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ammonia [ammonia 词源字典]: ammonia: [18] Ammonia gets its name ultimately from Amon, or Amen, the Egyptian god of life and reproduction. Near the temple of Amon in Libya were found deposits of ammonium chloride, which was hence named sal ammoniac – ‘salt of Amon’. The gas nitrogen hydride is derived from sal ammoniac, and in 1782 the Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman coined the term ammonia for it.
[ammonia etymology, ammonia origin, 英语词源]
draconian: draconian: [18] Draconian ‘excessively harsh’ is a monument to the severe code of laws drawn up in 621 BC by the Athenian statesman Draco. Its purpose was to banish inequities in the system which were leading at the time to rumblings and threats of rebellion among the common people, and to an extent it succeeded, but all it is now remembered for is its almost pathological harshness: the most trivial infraction was punished with death. When taxed with his laws’ severity, Draco is said to have replied ‘Small crimes deserve death, and for great crimes I know of no penalty severer’.
insignia: insignia: see sign
mania: mania: [14] Greek maníā meant ‘madness’. It goes back ultimately to Indo-European *mn-, *men- ‘think’, the same source as produced English mind. It reached English via late Latin mania. Of its derivatives, maniac [17] comes from late Greek maniakós, but manic [20] is an English formation. Closely related to maníā was the Greek verb maínesthai ‘be mad’; from it was derived mainás, the name for a fanatical female follower of Dionysus, which English has adopted via Latin as maenad [16].
=> maenad, manic, mind
miniature: miniature: [16] ‘Smallness’ is a purely secondary semantic development as far as miniature is concerned, inspired by its accidental similarity to the min- element of words like minimum and minute. It in fact comes ultimately from Latin minium ‘red lead’. Red lead was used in ancient and medieval times for making a sort of red ink with which manuscripts were decorated, and so the derived medieval Latin verb miniāre was coined for ‘illuminate a manuscript’.

Italian took this over as miniare, and derived miniatura ‘painting, illustrating’ from it. It referred particularly to the small paintings in manuscripts, and when English borrowed it as miniature it was soon broadened out to any ‘small image’. Association with minute, etc led by the early 18th century to its adjectival use for ‘small’.
petunia: petunia: see tobacco
schizophrenia: schizophrenia: [20] Schizophrenia means literally ‘split mind’. It is a Latinized version of German schizophrenie, coined in 1910 by E Bleuler from Greek skhízein ‘split’ (source of English schism and schist) and phrén ‘mind’ (source of English frantic and phrenology).
=> frantic, phrenology, schism
Abyssinia (n.): old name for Ethiopia, 1630s, from Modern Latin Abyssinia, from Arabic Habasah, the name for the region, said to be from Amharic hbsh "mixed," in reference to the different races dwelling there. In 1920s-30s popular as a slang pun for "I'll be seeing you." Related: Abyssinian.
Albania: Medieval Latin name of the country called by its inhabitants Shqipëri (literally "land of eagles," from shqiponje "eagle"), from Medieval Greek Albania, possibly from a pre-IE word *alb "hill" (also proposed as the source of Alps) or from the PIE root *albho- "white" (see alb). Roman Albania was a land by the Caspian Sea (modern Daghestan); in English Albania was occasionally also a name for Scotland.
ammonia (n.): 1799, Modern Latin, coined 1782 by Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman (1735-1784) for gas obtained from sal ammoniac, salt deposits containing ammonium chloride found near temple of Jupiter Ammon (from Egyptian God Amun) in Libya, from Greek ammoniakos "belonging to Ammon." The shrine was ancient already in Augustus' day, and the salts were prepared "from the sands where the camels waited while their masters prayed for good omens" [Shipley].

There also was a gum form of sal ammoniac, from a wild plant that grew near the shrine, and across North Africa and Asia. A less likely theory traces the name to Greek Armeniakon "Armenian," because the substance also was found in Armenia. Also known as spirit of hartshorn and volatile or animal alkali.
Ananias: "liar," a reference to Acts v:3-5.
