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agitate [agitate 词源字典]: agitate: [16] Agitate is one of a host of English words descended ultimately from Latin agere (see AGENT). Among the many meanings of agere was ‘drive, move’, and a verb derived from it denoting repeated action, agitāre, hence meant ‘move to and fro’. This physical sense of shaking was present from the start in English agitate, but so was the more metaphorical ‘perturb’.

The notion of political agitation does not emerge until the early 19th century, when the Marquis of Anglesey is quoted as saying to an Irish deputation: ‘If you really expect success, agitate, agitate, agitate!’ In this meaning, a derivative of Latin agitāre has entered English via Russian in agitprop ‘political propaganda’ [20], in which agit is short for agitatsiya ‘agitation’.
=> act, agent[agitate etymology, agitate origin, 英语词源]
devastate: devastate: [17] Etymologically as well as semantically, devastate is related to ‘lay waste’. It comes from the past participle of Latin dēvāstāre, a compound verb formed from the intensive prefix dē- and vāstāre ‘lay waste’. This was a derivative of vāstus ‘waste’, source of English waste.
=> vast, waste
eructate: eructate: see reek
estate: estate: [13] Essentially, estate and state are the same word, and originally their meanings were very close (the now archaic ‘reach man’s estate’, for instance, signifies ‘reach the state of manhood’). From the 15th century, however, they began to diverge, estate taking a semantic path via ‘interest in property’ to ‘such property itself’, and finally, in the 18th century, to the ‘land owned by someone’. Both come via Old French estat from Latin status ‘way of standing, condition’ (source of English status), a derivative of the verb stāre ‘stand’ (a relative of English stand).
=> stand, state, statue, status
hesitate: hesitate: [17] Etymologically, to hesitate is to become ‘stuck’. The word comes from Latin haesitāre, a derivative of haerēre ‘hold fast, stick’ (which gave English adhere). The underlying idea is of being ‘held back’, or in speech of ‘stammering’, and hence of being unable to act or speak promptly or decisively.
=> adhere
imitate: imitate: [16] Latin imitāri meant ‘make a copy of’. It was formed from the base *im-, which also lies behind the Latin ancestors of English emulate [16] and image; all three words share the basic meaning element ‘likeness’. English acquired the word via the Latin past participle imitātus.
=> emulate, image
intestate: intestate: see testament
mutate: mutate: [19] Semantically, mutate is probably the most direct English descendant of the Indo- European base *moi-, *mei- ‘change, exchange’, which has also given English mad, mean ‘unworthy, ignoble’, municipal, mutual [15] (from Latin mūtuus ‘exchanged, reciprocal’), the final syllable of common, and probably migrate [17]. Mutate itself comes from Latin mūtāre ‘change’ (source also of English mews and moult), and was preceded into English by some centuries by the derivatives mutable [14] and mutation [14].
=> mews, moult, mutual
regurgitate: regurgitate: see gorge
state: state: [13] State comes, partly via Old French estat (source of English estate), from Latin status ‘way of standing, condition, position’, which was formed from the same base as stāre ‘stand’ (a distant relative of English stand). The word’s political sense, ‘body politic’, first recorded in the 16th century, comes from Latin expressions such as status rei publicae ‘condition of the republic’ and status civitatis ‘condition of the body politic’.

