quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- bedizen[bedizen 词源字典]
- bedizen: see distaff
[bedizen etymology, bedizen origin, 英语词源] - dedicate
- dedicate: see indicate
- edict
- edict: [15] An edict is literally that which is ‘spoken out’ or ‘proclaimed’. It was acquired directly from Latin ēdictum, which comes from the past participle of ēdīcere ‘proclaim’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and dīcere ‘say’ (source of English diction, dictionary, dictate amongst a host of others). The passing resemblance of edict to edit is quite fortuitous, for they are completely unrelated.
=> dictate, diction, dictionary - edify
- edify: [14] As its close relative edifice [14] suggests, edify has to do literally with ‘building’. And in fact its underlying etymological sense is ‘building a hearth’. That was the original sense of Latin aedis. Gradually, though, it was extended, in a familiar metaphorical transition, from ‘hearth’ to ‘home’ and ‘dwelling’. Addition of a verbal element related to facere ‘make’ produced aedificāre ‘build a house’, or simply ‘build’.
Its figurative application to ‘instruction’ or ‘enlightenment’ took place in Latin, and has no doubt been reinforced in English (which acquired the word from Old French edifier) by its accidental similarity to educate.
- edit
- edit: [18] Etymologically, someone who edits a newspaper ‘gives it out’, or in effect ‘publishes’ it. And that in fact is how the word was first used in English: when William Enfield wrote in his 1791 translation of Brucker’s Historia critica philosophiae that a certain author ‘wrote many philosophical treatises which have never been edited’, he meant ‘published’.
This usage comes directly from ēditus, the past participle of Latin ēdere ‘put out, exhibit, publish’, which was a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and dare ‘put, give’ (source of English date, donate, etc). In its modern application, ‘prepare for publication’, it is mainly a back-formation from editor [17], which acquired this particular sense in the 18th century. (French éditeur still means ‘publisher’, and the term editor is used in that sense in some British publishing houses.)
=> date, donate - encyclopedia
- encyclopedia: [16] Etymologically, encyclopedia means ‘general education’. It is a medieval formation, based on the Greek phrase egkúklios paideíā (egkúklios, a compound adjective formed from the prefix en- ‘in’ and kúklos ‘circle’ – source of English cycle – meant originally ‘circular’, and hence ‘general’, and is the ultimate source of English encyclical [17]; paideíā ‘education’ was a derivative of país ‘boy, child’, which has given English paederast [18], paedophilia [20], pedagogue [14], pedant [16], and paediatrician [20]).
This referred to the general course of education which it was customary to give a child in classical Greece, and after it was merged into a single word egkuklopaideíā and transmitted via medieval Latin encyclopedia into English, it retained that meaning at first. However, in the 17th century the term began to be applied to compendious reference works (the first, or at least the one which did most to establish the name, was perhaps that of J H Alsted in 1632).
The Encyclopedia Britannica was first published in 1768.
=> cycle, encyclical, paederast, pedagogue, pedant, pediatrician - expedition
- expedition: [15] The Latin verb expedīre originally had the rather mundane meaning ‘free one’s feet’ – from a snare, for example It was formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and pēs ‘foot’ (source of English pedal, pedestrian, etc and related to English foot). Its literal meaning was soon lost sight of, progressing via ‘extricate, liberate’ to ‘bring out, make ready’ and ‘put in order, arrange, set right’.
The notion of ‘freeing’ something, enabling it to go forward without hindrance, is reflected in the verb’s English descendant expedite [17]. It also survives in the derived noun expedition, as ‘promptness, dispatch’; in the main, however, this has taken a different semantic route, via ‘sending out a military force’ to ‘long organized journey for a particular purpose’.
=> expedite, foot, pedal, pedestrian - hereditary
- hereditary: [16] Latin hērēs ‘heir’ (a relative of Greek khéra ‘widow’ and Sanskrit hā- ‘leave, lose’) has been quite a prolific source of English words. For one thing there is heir [13] itself, acquired via Old French heir. And then there are all the derivatives of the Latin stem form hērēd-, including hereditament [15], hereditary, heredity [16], and, via the late Latin verb hērēditāre, heritage [13] and inherit [14].
