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aftermath [aftermath 词源字典]: aftermath: [16] Originally, and literally, an aftermath was a second crop of grass or similar grazing vegetation, grown after an earlier crop in the same season had been harvested. Already by the mid 17th century it had taken on the figurative connotations of ‘resulting condition’ which are today its only living sense. The -math element comes from Old English mǣth ‘mowing’, a noun descended from the Germanic base *mǣ, source of English mow.
=> mow[aftermath etymology, aftermath origin, 英语词源]
alderman: alderman: [OE] Alderman preserves the notion that those who are old (the ‘elders’) are automatically in charge. In Anglo-Saxon England the ealdor was the chief of a family or clan, by virtue of seniority (the word is based on the adjective eald ‘old’). Alderman (Old English ealdorman) was a political title or rank adopted probably in the early 8th century for someone who exercised in society at large an authority equivalent to that of the ealdor.

In effect, this meant that an alderman acted as a sort of viceroy to the king in a particular district. In the 12th century the title became applied to the governor of a guild, and as the guilds gradually took over some functions of local government, an alderman became a senior councillor. The title was officially abolished in Britain in 1974.
=> old
germane: germane: [19] Germane is an alteration of german ‘closely related’ [14], which now survives only in the rather archaic expression cousin-german. This came via Old French germain from Latin germānus, which meant ‘of the same race’ (it was a derivative of germen ‘sprout, offspring’, from which English gets germ). The use of germane for ‘relevant’ as opposed to simply ‘related’ seems to have been inspired by Hamlet’s comment that a remark of Osric’s would have been ‘more german to the matter, if we could carry cannon by our sides’. (The nationality term German [16], incidentally, is probably of Celtic origin, and has no etymological connection with germane.)
=> germ
hermaphrodite: hermaphrodite: [15] Biologically a combination of male and female, hermaphrodite is etymologically a blend of the names of Hermes, the messenger of the Greek gods, and Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. According to Ovid Hermaphródītos, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, was beloved of the nymph Salmacis with an ardour so strong that she prayed for complete union with him – with the result that their two bodies became fused into one, with dual sexual characteristics. English acquired the term via Latin hermaphrodītus.
mermaid: mermaid: [14] A mermaid is literally a ‘seamaiden’. The word was coined on the basis of English mere [OE], which is now a little-used term for ‘lake’, but originally denoted ‘sea’ (it came ultimately from Indo-European *mori-, *mari- ‘sea’, which also produced German meer ‘sea’ and Latin mare ‘sea’, source of French mer and English marine). Mermaid served in due course as a model for merman [17].
=> marine, mere
permanent: permanent: see remain
superman: superman: [20] The term superman was introduced into English in 1903 by George Bernard Shaw in his play Man and Superman. It was a direct translation of German übermensch, coined by the philosopher Friedrich Nietsche to designate a superior, highly evolved human being that transcended good and evil.
termagent: termagent: [13] Termagent was originally the name of a blustering arrogant Muslim deity in medieval mystery plays; it was not used for a ‘quarrelsome woman’ until the 16th century. It was an alteration of an earlier Tervagant, which came via Old French Tervagant from Italian Trivigante. It is not known for certain where this came from. It has been interpreted as literally ‘three-wandering’, in allusion to the moon travelling in different guises to heaven, earth, and hell, as if it were formed from Latin tri- ‘three’ and vagārī ‘wander’ (source of English vagabond, vagrant, etc); but it may simply have been borrowed from some unknown oriental language.
aftermarket (adj.): 1940, American English, of automobile parts, from after + market.
aftermath (n.): 1520s, originally a second crop of grass grown after the first had been harvested, from after + -math, a dialectal word, from Old English mæð "a mowing, cutting of grass" (see math (n.2)). Figurative sense by 1650s. Compare French regain "aftermath," from re- + Old French gain, gaain "grass which grows in meadows that have been mown," from Frankish or some other Germanic source similar to Old High German weida "grass, pasture"
alderman (n.): Old English aldormonn (Mercian), ealdormann (West Saxon) "ruler, prince, chief; chief officer of a shire," from aldor, ealder "patriarch" (comparative of ald "old;" see old) + monn, mann "man" (see man (n.)). A relic of the days when the elders were automatically in charge of the clan or tribe, but already in Old English used for king's viceroys, regardless of age. The word yielded in Old English to eorl, and after the Norman Conquest to count (n.). Meaning "headman of a guild" (early 12c.) passed to "magistrate of a city" (c. 1200) as the guilds became identified with municipal government.
boilermaker (n.): "a maker of boilers for engines," 1814, from boiler (n.) + maker. Meaning "shot of whiskey with a glass of beer" is short for boilermaker's delight (1910), strong cheap whiskey, so called in jest from the notion that it would clean the scales from the interior of a boiler.
chambermaid (n.): 1580s, from chamber + maid.
