quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- English[English 词源字典]
- English: [OE] The people and language of England take their name from the Angles, a West Germanic people who settled in Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. They came originally from the Angul district of Schleswig, an area of the Jutland peninsula to the south of modern Denmark. This had a shape vaguely reminiscent of a fishhook, and so its inhabitants used their word for ‘fishhook’ (a relative of modern English angler and angling) to name it.
From earliest times the adjective English seems to have been used for all the Germanic peoples who came to Britain, including the Saxons and Jutes, as well as the Angles (at the beginning of the 8th century Bede referred to them collectively as gens anglorum ‘race of Angles’). The earliest record of its use with reference to the English language is by Alfred the Great.
=> angler, angling[English etymology, English origin, 英语词源] - hair
- hair: [OE] No general Indo-European term for ‘hair’ has come down to us. All the ‘hair’-words in modern European languages are descended from terms for particular types of hair – hair on the head, hair on other parts of the body, animal hair – or for single hairs or hair collectively, and indeed many retain these specialized meanings: French cheveu, for instance, means ‘hair of the head’, whereas poil denotes ‘body hair’ or ‘animal hair’.
In the case of English hair, unfortunately, it is not clear which of these categories originally applied, although some have suggested a connection with Lithuanian serys ‘brush’, which might indicate that the prehistoric ancestor of hair was a ‘bristly’ word. The furthest back in time we can trace it is to West and North Germanic *khǣram, source also of German, Dutch, and Danish haar and Swedish hår.
The slang use of hairy for ‘difficult’ is first recorded in the mid 19th century, in an erudite context that suggests that it may have been inspired by Latin horridus (source of English horrid), which originally meant (of hair) ‘standing on end’. Its current use, in which ‘difficult’ passes into ‘dangerous’, seems to have emerged in the 1960s, and was presumably based on hair-raising, which dates from around 1900.
It is fascinatingly foreshadowed by harsh, which is a derivative of hair and originally meant ‘hairy’.
- lull
- lull: [14] There are several words similar to lull in various Germanic languages, including Swedish lulla ‘lull’ and Dutch lullen ‘prattle’, but it is not clear to what extent they are interconnected. But either individually or collectively they all no doubt go back ultimately to a repitition of the syllable lu or la, used in singing a baby to sleep. Lullaby was coined from lull in the 16th century, perhaps using the final syllable of goodbye.
- anecdotage (n.)
- "anecdotes collectively," 1823, from anecdote + -age. As a jocular coinage meaning "garrulous old age" it is recorded from 1835, and led to anecdotard.
- armory (n.)
- "arms and weapons collectively," c. 1300; see arm (n.2) + -ory. Meaning "place where arms are manufactured" is from mid-15c. Also used in a sense of "arsenal" (mid-15c.), "the science of heraldry" (late 15c.), from Old French armoierie, from armoier "to blazon," from Latin arma "weapons" (see arm (n.2)).
- aspiration (n.1)
- 1530s, "action of breathing into," from Latin aspirationem (nominative aspiratio) "a breathing on, a blowing upon; rough breathing; influence," noun of action from past participle stem of aspirare (see aspire). Meaning "steadfast longing for a higher goal, earnest desire for something above one" is recorded from c. 1600 (sometimes collectively, as aspirations).
- big (adj.)
- c. 1300, northern England dialect, "powerful, strong," of obscure origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare Norwegian dialectal bugge "great man"). Old English used micel in many of the same senses. Meaning "of great size" is late 14c.; that of "grown up" is attested from 1550s. Sense of "important" is from 1570s. Meaning "generous" is U.S. colloquial by 1913.
Big band as a musical style is from 1926. Slang big head "conceit" is first recorded 1850. Big business "large commercial firms collectively" is 1905; big house "penitentiary" is U.S. underworld slang first attested 1915 (in London, "a workhouse," 1851). In financial journalism, big ticket items so called from 1956. Big lie is from Hitler's grosse Lüge. - blade (n.)
- Old English blæd "a leaf," but also "a leaf-like part" (of spade, oar, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *bladaz (cognates: Old Frisian bled "leaf," German Blatt, Old Saxon, Danish, Dutch blad, Old Norse blað), from PIE *bhle-to-, suffixed form (past participle) of *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom," possibly identical with *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole). Extended in Middle English to shoulders (c. 1300) and swords (early 14c.). The modern use in reference to grass may be a Middle English revival, by influence of Old French bled "corn, wheat" (11c., perhaps from Germanic). The cognate in German, Blatt, is the general word for "leaf;" Laub is used collectively as "foliage." Old Norse blað was used of herbs and plants, lauf in reference to trees. This might have been the original distinction in Old English, too. Of men from 1590s; in later use often a reference to 18c. gallants, but the original exact sense, and thus signification, is uncertain.
