英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

contaminate [contaminate 词源字典]: contaminate: [15] Contaminate appears to come from the same ultimate source as contact, a base *tag- ‘touch’, which produced the Latin verb tangere ‘touch’ (whence English tactile, tangent, and tangible). It seems also to have formed the basis of a compound Latin noun *contagmen ‘contact, pollution’, which became altered to contāmen. From this was derived the verb contamināre, whose past participle gave English contaminate.
=> contact, tactile, tangible[contaminate etymology, contaminate origin, 英语词源]
stamina: stamina: [17] Etymologically, stamina is the plural of stamen ‘male reproductive part of a flower’ [17]. The ultimate source of both is Latin stāmen ‘thread of woven cloth’, which went back to Indo-European *stāmen-, a derivative of the base *stā- ‘stand’ (source also of English stand). The application to the plant-part appears to go back to the Roman naturalist Pliny, who used stāmen for the stamens of a sort of lily, which resembled threads of cloth. The Latin plural stāmina was borrowed into English in the metaphorical sense ‘threads of human life, vital capacities’, and by the 18th century it had broadened out to ‘vigour’.
=> stamen, stand
vitamin: vitamin: [20] Vitamins were originally vitamines: the Polish-born biochemist Casimir Funk who introduced them to the world in 1920 believed that they were amino acids and so formed the name from Latin vita ‘life’ and amine. It was soon discovered that Funk’s belief was mistaken, and alternative names were suggested, but in 1920 it was successfully proposed (by J.C. Drummond) that the -e be dropped to avoid confusion, and the form vitamin was born.
=> amine, vital
acetaminophen (n.): U.S. name for "para-acetylaminophenol," 1960, composed of syllables from the chemical name; in Britain, the same substance is paracetamol.
amphetamine (n.): 1938, contracted from alphamethyl-phenethylamine.
antihistamine (n.): 1933, from anti- + histamine.
catamite (n.): "boy used in pederasty," 1590s, from Latin Catamitus, corruption of Ganymedes, the name of the beloved cup-bearer of Jupiter (see Ganymede). Cicero used it as a contemptuous insult against Antonius.
contaminate (v.): early 15c., from Old French contaminer, from Latin contaminatus, past participle of contaminare "to defile," from contamen "contact, pollution," from com- "together" (see com-) + *tag-, base of tangere "to touch" (see tangent (adj.)). Related: Contaminant (1934); contaminable.
contamination (n.): early 15c., from Latin contaminationem (nominative contaminatio), noun of action from past participle stem of contaminare (see contaminate). Figurative sense is from c. 1620; specifically of radioactivity from 1913.
decontaminate (v.): 1936, from de- + contaminate. Originally in reference to poison gas. Related: Decontaminated; decontaminating.
estaminet (n.): 1814, from French, "a café in which smoking is allowed" (17c.), of unknown origin; some suggest a connection to French estamine, a type of open woolen fabric used for making sieves, etc., from Latin stamineus "made of thread." Or [Watkins] from Walloon stamen "post to which a cow is tied at a feeding trough," from Proto-Germanic *stamniz (see stem (n.)). For the excrescent e-, see e-.
histamine (n.): 1913, "amine produced by the decomposition of histidine."
ketamine (n.): 1966, from keto-, comb. form of ketone, + amine.
Mesopotamia: ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern Iraq), from Greek mesopotamia (khora), literally "a country between two rivers," from fem. of mesopotamos, from mesos "middle" (see medial (adj.)) + potamos "river" (see potamo-).

In 19c. the word sometimes was used in the sense of "anything which gives irrational or inexplicable comfort to the hearer," based on the story of the old woman who told her pastor that she "found great support in that comfortable word Mesopotamia" ["Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable," 1870]. The place was called Mespot (1917) by British soldiers serving there in World War I. Related: Mesopotamian.
methamphetamine (n.): 1949, from methyl + amphetamine; so called because it was a methyl derivative of amphetamine.
stamina (n.): 1670s, "rudiments or original elements of something," from Latin stamina "threads," plural of stamen (genitive staminis) "thread, warp" (see stamen). Sense of "power to resist or recover, strength, endurance" first recorded 1726 (originally plural), from earlier meaning "congenital vital capacities of a person or animal;" also in part from use of the Latin word in reference to the threads spun by the Fates (such as queri nimio de stamine "too long a thread of life"), and partly from a figurative use of Latin stamen "the warp (of cloth)" on the notion of the warp as the "foundation" of a fabric. Related: Staminal.
Tamil: Dravidian people and language of southern India, 1734, from Pali Damila, from Sanskrit Dramila, variant of Dravida (see Dravidian).
tatami (n.): Japanese floor-mat, 1610s, from Japanese tatami.
vitamin (n.): 1920, originally vitamine (1912) coined by Polish biochemist Casimir Funk (1884-1967), from Latin vita "life" (see vital) + amine, because they were thought to contain amino acids. The terminal -e formally was stripped off when scientists learned the true nature of the substance; -in was acceptable because it was used for neutral substances of undefined composition. The lettering system of nomenclature (Vitamin A, B, C, etc.) was introduced at the same time (1920).
histaminase: "An enzyme that breaks down histamine (by oxidizing the amino group to an aldehyde)", 1930s. From histamine + -ase.
tolbutamide: "A synthetic compound used to lower blood sugar levels in the treatment of diabetes", 1950s: from tol(uene) + but(yl) + amide.
glutamine: "A hydrophilic amino acid which is a constituent of most proteins", Late 19th century: blend of glutamic acid and amine.
glutamic acid: "An acidic amino acid which is a constituent of many proteins", Late 19th century: from gluten + amine + -ic.