英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

wyandotte (n.)[wyandotte 词源字典]: type of hen, 1884, from Wyandot, name of an Iroquoian people (1749) and their language, from French Ouendat, perhaps from Huron wendat "forest" or yandata "village," or from the people's self-designation wedat, which is perhaps a shortening of a longer form akin to Mohawk skawe:nat "one language."[wyandotte etymology, wyandotte origin, 英语词源]
wych: see witch hazel.
wynn (n.): runic letter in Old English and early Middle English, representing "w," Old English wyn, so called for being the first letter of that word, which literally means "delight, pleasure" (see Venus).
Wyoming: region in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from Munsee Delaware (Algonquian) chwewamink "at the big river flat," from /xw-/ "big" + /-e:wam-/ "river flat" + /-enk/ "place." Popularized by 1809 poem "Gertrude of Wyoming," set amid wars between Indians and American settlers, written by Scottish author Thomas Campbell (1777-1844), who seems to have had a vague or defective notion of Pennsylvania geography:
On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming!
Although the wild-flower on thy ruin'd wall,
And roofless homes, a sad remembrance bring,
Of what thy gentle people did befall;
Yet thou wert once the loveliest land of all
That see the Atlantic wave their morn restore.
Sweet land! may I thy lost delights recall,
And paint thy Gertrude in her bowers of yore,
Whose beauty was the love of Pennsylvania's shore!
et cetera. Subsequently applied 19c. to other locations (in Kansas, Ohio, and Wisconsin), and to a western territory organized July 25, 1868 (admitted as a state 1890).
On the same day there was debate in the Senate over the name for the new Territory. Territories often keep their names when they become States, so we may be glad that "Cheyenne," to be pronounced "Shy-en," was not adopted. "Lincoln" was rejected for an obvious and, no doubt, sound reason. Apparently, nobody had a better name to offer, though there must be plenty of Indian words that could properly be used, and, for the present, the insignificant "Wyoming" is retained. ["The Nation," June 11, 1868]
wyrd: see weird.
wysiwyg: 1982, computer programmer's acronym from what you see is what you get.
wyvern (n.): c. 1600, formed (with excrescent -n) from Middle English wyver (c. 1300), from Anglo-French wivre, from Old North French form of Old French guivre "snake," from Latin vipera "viper" (see viper). In heraldry, a winged dragon with eagle's feet and a serpent's barbed tail.
wakeboarding: "The sport of riding on a short, wide board resembling a surfboard and performing acrobatic manoeuvres while being towed behind a motor boat", 1990s: from wake², on the pattern of surfboarding.
warpath: "Angry and ready or eager for confrontation", With reference to American Indians heading towards a battle with an enemy.
Woop Woop: "A humorous name for a remote outback town or district", 1920s: a jocular use of reduplication, a characteristic of Aboriginal languages.
Wernicke's area: "A region of the brain concerned with the comprehension of language, located in the cortex of the dominant temporal lobe. Damage in this area causes Wernicke’s aphasia, characterized by superficially fluent, grammatical speech but an inability to use or understand more than the most basic nouns and verbs", Late 19th century: named after Karl Wernicke (1848–1905), German neuropsychiatrist.
whipping boy: "A person who is blamed or punished for the faults or incompetence of others", Extended use of the original term ( mid 17th century) denoting a boy educated with a young prince or other royal person and punished instead of him.
weeny: "Tiny", Late 18th century: from wee¹, on the pattern of tiny; compare with teeny.
wapiti: "A red deer of a large race native to North America", Early 19th century: from Shawnee, literally 'white rump'.
whanau: "An extended family or community of related families who live together in the same area", Maori.
witter: "Speak at length about trivial matters", Early 19th century (originally Scots and dialect): probably imitative.
willy (1): "A penis", Early 20th century: pet form of the given name William.
willy (2): "A sudden outburst of anger or annoyance", 1930s: perhaps from willy-willy.
whup: "Beat; thrash", Late 19th century: variant of whip.
wigeon: "A dabbling duck with mainly reddish-brown and grey plumage, the male having a whistling call", Early 16th century: perhaps of imitative origin and suggested by pigeon¹.