- blind (n.)
- "a blind person; blind persons collectively," late Old Engish, from blind (adj.). Meaning "place of concealment" is from 1640s. Meaning "anything that obstructs sight" is from 1702.
- bloom (n.1)
- "blossom of a plant," c. 1200, a northern word, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse blomi "flower, blossom," also collectively "flowers and foliage on trees;" from Proto-Germanic *blomon (cognates: Old Saxon blomo, Middle Dutch bloeme, Dutch bloem, Old High German bluomo, German Blume, Gothic bloma), from PIE *bhle- (cognates: Old Irish blath "blossom, flower," Latin flos "flower," florere "to blossom, flourish"), extended form of root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom" (see folio). Related to Old English blowan "to flower" (see blow (v.2)).
Transferred sense, of persons, is from c. 1300; meaning "state of greatest loveliness" is from early 14c.; that of "blush on the cheeks" is from 1752. Old English had cognate bloma, but only in the figurative sense of "state of greatest beauty;" the main word in Old English for "flower" was blostm (see blossom). - carriage (n.)
- late 14c., "act of carrying, means of conveyance; wheeled vehicles collectively," from Anglo-French and Old North French cariage "cart, carriage, action of transporting in a vehicle" (Old French charriage, Modern French charriage), from carier "to carry" (see carry (v.)). Meaning "individual wheeled vehicle" is c. 1400; specific sense of "horse-drawn, wheeled vehicle for hauling people" first attested 1706; extended to railway cars by 1830. Meaning "way of carrying one's body" is 1590s. Carriage-house attested from 1761.
- church (n.)
- Old English cirice, circe "church, public place of worship; Christians collectively," from Proto-Germanic *kirika (cognates: Old Saxon kirika, Old Norse kirkja, Old Frisian zerke, Middle Dutch kerke, Dutch kerk, Old High German kirihha, German Kirche), probably [see note in OED] from Greek kyriake (oikia), kyriakon doma "Lord's (house)," from kyrios "ruler, lord," from PIE root *keue- "to swell" ("swollen," hence "strong, powerful"); see cumulus. Phonetic spelling from c. 1200, established by 16c. For vowel evolution, see bury. As an adjective from 1570s.
Greek kyriakon (adj.) "of the Lord" was used of houses of Christian worship since c.300, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ekklesia or basilike. An example of the direct Greek-to-Germanic progress of many Christian words, via the Goths; it probably was used by West Germanic people in their pre-Christian period.
Also picked up by Slavic, probably via Germanic (Old Church Slavonic criky, Russian cerkov). Finnish kirkko, Estonian kirrik are from Scandinavian. Romance and Celtic languages use variants of Latin ecclesia (such as French église, 11c.).
Church-bell was in late Old English. Church-goer is from 1680s. Church key is early 14c.; slang use for "can or bottle opener" is by 1954, probably originally U.S. college student slang. Church-mouse, proverbial in many languages for its poverty, is 1731 in English. - cinema (n.)
- 1899, "a movie hall," from French cinéma, shortened from cinématographe "motion picture projector and camera," coined 1890s by Lumiere brothers, who invented it, from Latinized form of Greek kinemat-, comb. form of kinema "movement," from kinein "to move" (see cite) + graphein "to write" (see -graphy). Meaning "movies collectively, especially as an art form" recorded by 1914. Cinéma vérité is 1963, from French.
- citizenry (n.)
- "citizens collectively," 1795, from citizen + -ry.
- clothing (n.)
- c. 1200, "action of dressing in clothes," verbal noun from clothe. From late 13c. as "clothes collectively;" 1590s as an adjective.
- comic (n.)
- "a comedian," 1580s, from comic (adj.). Latin adjective comicus also meant "a comic poet, writer of comedies." Meaning "a comic book or comic strip" is from 1889; comics for these collectively is from 1890. Comic strip first attested 1920; comic book is from 1941. Comic relief is attested from 1825.
- crockery (n.)
- "earthen vessels collectively," 1719 (in crockery-ware); see crock + -ery.
- cutlery (n.)
- mid-14c., cutellerie, "art or trade of knife-making," from Old French coutelerie "cutlery, knife-making" (13c., Modern French coutellerie) "cutting utensils," also "knife-making," from coutel "knife," from Latin cultellus (see cutlass). Meaning "knives and forks collectively" is from 1836.
- delegation (n.)
