quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- necromancy[necromancy 词源字典]
- necromancy: [13] Greek nekrós meant ‘corpse’ (it has given English necrophilia [19], necropolis ‘cemetery’ [19], and necrosis ‘death of tissue’ [17] as well as necromancy, and goes back to a base *nek- ‘kill’ which also produced Latin nex ‘killing’, source of English internecine and pernicious, and possibly Greek néktar, source of English nectar).
Addition of manteíā ‘divination’, a derivative of mántis ‘prophet, diviner’ (from which English gets the insectname mantis [17], an allusion to its raised front legs, which give it an appearance of praying), produced nekromanteíā ‘foretelling the future by talking to the dead’, which passed into late Latin as necromantīa. By the Middle Ages the application of the term had broadened out to ‘black magic’ in general, and this led to an association of the first element of the word with Latin niger ‘black’.
Hence when it first arrived in English it was in the form nigromancy, and the restoration of the original necro- did not happen until the 16th century.
=> internecine, mantis, pernicious[necromancy etymology, necromancy origin, 英语词源] - romance
- romance: [13] A romance is etymologically a story written in the language ‘of Rome’. The word comes from Old French romanz, which denoted ‘something written in French (as opposed to classical Latin)’. This went back to the Vulgar Latin adverb *rōmānicē ‘in the local vernacular descended from Latin’ (contrasted with latinē ‘in Latin’). This in turn came from Latin rōmānicus ‘Roman’, a derivative ultimately of Rōma ‘Rome’.
In practice, these medieval vernacular tales were usually about chivalric adventure, and that was the starting point from which the modern meaning of romance, and its derivative romantic [17], developed. The original sense survives in the linguistic term Romance, denoting languages such as French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, etc that have evolved from Latin.
- achromatic (adj.)
- 1766, from Latinized form of Greek akhromatos "colorless," from a-, privative prefix (see a- (3)), + khromat-, comb. form of khroma "color" (see chroma) + -ic.
- Andromache
- wife of Hector, Latin Andromache, from Greek Andromakhe, perhaps literally "whose husband excells in fighting," fem. of andromakhos "fighting with men;" see anthropo- + -machy.
- aroma (n.)
- early 13c., "fragrant substance," from Latin aroma "sweet odor," from Greek aroma "seasoning, any spice or sweet herb," which is of unknown origin. Meaning "fragrance" is from 1814. A hypercorrect plural is aromata.
- aromatherapy (n.)
- by 1992, from French aromathérapie, attested from 1930s; see aroma + therapy.
- aromatic (adj.)
- c. 1400, aromatyk, from Middle French aromatique (14c.), from Latin aromaticus, from Greek aromatikos, from aroma (genitive aromatos) "seasoning, sweet spice," which is of unknown origin.
- aromatize (v.)
- late 15c., from Old French aromatiser (12c.), from Latin aromatizare, from Greek aromatizein "to spice," from aromat-, stem of aroma "seasoning, sweet spice" (see aroma).
- atheroma (n.)
- "encysted tumor," 1706, medical Latin, from Greek atheroma, from athere "groats, porridge" (related to ather "chaff"), in reference to what is inside. For ending, see -oma.
- Bildungsroman (n.)
- 1910, from German Bildungsroman, from Bildung "education, formation, growth" (from Bild "picture, image, figure;" Old High German bilade) + roman "novel" (see romance). A novel set in the formative years, or the time of spiritual education, of the main character.
- catoptromancy (n.)
- "divination by means of a mirror," 1610s, from Latinized comb. form of Greek katoptron "mirror" (see catoptric) + -mancy.
- ceromancy (n.)
- "divination by means of melted wax dripped in water" (the shapes supposedly previsioning a future spouse, etc.), 1650s, from French ceromancie, Medieval Latin ceromantia; see cere (n.) + -mancy.
- chiromancy (n.)
- "divination by the hand, palmistry," 1520s, from French chiromancie (14c.), from Medieval Latin chiromantia, from Late Greek kheiromanteia, from kheiro-, comb. form of kheir "hand" (see chiro-) + -mantia (see -mancy). Related: Chiromancer; chiromantic.
- chroma (n.)
- "quality or intensity of color," 1889, from Latinized form of Greek khroma "surface of the body, skin, color of the skin," also used generically for "color" and, in plural, "ornaments, embellishments," related to khros "surface of the body, skin," khrozein "to touch the surface of the body, to tinge, to color;" the root is explained as being somehow from PIE *ghreu- "to rub, grind" (see grit (n.)).
- chromatic (adj.)
- 1590s (of music), "progressing by half-tones;" 1831 as "pertaining to color," from Latin chromaticus, from Greek khromatikos "relating to color, suited for color," from khroma (genitive khromatos) "color, complexion, character," but chiefly used metaphorically of embellishments in music, originally "skin, surface" (see chroma).