Childermas (n.): "festival of the Holy Innocents" (Dec. 28), late Old English *cildramæsse (c. 1000), from obsolete plural of child (q.v.) + mass (n.2).
countermand (v.): early 15c., from Old French contremander "reverse an order or command" (13c.), from contre- "against" (see contra-) + mander, from Latin mandare "to order" (see mandate (n.)). Related: Countermanded; countermanding.
derma (n.): "skin beneath the epidermis," 1706, from Modern Latin derma, from Greek derma (genitive dermatos) "skin," from PIE root *der- (2) "to split, peel, flay" (see tear (v.1)).
dermabrasion (n.): 1954; see derma + abrasion.
dermal (adj.): 1803; see derm + -al (1). A native formation, the Greek adjective would be dermatikos, yielding *dermatic.
dermatitis (n.): 1851; see dermato- + -itis "inflammation."
dermato-: before vowels, dermat-, word-forming element meaning "of or pertaining to skin," from Greek dermato- (shortened form dermo-), from derma "skin" (see derma).
dermatologist (n.): 1833; see dermatology + -ist.
dermatology (n.): 1819, from dermato- + -logy. Related: Dermatological.
Dobermann pinscher (n.): 1917, for Ludwig Dobermann, 19c. German dog-breeder in Thuringia. Pinscher "fox terrier" seems to be a 19c. borrowing from English pinch (see Kluge).
Der Kutscher aus gutem Hause verschafft sich, wie er kann und wenn er kann, einen ganz kleinen englischen Pinscher, der den Pferden sehr gut gut folgt und die großen Dänen von ehedem ersetzt hat, aus J.J. Rousseau's Zeit, der von dem dänischen Hunde umgerannt wurde, wie ihr wißt. ["Paris, oder, Das Buch der Hundert und Ein," Volume 6, Theodor Hell (pseud.), Potsdam, 1833]
fermata (n.): 1876, musical term indicating a pause or hold, Italian, literally "a stop, a pause," from fermare "to fasten, to stop," from fermo "strong, fastened," from Latin firmus (see firm (adj.)).
fisherman (n.): 1520s, from fisher + man (n.).
geothermal (adj.): 1875, from geo- + thermal.
german (adj.): "of the same parents or grandparents," c. 1300, from Old French germain "own, full; born of the same mother and father; closely related" (12c.), from Latin germanus "full, own (of brothers and sisters); one's own brother; genuine, real, actual, true," related to germen (genitive germinis) "sprout, bud," of uncertain origin; perhaps dissimilated from PIE *gen(e)-men-, from root *gene- "to give birth, beget" (see genus). Your cousin-german (also first cousin) is the son or daughter of an uncle or aunt; your children and your first cousin's are second cousins to one another; to you, your first cousin's children are first cousin once removed.
German (n.): "a native of Germany," 1520s, from Latin Germanus (adjective and noun, plural Germani), first attested in writings of Julius Caesar, who used Germani to designate a group of tribes in northeastern Gaul, of unknown origin. Probably originally the name of an individual tribe, but Gaulish (Celtic) origins have been proposed, from words perhaps originally meaning "noisy" (compare Old Irish garim "to shout") or "neighbor" (compare Old Irish gair "neighbor"). Middle English had Germayns (plural, late 14c.), but only in the sense "ancient Teuton, member of the Germanic tribes." The earlier English word was Almain (early 14c.; see Alemanni) or Dutch.
Þe empere passede from þe Grees to þe Frenschemen and to þe Germans, þat beeþ Almayns. [John of Trevisa, translation of Higdon's Polychronicon, 1387]
Their name for themselves, die Deutschen (see Dutch), dates from 12c. Roman writers also used Teutoni as a German tribal name, and writers in Latin after about 875 commonly refer to the German language as teutonicus (see Teutonic). Meaning "the German language" in English is from 1748. High German (1823 in English) and Low German as a division of dialects is geographical: High German (from 16c. established as the literary language) was the German spoken in the upland regions in southern Germany, Low German (often including Dutch, Frisian, Flemish), also called Plattdeutsch was spoken in the regions near the North Sea. In the U.S. German also was used of descendants of settlers from Germany.