- 1610s, "action of delegating" (earlier in this sense was delegacie, mid-15c.); perhaps a native formation, perhaps from French délégation, or directly from Latin delegationem (nominative delegatio) "assignment, delegation," noun of action from past participle stem of delegare (see delegate). Meaning "persons sent by commission" is from 1818; meaning "a state's elected representatives, taken collectively," is U.S. political usage from 1820s.
- depart (v.)
- mid-13c., "part from each other," from Old French departir (10c.) "to divide, distribute; separate (oneself), depart; die," from Late Latin departire "divide" (transitive), from de- "from" (see de-) + partire "to part, divide," from pars (genitive partis) "a part" (see part (n.)).
As a euphemism for "to die" (to depart this life; compare Old French departir de cest siecle) it is attested from c. 1500, as is the departed for "the dead," singly or collectively. Transitive lingers in some English usages; the wedding service was till death us depart until 1662. Related: Departed; departing. - family (n.)
- early 15c., "servants of a household," from Latin familia "family servants, domestics collectively, the servants in a household," thus also "members of a household, the estate, property; the household, including relatives and servants," from famulus "servant, slave," which is of unknown origin.
The Latin word rarely appears in the sense "parents with their children," for which domus (see domestic (adj.)) was used. Derivatives of famulus include famula "serving woman, maid," famulanter "in the manner of a servant," famulitas "servitude," familiaris "of one's household, private," familiaricus "of household slaves," familiaritas "close friendship."
In English, sense of "collective body of persons who form one household under one head and one domestic government, including parents, children, and servants, and as sometimes used even lodgers or boarders" [Century Dictionary] is from 1540s. From 1660s as "parents with their children, whether they dwell together or not," also in a more general sense, "persons closely related by blood, including aunts, uncles, cousins;" earlier "those who descend from a common progenitor, a house, a lineage" (1580s). Hence, "any group of things classed as kindred based on common distinguishing characteristics" (1620s); as a scientific classification, between genus and order, from 1753.
I have certainly known more men destroyed by the desire to have wife and child and to keep them in comfort than I have seen destroyed by drink and harlots. [William Butler Yeats, "Autobiography"]
Replaced Old English hiwscipe, hiwan "family," cognate with Old Norse hjon "one of the household; married couple, man and wife; domestic servant," and with Old High German hiwo "husband," hiwa "wife," also with Lithuanian šeimyna "family," Gothic haims "village," Old English ham "village, home" (see home (n.)).
As an adjective from c. 1600; with the meaning "suitable for a family," by 1807. Family values first recorded 1966. Phrase in a family way "pregnant" is from 1796. Family circle is 1809; family man "man devoted to wife and children, man inclined to lead a domestic life" is 1856 (earlier it meant "thief," 1788, from family in a slang sense of "the fraternity of thieves"). Family-tree "graph of ancestral relations" attested from 1752:
He was dressed in his best Coat, which had served him in the same Capacity before my Birth, and possibly, might be but little short in Antiquity, to the Root of his third Family Tree; and indeed, he made a venerable Figure in it. ["A Genuine Account of the Life and Transactions of Howell ap David Price, Gentleman of Wales," London, 1752]
Happy family an assemblage of animals of diverse habits and propensities living amicably, or at least quietly, together in one cage. [Century Dictionary, 1902]
The phrase is attested from 1844. - fancy (n.)
- mid-15c., fantsy "inclination, liking," contraction of fantasy. It took the older and longer word's sense of "inclination, whim, desire." Meaning "the productive imagination" is from 1580s. That of "a fanciful image or conception" is from 1660s. Meaning "fans of an amusement or sport, collectively" is attested by 1735, especially (though not originally) of the prize ring. The adjective is recorded from 1751 in the sense "fine, elegant, ornamental" (opposed to plain); later as "involving fancy, of a fanciful nature" (1800). Fancy man attested by 1811.
- femininity (n.)
- late 14c., "feminine quality, womanliness, female nature," femynynytee, from feminine + -ity. From 1832 as "women collectively;" from 1853 as "character or state of being state of being a woman."
- feminity (n.)
- "quality or state of being feminine," late 14c., from Old French feminité, from Latin femina "woman, a female" (see feminine). From early 15c. as "women collectively."
- fleet (n.)
- Old English fleot "a ship, raft, floating vessel," also, collectively, "means of sea travel; boats generally," from fleotan "to float" (see fleet (v.)). Sense of "naval force, group of ships under one command" is in late Old English. The more usual Old English word was flota "a ship," also "a fleet; a sailor." The fleet for "the navy" is from 1712.