The verb state originally meant ‘put, place’; its modern meaning ‘declare’ arose from the notion of ‘placing’ something on record, setting it out in detail. English borrowed status itself in the 17th century.
=> estate, stand, station, statistic, statue; statute
acetate (n.): 1827, "salt formed by combining acetic acid with a base," from Latin acetum "vinegar" (see acetic) + chemical suffix -ate (3). As a type of synthetic material, it is attested from 1920, short for acetate silk, etc.
agitate (v.): 1580s, "to disturb," from Latin agitatus, past participle of agitare "to put in constant motion, drive onward, impel," frequentative of agere "to move, drive" (see agitation). Literal sense of "move to and fro, shake" is from 1590s. Related: Agitated; agitating.
agitated (adj.): 1610s, "set in motion," past participle adjective from agitate (v.). Meaning "disturbed" is from 1650s; that of "disturbed in mind" is from 1756. Meaning "kept constantly in public view" is from 1640s.
amputate (v.): 1630s, back-formation from amputation or else from Latin amputatus, past participle of amputare "to cut off, to prune." Related: Amputated; amputating.
annotate (v.): 1733, from Latin annotatus, past participle of annotare "to note down" (see annotation). Related: Annotated; annotating. Not in Johnson's "Dictionary," but used therein in defining comment. Form annote is recorded from mid-15c. Related: Annotated; annotating.
apostate (n.): mid-14c., "one who forsakes his religion or faith," from Old French apostate (Modern French apostat) and directly from Late Latin apostata, from Greek apostasia "defection, desertion, rebellion," from apostenai "to defect," literally "to stand off," from apo- "away from" (see apo-) + stenai "to stand." Used in non-religious situations (politics, etc.) from mid-14c.
apostate (adj.): late 14c.; see apostate (n.).
auscultate (v.): "to listen" (especially with a stethoscope), 1832, from Latin auscultatus, past participle of auscultare "to listen attentively to," from aus-, from auris "ear" (see ear (n.1)); "the rest is doubtful" [OED]. Tucker suggests the second element is akin to clinere "to lean, bend."
capacitate (v.): 1650s, from Latin capacitas (see capacity) + -ate (2). Related: Capacitation.
capitate (adj.): "head-shaped," 1660s, from Latin capitatus "headed," from caput "head" (see capitulum).
cavitate (v.): 1892 (implied in cavitated), back-formation from cavitation. Related: Cavitating.
cogitate (v.): late 16c., from Latin cogitatus, past participle of cogitare "to think" (see cogitation). Related: Cogitated; cogitating.
cohabitate (v.): 1630s, from Late Latin cohabitatus, past participle of cohabitare (see cohabitation). Related: Cohabitated; cohabitating.
commentate (v.): 1794, "to comment," back-formation from commentator. Meaning "to deliver commentary" is attested from 1939 (implied in commentating). Related: Commentated; commentating.
connotate (v.): 1590s, from Medieval Latin connotatus, past participle of connotare (see connote). Obsolete; replaced by connote.
debilitate (v.): 1530s, from Latin debilitatus, past participle of debilitare "to weaken," from debilis "weak" (see debility). Related: Debilitated; debilitating.
decapitate (v.): 1610s, from French décapiter (14c.), from Late Latin decapitatus past participle of decapitare, from Latin de- "off" (see de-) + caput (genitive capitis) "head" (see capitulum). Related: Decapitated; decapitating.
denotate (v.): 1590s, from past participle stem of Latin denotare (see denote). Related: Denotated; denotating.
devastate (v.): 1630s, perhaps a back-formation from devastation. Apparently not common until 19c.; earlier verb form devast is attested from 1530s, from Middle French devaster. Related: devastated; devastating.
dictate (v.): 1590s, "to practice dictation, say aloud for another to write down," from Latin dictatus, past participle of dictare "say often, prescribe," frequentative of dicere "tell, say" (see diction). Sense of "to command" is 1620s. Related: Dictated; dictates; dictating.
dictate (n.): 1590s, from Latin dictatum "something dictated," noun use of neuter past participle of dictare (see dictate (v.)).
eructate (v.): 1630s, from Latin eructatus, past participle of eructare "to belch forth" (see eructation). Related: Eructated; eructating.
estate (n.): early 13c., "rank, standing, condition," from Anglo-French astat, Old French estat "state, position, condition, health, status, legal estate" (13c., Modern French état), from Latin status "state or condition, position, place; social position of the aristocracy," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet).

For the excrescent e-, see e-. Sense of "property" is late 14c., from that of "worldly prosperity;" specific application to "landed property" (usually of large extent) is first recorded in American English 1620s. A native word for this was Middle English ethel (Old English æðel) "ancestral land or estate, patrimony." Meaning "collective assets of a dead person or debtor" is from 1830.