- chromatin (n.)
- protoplasm in cell nuclei, 1882, from German, coined 1879 by German anatomist Walther Flemming (1843-1905), from Latinized form of Greek khromat-, the correct combinational form of khroma "color" (see chroma) + chemical suffix -in (2). Related: Chromatid. Compare chromosome.
- chromato-
- before vowels chromat-, word forming element indicating "color; chromatin," from Latinized form of Greek khromato-, from khroma (see chroma).
- chromatography (n.)
- 1731, from chromato-, Latinized comb. form of Greek khroma (genitive khromatos) "color" (see chroma), denoting "color" or "chromatin" + -graphy. Related: Chromatograph.
- chromatophore (n.)
- "pigment cell," 1864, from chromato- + Greek -phoros "bearing, bearer," from pherein "to carry" (see infer).
- cleromancy (n.)
- "divination by dice," c. 1600, from French cléromancie, from Latinized form of Greek kleros "lot" (see clerk (n.)) + manteia "oracle, divination" (see -mancy).
- electromagnet (n.)
- also electro-magnet, "magnet which owes its magnetic properties to electric current," 1822; see electro- + magnet.
- electromagnetic (adj.)
- also electro-magnetic, 1821; see electro- + magnetic.
- electromagnetism (n.)
- also electro-magnetism, 1821; see electro- + magnetism.
- ferromagnetic (adj.)
- "behaving like iron in a magnetic field," 1840, from ferro- "iron" + magnetic.
- fromage (n.)
- French for "cheese," from French fromage, originally formage (13c.), from Medieval Latin formaticum (source also of Italian formaggio), properly "anything made in a form," from Latin forma "shape, form, mold" (see form (v.)). Papias the Lombard (11c.) has caseus vulgo formaticum.
- Gallo-Roman (adj.)
- "belonging to Gaul when it was part of the Roman Empire," from comb. form of Gaul + Roman. In reference to a language, and as a noun, the language spoken in France from the end of the fifth century C.E. to the middle of the ninth, a form of Vulgar Latin with local modifications and additions from Gaulish that then, in the region around Paris, developed into what linguists call Old French.
- Greco-Roman (adj.)
- "of or pertaining to both Greek and Roman," by 1811; see Greco- + Roman (adj.).
- gyromancy (n.)
- 1550s, method of divination said to have been practiced by a person walking in a circle marked with characters or signs till he fell from dizziness, the inference being drawn from the place in the circle at which he fell; from Medieval Latin gyromantia, from Greek gyyros "circle" (see gyro- (n.)) + manteia "divination, oracle" (see -mancy).
- laundromat (n.)
- "automatic coin-operated public laundry," 1946, originally (1942) a proprietary name by Westinghouse for a type of automatic washing machine; from laundry + ending probably suggested by automat. Also used for public clothes-washing places in U.S. were washateria (1935), laundrette (1945). The Westinghouse machine was popular after the war and was available with coin chutes and timers.
- micromanage (v.)
- by 1982, from micro- + manage (v.). Related: Micromanagement; micromanaged; micromanaging.
- micromania (n.)
- 1879, "a form of mania in which the patient thinks himself, or some part of himself, to be reduced in size," from Greek mikros "small" (see mica) + mania. Also used in reference to insane self-belittling.
- monochromatic (adj.)
- 1807, from mono- + chromatic, or from monochrome + -atic. Related: Monochromatically (1784).
- necromancer (n.)
- c. 1300, from Old French nigromansere, from nigromancie (see necromancy).
- necromancy (n.)
- c. 1300, nygromauncy, "divination by communication with the dead," from Old French nigromancie "magic, necromancy, witchcraft, sorcery," from Medieval Latin nigromantia (13c.), from Latin necromantia "divination from an exhumed corpse," from Greek nekromanteia, from nekros "dead body" (see necro-) + manteia "divination, oracle," from manteuesthai "to prophesy," from mantis "prophet" (see mania). Spelling influenced in Medieval Latin by niger "black," on notion of "black arts." Modern spelling is a mid-16c. correction. Related: Necromantic.
- oneiromancy (n.)
- 1650s; see oneiro- + -mancy. Greek had oneiromantis "an interpreter of dreams." Related: oneiromantic.
- prodromal (adj.)
- 1717, from Modern Latin prodromus "a running forward" (see prodrome) + -al (1).
- pyromania (n.)
- 1840, from pyro- "fire" + mania "madness, frenzy." Used in German in the 1830s.
The propensity which leads an insane person to accomplish his purpose by burning, has been considered to merit particular notice, and to constitute a variety of monomania. Dr. Marc, of France, has published a memoir on the subject; he gives the name of pyromania to it, and considers that, like other insane propensities, it may be the result of instinct, or it may be the result of delusion--reasoning upon erroneous principles. [Alexander Morrison, M.D., "The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases," London, 1840]
An older word for it was incendiarism. - pyromaniac (adj.)
