英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

corduroy [corduroy 词源字典]: corduroy: [18] Popular etymology usually associates corduroy with a supposed French corde du roy ‘cord of the king’ or even couleur du roy ‘king’s colour’ (the original corduroy having according to this theory been purple), but in fact there is no concrete evidence to substantiate this. A more likely explanation is that the word’s first syllable represents cord in the sense ‘ribbed fabric’, and that the second element is the now obsolete noun duroy ‘coarse woollen fabric’ [17], of unknown origin.
[corduroy etymology, corduroy origin, 英语词源]
destroy: destroy: [13] As in the case of demolish, to destroy something is almost literally to ‘unbuild’ it. The word comes via Old French destruire from *dēstrūgere, a Vulgar Latin alteration of Latin dēstrūere. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix dē-, denoting reversal of a previous state, and strūere ‘pile up, build’ (source of English construct and structure). Its past participle, dēstructus, has produced English destruction [14], destructive [15], and the verb destruct (recorded once in the 17th century but revived in the 1950s by backformation from destruction).
=> construct, destruction, structure
royal: royal: [14] Royal and regal are ultimately the same word. Both go back to the Latin adjective rēgālis, a derivative of rēx ‘king’. But whereas regal was probably borrowed direct from Latin, royal was acquired via Old French, where rēgālis became roial.
=> regal
arroyo (n.): "watercourse, dry streambed," 1845, a California word, from American Spanish, in Spanish, "rivulet, small stream," from Latin arrugia "shaft or pit in a gold mine," apparently a compound of ad- "to" (see ad-) + ruga "a wrinkle" (see rough (adj.)).
corduroy (n.): 1780, probably from cord + obsolete 17c. duroy, name of a coarse fabric made in England, which is of unknown origin. Folk etymology is from *corde du roi "the king's cord," but this is not attested in French, where the term for the cloth was velours à côtes. Applied in U.S. to a road of logs across swampy ground (1780s) on similarity of appearance.
CORDUROY ROAD. A road or causeway constructed with logs laid together over swamps or marshy places. When properly finished earth is thrown between them by which the road is made smooth; but in newly settled parts of the United States they are often left uncovered, and hence are extremely rough and bad to pass over with a carriage. Sometimes they extend many miles. They derive their name from their resemblance to a species of ribbed velvet, called corduroy. [Bartlett]
destroy (v.): early 13c., from Old French destruire (12c., Modern French détruire) "destroy, ravage, lay waste," from Vulgar Latin *destrugere (source of Italian distruggere), refashioned (influenced by destructus), from Latin destruere "tear down, demolish," literally "un-build," from de- "un-, down" (see de-) + struere "to pile, build" (see structure (n.)). Related: Destroyed; destroying.
destroyer (n.): late 14c., "someone or something that destroys," agent noun from Old French destruire (see destroy). As a type of warship, 1893, originally torpedo-boat destroyer; the class name perhaps from the proper name given to one such ship in the U.S. Navy in 1882.
Fauntleroy: in various usages, from the gentle boy hero of Frances Hodgson Burnett's popular novel "Little Lord Fauntleroy" (1885). The family name is recorded from mid-13c., literally "son of the king" (Anglo-French Le Enfant le Roy), from faunt, a Middle English variant of enfaunt (see infant). Middle English also had fauntekin "a little child" (late 14c.).
groyne (n.): "strong, low sea wall," 1580s, perhaps from obsolete groin "pig's snout" (c. 1300; the wall so called because it was thought to look like one), from Old French groin "muzzle, snout; promontory, jutting part," from Latin grunnire "to grunt" (compare English colloquial grunter "a pig").
incroyable: 1796, from French incroyable, literally "incredible" (15c.), from in- "not, opposite of, without" (see in- (1)) + croire "to believe," from Latin credere (see credo). Name for the French fop or dandy of the period of the Directory (1795-99). Said to be so called from their extravagant dress and from a favorite expression among them ("C'est vraiment incroyable").
Kilroy: U.S. military graffito character, 1945, said to be either Sgt. Francis J. Kilroy Jr., U.S. Army Air Transport, whose friend or friends began writing his name everywhere as a prank; or war materiéls inspector James J. Kilroy of Quincy, Mass., who wrote "Kilroy was here" on everything he checked.
pennyroyal (n.): herb, 1520s, alteration by folk etymology of Anglo-French puliol real; for second element see royal; first element ultimately from Latin puleium "thyme," of unknown origin.
Rob Roy (n.): Highland freebooter (1671-1734). His name means "Red Robert." As a type of cocktail made with Scotch whiskey, it is attested from 1960.
Rolls-Royce (n.): registered 1908 as trademark, named for designers C.S. Rolls (1877-1910) and Sir Henry Royce (1863-1933). Figurative use from 1916 for any product deemed to be of high quality. Shortened form Rolls first attested 1928.
royal (adj.): mid-13c., "fit for a king;" late 14c., "pertaining to a king," from Old French roial "royal, regal; splendid, magnificent" (12c., Modern French royal), from Latin regalis "of a king, kingly, royal, regal," from rex (genitive regis) "king" (see rex). Meaning "thorough, total" attested from 1940s; that of "splendid, first-rate" from 1853.

Battle royal (1670s) preserves the French custom of putting the adjective after the noun (as in attorney general); the sense of the adjective here is "on a grand scale" (compare pair-royal "three of a kind in cards or dice," c. 1600). The Royal Oak was a tree in Boscobel in Shropshire in which Charles II hid himself during flight after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Sprigs of oak were worn to commemorate his restoration in 1660.
royal (n.): "royal person," c. 1400, from royal (adj.). Specifically "member of the royal family" from 1774.
royale (adj.): French, literally "royal" (see royal).
royalist (n.): 1640s, from royal + -ist. In England, a partisan of Charles I and II during the Civil War; in the U.S., an adherent of British government during the Revolution; in France, a supporter of the Bourbons.
royally (adv.): late 14c., "regally;" 1836, "gloriously," from royal (adj.) + -ly (2).
royalty (n.): c. 1400, "office or position of a sovereign," also "magnificence," from or modeled on Old French roialte (12c., Modern French royauté), from Vulgar Latin *regalitatem (nominative *regalitas), from Latin regalis (see royal). Sense of "prerogatives or rights granted by a sovereign to an individual or corporation" is from late 15c. From that evolved more general senses, such as "payment to a landowner for use of a mine" (1839), and ultimately "payment to an author, composer, etc." for sale or use of his or her work (1857). Compare realty.
troy: late 14c., standard system of weights for gems and precious metals, from Troyes, city in France (Roman (Civitas) Tricassium, capital of the Tricasses, a Celtic people whose name was said to mean "those with three tresses"), former site of an important fair at which this weight is said to have been used. Many medieval towns had their own standard weights. The pound troy contains 5,760 grains and is divided into 12 ounces.
viceroy (n.): person ruling as representative of a sovereign, 1520s, from Middle French vice-roy, from Old French vice- "deputy" (see vice-) + roi "king," from Latin regem (nominative rex); see rex. The species of American butterfly so called from 1881.