英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

cardamom (n.)[cardamom 词源字典]: 1550s, from French cardamome, from Latin cardamomum, from Greek kardamomon, from kardamon "cress" (which is of unknown origin) + amomon "spice plant." The word was in English from late 14c. in Latin form.[cardamom etymology, cardamom origin, 英语词源]
hard-nosed (adj.): "stubborn," 1927, from hard (adj.) + nose (n.). Earlier of bullets or shells with hard tips, and of dogs that had difficulty following a scent. Not in common use before 1950s, when it begins to be applied to tough or relentless characters generally (Damon Runyon characters, U.S. Marines, Princeton professors, etc.). Soft-nosed seems to have been used only of bullets.
overboard (adv.): "over the side of a ship," Old English ofor bord, from over + bord "side of a ship" (see board (n.2)). Figurative sense of "excessively, beyond one's means" (especially in phrase go overboard) first attested 1931 in Damon Runyon.
spade (n.2): black figure on playing cards," 1590s, probably from Italian spade, plural of spada "the ace of spades," literally "sword, spade," from Latin spatha "broad, flat weapon or tool," from Greek spathe "broad blade" (see spade (n.1)). Phrase in spades "in abundance" first recorded 1929 (Damon Runyon), probably from bridge, where spades are the highest-ranking suit.
The invitations to the musicale came sliding in by pairs and threes and spade flushes. [O.Henry, "Cabbages & Kings," 1904]
Derogatory meaning "black person" is 1928, from the color of the playing card symbol.
wuss (n.): 1982, abbreviated from wussy.
Mike Damone: You are a wuss: part wimp, and part pussy
["Fast Times at Ridgemont High" script, 1982]
agathodemonic: "Of or relating to an agathodemon; belonging to a beneficent spirit or divinity", Late 19th cent. From agathodemon + -ic, after German agathodämonisch.