=> heredity, heritage, inherit - immediate
- immediate: see medium
- ingredient
- ingredient: [15] The -gredi- of ingredient represents the Latin verb gradī ‘step, go’ (whose past participial stem gress- has given English aggression, congress, digress, etc). From it was formed ingredī ‘go in, enter’, whose present participle ingrediēns became English ingredient. The word’s etymological meaning is thus ‘that which “enters into” a mixture’. It was originally used mainly with reference to medicines, and its current application to food recipes seems to be a comparatively recent development.
=> aggression, congress, grade, gradual - intermediate
- intermediate: see medium
- medial
- medial: see medium
- median
- median: see medium
- mediate
- mediate: see medium
- medicine
- medicine: [13] Latin medērī ‘heal’ underlies all the English ‘medical’-words (it was formed from the base *med-, which also produced English remedy). From it was derived medicus ‘doctor’, which has given English medical [17]; and on medicus in turn were based Latin medicīna ‘practice of medicine’ (source of English medicine) and medicārī ‘give medicine to’ (source of English medicament [14] and medicate [17]). The informal medico [17] comes via Italian.
=> remedy - medieval
- medieval: see medium
- mediocre
- mediocre: [16] Etymologically, mediocre means ‘halfway up a mountain’. It comes from Latin mediocris ‘of middle height, in a middle state’, which was formed from medius ‘middle’ (source of English medium) and ocris ‘rough stony mountain’.
=> medium - medium
- medium: [16] Latin medius meant ‘middle’ (it came from an Indo-European source that also produced English mid and middle). Its neuter form, used as a noun, has given English medium, but it has made several other contributions to the language, including mean ‘average’, medial [16], median [16], mediate [16] (and its derivatives immediate [16] – etymologically ‘acting directly, without any mediation’ – and intermediate [17]), medieval [19] (literally ‘of the Middle Ages’), mediocre, meridian, mitten, and moiety.
Its Italian descendant is mezzo ‘half’, which has given English intermezzo [19], mezzanine [18], mezzosoprano [18], and mezzotint [18].
=> immediate, intermezzo, mean, median, mediate, middle, mitten - pedigree
- pedigree: [15] Etymologically, pedigree means ‘crane’s-foot’. It comes from Anglo-Norman *pe de gru, pe meaning ‘foot’ (from Latin pēs) and gru ‘crane’ (from Latin grūs). The notion behind the metaphor is that a bird’s foot, with its three splayed-out toes, resembles the branching lines drawn to illustrate a family tree.
=> crane, geranium - pediment
- pediment: see pyramid
- predicament
- predicament: [14] Predicament was originally a technical term in logic, denoting a ‘category of attributes which may be asserted of a thing’. It broadened out in the 16th century to ‘situation’, but it does not seem to have been until the 18th century that the specific modern sense ‘awkward situation’ became established. The word comes from late Latin praedicāmentum, a derivative of praedicāre ‘proclaim’ (source of English preach and predicate [16]). This was a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘in front of’, hence ‘in public’ and dicāre ‘make known’.
=> preach, predicate - predicate
- predicate: see indicate
- sediment
- sediment: see session
- accredit (v.)
- 1610s, from French accréditer, from à "to" (see ad-) + créditer "to credit" (someone with a sum), from crédit "credit" (see credit (n.)). Related: Accredited; accrediting.
- accreditation (n.)
- 1806, noun of action from accredit.
- accredited (adj.)
- "furnished with credentials," 1630s, past participle adjective from accredit (v.).
- antediluvian (adj.)
- "before Noah's flood," 1640s, formed from Latin ante- "before" (see ante) + diluvium "a flood" (see deluge (n.)). Coined by English physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682). As a noun meaning "person who lived before the Flood," from 1680s.
- ayurvedic (adj.)
- "pertaining to traditional Hindu science of medicine," 1917, from Sanskrit ayurveda "science of life," from ayur "life" + veda "knowledge" (see Veda).
- bedight (v.)
- "equip, furnish," c. 1400, from be- + dight (q.v.). Related: Bedighted; bedighting.
- bedim (v.)
- 1560s, from be- + dim (adj.). Related: Bedimmed; bedimming.
- bedizen (v.)
- 1660s, from be- + dizen "to dress" (1610s), especially, from late 18c., "to dress finely, adorn," originally "to dress (a distaff) for spinning" (1520s), and evidently the verbal form of the first element in distaff.