Anglomania (n.): 1787; see Anglo- + mania. Related: Anglomaniac.
anhedonia (n.): "inability to feel pleasure," 1897, from French anhédonie, coined 1896 by French psychologist Theodule Ribot (1839-1916) as an opposite to analgesia, from Greek an-, privative prefix (see an- (1)), + hedone "pleasure" (see hedonist) + abstract noun ending -ia.
Antonia: fem. proper name, from Latin Antonia, fem. of Antonius (see Anthony).
aphonia (n.): "want of voice, loss of voice, having no sound," 1719, from Modern Latin aphonia, from Greek aphonia "speechlessness," noun of quality from aphonos "voiceless," from a-, privative prefix (see a- (3)), + phone "voice," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)) + abstract noun ending -ia. Less-common anglicized form aphony is attested from 1827.
Apollonian (adj.): 1660s, from Apollo (Greek Apollon) + -ian. The Greek adjective was Apollonios. The word also is attested in English as Apollinarian (1753), Apolline (c. 1600).
arithmomania (n.): "compulsive desire to count objects and make calculations," 1890, from French arithmomanie, from Greek arithmos "number, counting, amount" (see arithmetic) + French -manie (see mania). Related: Arithmomaniac.
Armenian: 1590s, "a native of Armenia," from Armenia (late 14c. in English), place name traced to 521 C.E., but which is of uncertain origin. As the name of the language, by 1718; as an adjective, by 1727.
Arminian: 1610s, from Arminius, Latinized form of the name of James Harmensen (1560-1609), Dutch Protestant theologian who opposed Calvin, especially on the question of predestination. His ideas were denounced at the Synod of Dort, but nonetheless spread in the Reformed churches.
asthenia (n.): "weakness," 1802, Modern Latin, from Greek asthenia "want of strength, weakness, feebleness, sickness; a sickness, a disease," from asthenes "weak, without strength, feeble," from a-, privative prefix (see a- (3)), + sthenos "strength," which is of uncertain origin.
Athenian (n.): Old English Atheniense (plural noun), from Latin Atheniensis, from Athenae (see Athens).
Babylonian (n.): 1560s; see Babylon + -ian. From 1630s as an adjective. Earlier in the adjectival sense was Babylonical (1530s).
baronial (adj.): 1767, from baron + -ial.
Beatlemania (n.): 1963; see Beatles + mania.
The social phenomenon of Beatlemania, which finds expression in handbags, balloons and other articles bearing the likeness of the loved ones, or in the hysterical screaming of young girls whenever the Beatle Quartet performs in public. ["London Times," Dec. 27, 1963]
begonia (n.): 1751, from French begonia (1706), named by Plumier for Michel Bégon (1638-1710), French governor of Santo Domingo (Haiti) and patron of botany, + abstract noun ending -ia.
bibliomania (n.): 1734, after French bibliomanie, from biblio- + mania.
bibliomaniac (n.): 1816; see bibliomania.
A bibliomaniac must be carefully distinguished from a bibliophile. The latter has not yet freed himself from the idea that books are meant to be read. [Walsh]
bicentennial: also bi-centennial, 1843 (adj.), 1871 (noun), American English, from bi- + centennial (q.v.). In rivalry with bicentenary (1831) which seems to have been the more common word in Britain.
biennial (adj.): "lasting for two years" (1620s); "occurring every two years" (1750), from Latin biennium "two-year period," from bi- (see bi-) + annus "year" (see annual). The vowel change is "due to the Latin phonetic law according to which the unaccented and closed radical syllable of the second element of compounds, original -ă- becomes -ĕ-" [Klein]. The noun meaning "a biennial plant" is attested by 1770.
Bosnia: named for the River Bosna, which is perhaps from an Indo-European root *bhog- "current." As a name or adjective for someone there, Bosnian (1788) is older in English than Bosniac (1836, from Russian Bosnyak).
brainiac (n.): "very smart person," 1982, U.S. slang, from brain (n.) + ending from ENIAC, etc. Brainiac also was the name of a comic book villain in the Superman series and a do-it-yourself computer building kit, both from the late 1950s, and the word may bear traces of either or both of these.
Brownian movement (n.): 1871, for Scottish scientist Dr. Robert Brown (1773-1858), who first described it.
