英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

winch (n.)[winch 词源字典]: late 13c., from Old English wince "winch, pulley," from Proto-Germanic *winkja-, from PIE *weng- "to bend, curve" (see wink (v.)). Perhaps so called in reference to the bent handle.[winch etymology, winch origin, 英语词源]
Winchester: city in Hampshire, capital of Wessex and later of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Old English Uintancæstir (c.730), from Ouenta (c. 150), from Venta, a pre-Celtic name perhaps meaning "favored or chief place" + Old English ceaster "Roman town" (see Chester). As the name of a kind of breech-loading repeating rifle it is from the name of Oliver F. Winchester (1810-1880), U.S. manufacturer.
wind (n.1): "air in motion," Old English wind "wind," from Proto-Germanic *windaz (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch wind, Old Norse vindr, Old High German wind, German Wind, Gothic winds), from PIE *we-nt-o- "blowing," from root *we- "to blow" (cognates: Sanskrit va-, Greek aemi-, Gothic waian, Old English wawan, Old High German wajan, German wehen, Old Church Slavonic vejati "to blow;" Sanskrit vatah, Avestan vata-, Hittite huwantis, Latin ventus, Old Church Slavonic vetru, Lithuanian vejas "wind;" Lithuanian vetra "tempest, storm;" Old Irish feth "air;" Welsh gwynt, Breton gwent "wind").

Normal pronunciation evolution made this word rhyme with kind and rind (Donne rhymes it with mind), but it shifted to a short vowel 18c., probably from influence of windy, where the short vowel is natural. A sad loss for poets, who now must rhyme it only with sinned and a handful of weak words. Symbolic of emptiness and vanity since late 13c.
I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind. [Ernest Dowson, 1896]
Meaning "breath" is attested from late Old English; especially "breath in speaking" (early 14c.), so long-winded, also "easy or regular breathing" (early 14c.), hence second wind in the figurative sense (by 1830), an image from the sport of hunting.

Winds "wind instruments of an orchestra" is from 1876. Figurative phrase which way the wind blows for "the current state of affairs" is suggested from c. 1400. To get wind of "receive information about" is by 1809, perhaps inspired by French avoir le vent de. To take the wind out of (one's) sails in the figurative sense (by 1883) is an image from sailing, where a ship without wind can make no progress. Wind-chill index is recorded from 1939. Wind energy from 1976. Wind vane from 1725.
wind (v.1): "move by turning and twisting," Old English windan "to turn, twist, plait, curl, brandish, swing" (class III strong verb; past tense wand, past participle wunden), from Proto-Germanic *windan "to wind" (cognates: Old Saxon windan, Old Norse vinda, Old Frisian winda, Dutch winden, Old High German wintan, German winden, Gothic windan "to wind"), from PIE *wendh- "to turn, wind, weave" (cognates: Latin viere "twist, plait, weave," vincire "bind;" Lithuanian vyti "twist, wind").

Related to wend, which is its causative form, and to wander. The past tense and past participle merged in Middle English. Meaning "to twine, entwine oneself around" is from 1590s; transitive sense of "turn or twist round and round (on something) is from c. 1300. Meaning "set a watch, clockwork, etc. in operating mode by tightening its spring" is from c. 1600. Wind down "come to a conclusion" is recorded from 1952; wind up "come to a conclusion" is from 1825; earlier in transitive sense "put (affairs) in order in advance of a final settlement" (1780). Winding sheet "shroud of a corpse" is attested from early 15c.
wind (v.2): "to perceive by scent, get wind of," c. 1400, from wind (n.1). Of horns, etc., "make sound by blowing through," from 1580s. Meaning "tire, put out of breath; render temporarily breathless" is from 1802, originally in pugilism, in reference to the effect of a punch in the stomach. Related: Winded; winding.
wind (n.2): "an act of winding round," 1825, from wind (v.1) . Earlier, "an apparatus for winding," late 14c., in which use perhaps from a North Sea Germanic word, such as Middle Dutch, Middle Low German winde "windlass."
wind-rose (n.): 1590s, from wind (n.1) + rose (n.1).
wind-sock (n.): also windsock, 1922, from wind (n.1) + sock (n.).
wind-up (n.): 1570s, "conclusion or final adjustment and settlement of some matter," from verbal phrase wind up (see wind (v.1)). Baseball pitching sense attested from 1906.
windage (n.): 1710, "allowance of space between the projectile and the diameter of the tube of a firearm," from wind (n.1) + -age. Meaning "allowance for wind deflection" is from 1867.
windbag (n.): late 15c., "bellows for an organ," from wind (n.1) + bag (n.). Figurative sense of "person who talks too much" is attested from 1827.
windbreak (n.): also wind-break, "row of trees, etc., to break the force of the wind," 1861, American English, from wind (n.1) + break (n.).
windbreaker (n.): type of jacket to keep off the wind (originally a kind of leather shirt), 1918, from wind (n.1) + agent noun from break (v.).
windfall (n.): mid-15c., from wind (n.1) + fall (n.1). Originally literal, in reference to wood or fruit blown down by the wind, and thus free to all. Figurative sense of "unexpected acquisition" is recorded from 1540s.
windhover (n.): "kestrel," 1670s, from wind (n.1) + hover; so called from the bird's habit of hovering in the wind. Among the many early names for it was windfucker (1590s).
windlass (n.): device for raising weights by winding a rope round a cylinder, c. 1400, alteration of wyndase (late 13c.), from Anglo-French windas, and directly from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse vindass, from vinda "to wind" (see wind (v.1)) + ass "pole, beam" (cognate with Gothic ans "beam, pillar").
windmill (n.): c. 1300, from wind (n.1) + mill (n.). Similar formation in German Windmühle, Dutch windmolen, French moulin à vent. Verb meaning "to swing the arms wildly" is recorded from 1888. Related: Windmilled; windmilling.
window (n.): c. 1200, literally "wind eye," from Old Norse vindauga, from vindr "wind" (see wind (n.1)) + auga "eye" (see eye (n.)). Replaced Old English eagþyrl, literally "eye-hole," and eagduru, literally "eye-door."

Originally an unglazed hole in a roof, most Germanic languages adopted a version of Latin fenestra to describe the glass version (such as German Fenster, Swedish fönster), and English used fenester as a parallel word till mid-16c. Window dressing is first recorded 1790; figurative sense is from 1898. Window seat is attested from 1778. Window of opportunity (1979) is from earlier figurative use in U.S. space program, such as launch window (1963). Window-shopping is recorded from 1904.
"Window shopping, according to the women, is the king of outdoor sports. Whenever a woman gets down town and has 2 or 3 hours and no money to spend, she goes window shopping. She gives the Poiret gowns and the thousand dollar furs the double O and then kids herself into believing she'd look like Lillian Russell or Beverly Bayne if she had 'em on. It's great for developing the imagination and one of the great secrets of conserving the bankroll. ..." ["Motor Age," Jan. 27, 1916]
windowless (adj.): 1760, from window (n.) + -less.
windowsill (n.): also window-sill, 1703, from window (n.) + sill (n.).