It is remarkable that neither the vb., nor the sb. as a separate word, has been found in OE. or ME., and that on the other hand no vb. corresponding to dizen is known in L.G. or Du. [OED]
- benedict (n.)
- "newly married man" (especially one who had seemed a confirmed bachelor), 1821, from the character Benedick in "Much Ado About Nothing" (1599). The name is from Late Latin Benedictus, literally "blessed," from Latin benedicte "bless (you)" (see benediction). This also produced the proper name Bennet; hence also benet (late 14c.), the third of the four lesser orders of the Roman Catholic Church, one of whose functions was to exorcize spirits.
- Benedictine (n.)
- c. 1600, "one of the order known from the color of its dress as the Black Monks," founded c.529 by St. Benedict (see benedict).
- benediction (n.)
- c. 1400, from Latin benedictionem (nominative benedictio), noun of action from bene dicere "to speak well of, bless," from bene "well" (see bene-) + dicere "to speak" (see diction). The oldest sense in English is of grace before meat. The older French form, beneiçon passed into Middle English as benison.
- biomedical (adj.)
- also bio-medical, 1961, from bio- + medical.
- bleeding (n.)
- late 14c., "a flowing out of blood;" mid-15c. as "a drawing out of blood;" verbal noun formed after earlier present participle adjective (early 13c.) of bleed. Figurative use is from 1796. As a euphemism for bloody, from 1858. In U.S. history, Bleeding Kansas, in reference to the slavery disputes in that territory 1854-60, is attested from 1856, said to have been first used by the New York "Tribune."
- bleeding heart (n.)
- type of flowering plant, so called from 1690s. In the sense of "person excessively sympathetic" (especially toward those the speaker deems not to deserve it) is attested by 1951, but said by many to have been popularized with reference to liberals (especially Eleanor Roosevelt) in 1930s by newspaper columnist Westbrook Pegler (1894-1969), though quotations are wanting; bleeding in a figurative sense of "generous" is from late 16c., and the notion of one's heart bleeding as a figure of emotional anguish is from late 14c., but the exact image here may be the "bleeding heart of Jesus."
- breeding (n.)
- late 14c., "hatching, incubation;" also "formation, development, growth," verbal noun from breed (v.). Meaning "good manners" is from 1590s.
- cedilla (n.)
- c. 1600, from Spanish cedilla, zedilla, literally "little z," from a Latin-like diminutive of Greek zeta "the letter 'z'." The mark (formerly also used in Spanish) was derived from that letter and indicates a "soft" sound in letters in positions where normally they have a "hard" sound. See zed.
- civil disobedience (n.)
- coined 1866 by Thoreau as title of an essay originally published (1849) as "Resistance to Civil Government."
- comedian (n.)
- 1580s, "comic poet," later (c. 1600) "stage actor in comedies," also, generally, "actor," from Middle French comédien, from comédie (see comedy). Meaning "professional joke-teller, etc." is from 1898.
- comedic (adj.)
- 1630s, from Latin comoedicus, from Greek komoidikos "pertaining to comedy," from komoidia (see comedy).
- comedienne (n.)
- 1860, from French comédienne, fem. of comédien (see comedian).
- commedia dell'arte (n.)
- 1877, Italian, literally "comedy of art;" see comedy + art (n.).
- credibility (n.)
- 1590s, from Medieval Latin credibilitas, from Latin credibilis (see credible). Credibility gap is 1966, American English, in reference to official statements about the Vietnam War.
- credible (adj.)
- "believable," late 14c., from Latin credibilis "worthy to be believed," from credere (see credo). Related: Credibly.
- credit (n.)
- 1520s, from Middle French crédit (15c.) "belief, trust," from Italian credito, from Latin creditum "a loan, thing entrusted to another," from past participle of credere "to trust, entrust, believe" (see credo). The commercial sense was the original one in English (creditor is mid-15c.). Meaning "honor, acknowledgment of merit," is from c. 1600. Academic sense of "point for completing a course of study" is 1904. Movie/broadcasting sense is 1914. Credit rating is from 1958; credit union is 1881, American English.
- credit (v.)
- 1540s, from credit (n.). Related: Credited; crediting.
- credit card
- 1952 in the modern sense; the phrase was used late 19c. to mean "traveler's check."
- creditable (adj.)
- 1520s, from credit (v.) + -able. Related: Creditably; creditability.