Caledonia: Roman name of part of northern Britain, taken from the name of former inhabitants, which is of unknown origin, perhaps Celtic; since 18c, applied poetically to Scotland or the Scottish Highlands. Related: Caledonian.
California: name of an imaginary realm in "Las sergas de Esplandián" ("Exploits of Espladán"), a romance by Spanish writer Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo, published in 1510. It was a sequel to his "Amadis de Gaula," and was said to have been influential among Spanish explorers of the New World. It could have led them to misidentify Baja California as this mythical land and to mistake it for an island. The Amadis tales are the Iberian equivalent of the Arthurian romances; they are older than 1510 (traces of them have been found mid-14c.) and were wildly popular. That conquistadors and sailors would have known the story in all its imaginative detail is hardly surprising.
Amadis de Gaula ... set a fashion: all later Spanish writers of books of chivalry adopted the machinery of Amadis de Gaula. Later knights were not less brave (they could not be braver than) Amadis; heroines were not less lovely (they could not be lovelier) than Oriana; there was nothing for it but to make the dragons more appalling, the giants larger, the wizards craftier, the magic castles more inaccessible, the enchanted lakes deeper. Subsequent books of chivalry are simple variants of the types in Amadis de Gaula: Cervantes made his barber describe it as 'the best of all books of this kind.' This verdict is essentially just. Amadis de Gaula was read everywhere, especially in the French version of Herberay des Essarts. It was done into Hebrew during the sixteenth century, and attracted readers as different as St Ignatius of Loyola and Henry of Navarre. Its vogue perhaps somewhat exceeded its merit, but its merits are not inconsiderable. [James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, "Spanish Literature," 1922 edition]
Where Montalvo got the name and what it means, if anything, is a mystery. Californian is attested from 1785. The element Californium (1950) was named in reference to University of California, where it was discovered.
calumniate (v.): 1550s, from Latin calumniatus, past participle of calumniari "to accuse falsely," from calumnia "slander, false accusation" (see calumny). Related: Calumniated; calumniating.
calumniation (n.): 1540s, noun of action from calumniate (v.).
calumniator (n.): 1690s, from Latin calumniator, agent noun from calumniari (see calumniate (v.)).
catatonia (n.): 1888, from medical Latin catatonia; replacing katatonia (1880s), which was formed directly from Greek kata- "down" (see cata-) + tonos "tone" (see tenet) + abstract noun ending -ia.
centennial (adj.): 1789, from Latin centum "one hundred" (see hundred) + ending from biennial. As a noun, "hundredth anniversary celebration," from 1876; the older noun is centenary.
ceremonial (adj.): c. 1400, "belonging to (religious) ritual," also as a noun, "a ceremonial practice," from Late Latin caerimonialis "pertaining to ceremony," from caerimonia (see ceremony). Related: Ceremonially.
chthonian (adj.): 1804, from Latinized form of Greek khthonios (see chthonic) + -an.
Ciceronian (adj.): "eloquent," a reference to Roman statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.E.); also often known as Tully in early Modern English writers; Cicero being a cognomen of the genus Tullia.
cleptomaniac (n.): Latinized variant of kleptomaniac. Related: cleptomania.
cogenial (adj.): 1774, variant of congenial.
colonial (adj.): 1756, from Latin colonia (see colony) + -al (1), or directly from colony on model of baronoinal. Meaning "from or characteristic of America during colonial times" is from 1776. The noun meaning "inhabitant of a colony" is recorded from 1865.
colonialism (n.): 1853, "ways or speech of colonial persons," from colonial + -ism. Meaning "the system of colonial rule" is from 1886.
colonialist (n.): 1813, from colonial + -ist; compare colonist.
colonialization (n.): 1965, noun of action from colonialize (1964); see colonial + -ize. Related: Decolonialize; decolonialization.
congenial (adj.): 1620s, "kindred, sympathetic," from Latin com- "together" (see com-) + genialis "of birth," thus, "kindred" (see genus). Sense of "agreeable" is first recorded 1711. Related: Congeniality.
Cottonian: library in the British Museum, named for antiquarian Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1570-1631). He donated some book to the state and his grandson donated the rest. It was badly damaged in a fire in 1731. The surname represents Old English cotum, plural of cot "cottage."