The three estates (in Sweden and Aragon, four) conceived as orders in the body politic date from late 14c. In France, they are the clergy, nobles, and townsmen; in England, originally the clergy, barons, and commons, later Lords Spiritual, Lords Temporal, and commons. For Fourth Estate see four.
facilitate (v.): 1610s, "make easy, render less difficult," from French faciliter "to render easy," from stem of Latin facilis "easy" (see facile). Related: Facilitated; facilitates; facilitating.
felicitate (v.): 1620s, "to render happy" (obsolete); 1630s, "to reckon happy;" from Late Latin felicitatus, past participle of felicitare "to make happy," from Latin felicitas "fruitfulness, happiness," from felix "fruitful, fertile; lucky, happy" (see felicity). Meaning "congratulate, compliment upon a happy event" is from 1630s. Related: Felicitated; felicitating. Little-used alternative verb form felicify (1680s) yielded adjective felicific (1865).
fourth estate (n.): "the press," by 1824, and especially from 1831, British English. For the other three, see estate. Earlier the term had been applied in various senses that did not stick, including "the mob" (1752), "the lawyers" (1825). The extension to the press is perhaps an outgrowth of the former.
Hence, through the light of letters and the liberty of the press, public opinion has risen to the rank of a fourth estate in our constitution; in times of quiet and order, silent and still, but in the collisions of the different branches of our government, deciding as an umpire with unbounded authority. ["Memoir of James Currie, M.D.," 1831]

[Newspapers] began to assume some degree of political importance, during the civil wars of the seventeenth century, in England; but it is not until within the last fifty years that they have become, -- as they are now justly styled, -- a Fourth Estate, exercising a more powerful influence on the public affairs of the countries in which they are permitted to circulate freely, than the other three put together. [Alexander H. Everett, "Address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Bowdoin College," 1834]
gestate (v.): 1847, a back-formation from gestation. Related: Gestated; gestating.
gravitate (v.): 1640s, "exert weight; move downward" (obsolete), from Modern Latin gravitare (16c. in scientific writing), from Latin gravitas "heaviness, weight," from gravis "heavy" (see grave (adj.)). Meaning "be affected by gravity" is from 1690s. Figurative sense "be strongly attracted to, have a natural tendency toward" is from 1670s. Related: Gravitated; gravitating. The classical Latin verb was gravare "to make heavy, burden, oppress, aggravate."
habilitate (v.): c. 1600 (transitive) "to qualify," from Medieval Latin habilitatus, past participle of habilitare, from habile "fit, suitable" (see able). Intransitive meaning "obtain necessary qualifications" is from 1881. Related: Habilitated; habilitation.
hesitate (v.): 1620s, from Latin haesitatum, past participle of haesitare (see hesitation). Related: Hesitated; hesitating.
imitate (v.): 1530s, a back-formation from imitation or imitator, or else from Latin imitatus. Related: Imitated; imitating. An Old English word for this was æfterhyrigan.
incapacitate (v.): 1650s, from incapacity + -ate. Related: Incapacitated; incapacitating.
instate (v.): "to put someone in a certain state or condition," c. 1600, from in + state (n.1). Related: Instated; instating.
instatement (n.): 1670s, from instate + -ment.
interstate (adj.): 1845, from inter- + state (n.). As "an interstate highway," by 1986, American English.
intestate (adj.): late 14c., from Old French intestat (13c.) and directly from Latin intestatus "having made no will," from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + testatus, past participle of testari "make a will, bear witness" (see testament). As a noun, "one who has not made out a will," from 1650s.
irritate (v.): 1530s, "stimulate to action, rouse, incite," from Latin irritatus, past participle of irritare "excite, provoke." An earlier verb form was irrite (mid-15c.), from Old French irriter. Meaning "annoy, make impatient" is from 1590s. Related: Irritated; irritating.
lactate (v.): "secrete milk from the breasts," 1889, probably a back-formation from lactation. Related: Lactated; lactating.
lactate (n.): 1794, from stem of lactic + -ate (1).
levitate (v.): 1670s, "to rise by virtue of lightness," from Latin levitas "lightness," patterned in English on gravitate. Sense of "raise (a person) into the air" is mainly from spiritualism (1870s). Related: Levitated; levitating.