- 1855, from pyromania. As a noun from 1861.
- romaine (adj.)
- type of lettuce, 1876, from French romaine (in laitue romaine, literally "Roman lettuce"), from fem. of Old French romain "Roman," from Latin Romanus (see Roman). Perhaps so called because of the lettuce's introduction into France (by Bureau de la Rivière, chamberlain of Charles V and VI) at the time of the Avignon papacy (1309-77).
- Roman (n.)
- Old English, from Latin Romanus "of Rome, Roman," from Roma "Rome" (see Rome). The adjective is c. 1300, from Old French Romain. The Old English adjective was romanisc, which yielded Middle English Romanisshe.
As a type of numeral (usually contrasted to Arabic) it is attested from 1728; as a type of lettering (based on the upright style typical of Roman inscriptions, contrasted to Gothic, or black letter, and italic) it is recorded from 1510s. Roman nose is from 1620s. Roman candle as a type of fireworks is recorded from 1834. Roman Catholic is attested from c. 1600, a conciliatory formation from the time of the Spanish Match, replacing Romanist, Romish which by that time had the taint of insult in Protestant England. - roman (n.)
- "a novel," 1765, from French roman, from Old French romanz (see romance (n.)); roman à clef, novel in which characters represent real persons, literally "novel with a key" (French), first attested in English 1893. And, for those who can't get enough of it, roman policier "a story of police detection" (1928).
- Roman holiday (n.)
- "occasion on which entertainment or profit is derived from injury or death," 1860, originally in reference to holidays for gladiatorial combat; the expression seems to be entirely traceable to an oft-quoted passage on a dying barbarian gladiator from the fourth canto (1818) of Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage":
But where his rude hut by the Danube lay
There were his young barbarians all at play,
There was their Dacian mother. He, their sire,
Butcher'd to make a Roman holiday!
- romance (n.)
- c. 1300, "a story, written or recited, of the adventures of a knight, hero, etc.," often one designed principally for entertainment," from Old French romanz "verse narrative" (Modern French roman), originally an adverb, "in the vernacular language," from Vulgar Latin *romanice scribere "to write in a Romance language" (one developed from Latin instead of Frankish), from Latin Romanicus "of or in the Roman style," from Romanus "Roman" (see Roman).
The sense evolution is because medieval vernacular tales usually told chivalric adventures full of marvelous incidents and heroic deeds. In reference to literary works, often in Middle English meaning ones written in French but also applied to native compositions. Literary sense extended by 1660s to "a love story." Meaning "adventurous quality" first recorded 1801; that of "love affair" is from 1916. Romance novel attested from 1964. Compare Romance (adj.). - romance (v.)
- late 14c., "recite a narrative," from Old French romancier "narrate in French; translate into French," from romanz (see romance (n.)). Later "invent fictitious stories" (1670s), then "be romantically enthusiastic" (1849); meaning "court as a lover" is from 1938, probably from romance (n.). Related: Romanced; romancing.
- Romance (adj.)
- mid-14c., "French; in the vernacular language of France" (contrasted to Latin), from Old French romanz "French; vernacular," from Late Latin Romanice, from Latin Romanicus (see Roman). Extended 1610s to other modern tongues derived from Latin (Spanish, Italian, etc.); thus "pertaining to the languages which arose out of the Latin language of the provinces of Rome." Compare romance (n.).
- romancer (n.)
- mid-14c., "chronicler writing in French," from Old French romanceour, from romanz (see romance (n.)). Later, "one inclined to romantic imagination" (the main sense 19c.); modern use for "seducer, wooer" of a romantic quality appears to be a new formation c. 1967 from romance (v.).
- Romanesque (adj.)
- 1715, originally "descended from Latin" (compare romance), later "architectural style in Europe between Roman and Gothic periods" (1819), from Roman, influenced by French romanesque, from Late Latin Romanice "in Vulgar Latin" (see romance (n.)).
- Romania
- Eastern European nation, name taken officially in 1861 at the union of Wallachia and Moldavia, from Latin Romani "people from Rome," which was used to describe the descendants of colonists there from Roman times; see Roman + -ia. In early use often Rumania, or, from French, Roumania. Related: Romanian; Rumanian; Roumanian.
- Romanic (adj.)
- "pertaining to Rome or the Roman people," 1708, originally in reference to languages descended from Latin, from Latin Romanicus, from Romanus "Roman" (see Roman).
- Romanism (n.)
- "Roman Catholicism" (usually, if not always, with a disparaging savor; in some contexts suggesting political allegiance to the Vatican), 1670s, from Roman + -ism.