German (adj.): "of or pertaining to Germany or the Germans," 1550s, from German (n.). German shepherd as a breed of dog (1922) is short for German shepherd dog (1889), which translates German deutscher Schäferhund. German Ocean as an old name for the North Sea translates Ptolemy. German measles attested by 1856. German-American is from 1880. German Reformed church is from 1812.
germane (adj.): mid-14c., "having the same parents," same as german (adj.) but directly from Latin germanus instead of via French (compare urbane/urban). Main modern sense of "closely connected, relevant" (c. 1600) derives from use in "Hamlet" Act V, Scene ii: "The phrase would bee more Germaine to the matter: If we could carry Cannon by our sides," which is a figurative use of the word in the now-obsolete loosened sense of "closely related, akin" (late 15c.) in reference to things, not persons.
Germanic (adj.): 1630s, "of Germany or Germans," from Latin Germanicus, from Germani (see German (n.)). From 1773 as "of the Teutonic race;" from 1842 especially with reference to the language family that includes German, Dutch, English, etc. As a noun, the name of that language family, by 1892, replacing earlier Teutonic. Germanical is attested from 1550s.
germanium (n.): chemical element, coined 1885 in Modern Latin by its discoverer (German chemist Clemens Alexander Winkler (1838-1904)) from Latin Germania "Germany" (see Germany) + chemical ending -ium.
Germany (n.): c. 1300, from Latin Germania, a Roman designation (see German (n.)). In Middle English the place also was called Almaine (early 14c.; see Alemanni).
Herman: masc. proper name, from German Hermann, from Old High German Hariman, literally "man of war, warrior," from hari "host, army" (see harry (v.)) + man "man" (see man (n.)).
hermaphrodism (n.): 1808, from French hermaphrodisme, from hermaphrodite (see hermaphrodite).
hermaphrodite (n.): late 14c. (harmofroditus), from Latin hermaphroditus, from Greek Hermaphroditos (Latin Hermaphroditus), son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who, in Ovid, was loved by the nymph Salmacis so ardently that she prayed for complete union with him and as a result they were united bodily, combining male and female characteristics. Also used figuratively in Middle English of "one who improperly occupies two offices." As a name for the condition, Middle English had hermofrodito (late 14c.), hermofrodisia (early 15c.). As an adjective, from c. 1600.
hermaphroditic (adj.): 1620s, from hermaphrodite + -ic. Earlier form was hermaphroditical (c. 1600).
hydrothermal (adj.): 1852, from hydro- + thermal (adj.); 1855 in geology.
impermanence (n.): 1796, from impermanent + -ence. Impermanency is from 1640s.
impermanent (adj.): 1650s, from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + permanent.
intermarriage (n.): 1570s, from inter- + marriage.
intermarry (v.): 1570s, "to marry one another," from inter- + marry. Meaning "to marry across families, castes, tribes, etc." is from 1610s. Related: Intermarried; intermarrying.
isothermal: 1826 (adj.); 1852 (n.), from French isotherme (see isotherm) + -al (1).
mermaid (n.): mid-14c., mermayde, literally "maid of the sea," from Middle English mere "sea, lake" (see mere (n.)) + maid. Old English had equivalent merewif "water-witch" (see wife), meremenn "mermaid, siren." Tail-less in northern Europe; the fishy form is a medieval influence from classical sirens. A favorite sign of taverns and inns since at least early 15c. (in reference to the inn on Bread Street, Cheapside, London). Mermaid pie (1660s) was "a sucking pig baked whole in a crust."
merman (n.): c. 1600, literally "man of the sea," from first element in mermaid (q.v.) + man (n.).
overmaster (v.): mid-14c., from over- + master (v.). Related: Overmastered; overmastering.
overmatch (v.): mid-14c., "be more than a match for," from over- + match (v.). Related: Overmatched; overmatching.
permaculture (n.): by 1978, from permanent + agriculture or culture.
permafrost (n.): 1943, coined in English by Russian-born U.S. geologist Siemon W. Muller (1900-1970) from perm(anent) frost.
permanence (n.): early 15c., from Middle French permanence and directly from Medieval Latin permanentia (early 14c.), from Latin permanens (see permanent). Related: Permanency.