "bitch," of uncertain origin. Compare also strumpet, harlot.

Old Church Slavonic ljubodejica is from ljuby dejati "fornicate," a compound from ljuby "love" + dejati "put, perform." Russian bljad "whore" derives from Old Church Slavonic bladinica, from bladu "fornication." Polish nierządnica is literally "disorderly woman." Sanskrit vecya is a derivation of veca- "house, dwelling," especially "house of ill-repute, brothel." Another term, pumccali, means literally "one who runs after men." Avestan jahika is literally "woman," but only of evil creatures; another term is kunairi, from pejorative prefix ku- + nairi "woman."
whore (v.): "to have to do with whores," 1580s, from whore (n.). Related: Whored; whoring.
whore-house (n.): early 14c., from whore (n.) + house (n.). Sometimes translating Latin lupanaria. Obsolete from c. 1700, revived early 20c. in American English.
whore-monger (n.): 1520s, from whore (n.) + monger. A Petrus Hurmonger is in the 1327 Leicestershire Lay Subsidy Rolls.
whoredom (n.): late 12c., "practice of sexual immorality," probably from Old Norse hordomr "adultery," from Proto-Germanic *horaz (see whore (n.)) + Old Norse -domr "condition " (see -dom).
whoreson (n.): c. 1300, from whore (n.) + son. Often used affectionately, it translates Anglo-French fiz a putain. As an adjective, "mean, scurvy, contemptuous," from mid-15c.
whorl (n.): mid-15c., "the small flywheel of a spindle," perhaps an alteration of whirl. Meaning "circlar arrangement of leaves or flowers round a stem of a plant" is first recorded 1550s. Of seashells or other spiral structures, from 1828. Related: Whorled.
whortleberry (n.): 1570s, southwestern England variant of hurtleberry (see huckleberry).
whose (pron.): genitive of who; from Old English hwæs, genitive of hwa (see who).
whosis (n.): 1923, short for who is this; whosit (who is it) attested by 1948.
whump (v.): 1897, of imitative origin. Related: Whumped; whumping. The noun is recorded from 1915.
why (adv.): Old English hwi, instrumental case (indicating for what purpose or by what means) of hwæt (see what), from Proto-Germanic adverb *hwi (cognates: Old Saxon hwi, Old Norse hvi), from PIE *kwi- (source of Greek pei "where"), locative of *kwo- "who" (see who). As an interjection of surprise or emphasis, recorded from 1510s. As a noun, "cause, reason" from c. 1300.
wi-fi (n.): 1999, apparently from wireless; the second element perhaps suggested by hi-fi.