The Old English word also meant "estuary, inlet, flow of water," especially the one into the Thames near Ludgate Hill, which lent its name to Fleet Street (home of newspaper and magazine houses, standing for "the English press" since 1882), Fleet prison (long used for debtors), etc. - frillery (n.)
- "frills collectively; a frilly arrangement," 1842, from frill (n.) + -ery. Related: Frilleries.
- grouse (n.)
- type of game bird, 1530s, grows (plural, used collectively), of unknown origin, possibly from Latin or Welsh. Originally the moorhen of the British Isles; later the name was extended to similar birds in other places.
- halt (adj.)
- "lame," in Old English lemphalt "limping," from Proto-Germanic *haltaz (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian halt, Old Norse haltr, Old High German halz, Gothic halts "lame"), from PIE *keld-, from root *kel- "to strike, cut," with derivatives meaning "something broken or cut off" (cognates: Russian koldyka "lame," Greek kolobos "broken, curtailed"). The noun meaning "one who limps; the lame collectively" is from c. 1200.
- Harley
- surname attested from mid-12c., literally "dweller at the hares' wood." Harley Street in London from the 1830s was associated with eminent physicians and used metonymically for "medical specialists collectively." As a type of motorcycle, by 1968, short for Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle manufacturer founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., 1905 by engine designer William S. Harley (1880-1943) and Arthur Davidson.
- Hell's Kitchen
- disreputable, impoverished New York City neighborhood, the name attested from 1879. The phrase was used from at least 1866 as an intensive form of Hell.
Hell's kitchen (American), a horrible slum. Hell's Kitchen, Murderer's Row, and the Burnt Rag are names of localities which form collectively the worst place in New York. [Albert Barrère and Charles G. Leland, "A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant," 1889]
- heraldry (n.)
- "art of arms and armorial bearings," late 14c., heraldy, from Old French hiraudie "heralds collectively," from hiraut (see herald (n.)). The spelling with -r- is attested from 1570s (see poetry, pedantry).
- herbage (n.)
- late 14c., "non-woody plants collectively," from Old French erbage or directly from Medieval Latin herbagium; see herb + -age.
- hosiery (n.)
- stocking collectively, 1775, from hosier + -y (1). As "factory where hose is made," from 1803.
- household (n.)
- late 14c., "members of a family collectively (including servants)," also "furniture and articles belonging to a house," from house (n.) + hold (n.1). Related: Householder.
- -ity
- suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives, meaning "condition or quality of being ______," from Middle English -ite, from Old French -ité and directly from Latin -itatem (nominative -itas), suffix denoting state or condition, composed of connective -i- + -tas (see -ty (2)).
Roughly, the word in -ity usually means the quality of being what the adjective describes, or concretely an instance of the quality, or collectively all the instances; & the word in -ism means the disposition, or collectively all those who feel it. [Fowler]
- infantry (n.)
- 1570s, from French infantrie, from older Italian, Spanish infanteria "foot soldiers, force composed of those too inexperienced or low in rank for cavalry," from infante "foot soldier," originally "a youth," from Latin infantem (see infant). Meaning "infants collectively" is recorded from 1610s. A Middle English (c. 1200) word for "foot-soldiers" was going-folc, literally "going-folk."
- intelligentsia (n.)
- "the intellectual class collectively," 1905, from Russian intelligyentsia, from Latin intelligentia (see intelligence). Perhaps via Italian intelligenzia.
- jacquerie (n.)
- 1520s, from Middle French jacquerie "peasants or villeins collectively," from Jacques, the proper name, which is used as Jack is used in English, in the sense of "any common fellow." So, also, "the rising of the northern French peasants against the nobles, 1357-8," from a French usage. Etymologically, Jacques is from Late Latin Iacobus (see Jacob).
- Jewry (n.)
- c. 1200, Jeuerie "ghetto, the Jewish district in a town," from Anglo-French Juerie, Old French Juierie (13c.; Modern French Juiverie); see Jew + -ery. Early 14c. as "Jews collectively;" mid-14c. as "the land of the Jews, Judea."
- judiciary (adj.)
- "relating to courts," early 15c., from Latin iudiciarius "of or belonging to a court of justice," from iudicium "judgment," from iudicem (see judge (v.)). The noun meaning "a body of judges, judges collectively" is from 1802 (judicature was used in this sense from 1590s).
- lame (adj.)
- Old English lama "crippled, lame; paralytic, weak," from Proto-Germanic *lamon (cognates: Old Norse lami, Dutch and Old Frisian lam, German lahm "lame"), "weak-limbed," literally "broken," from PIE root *lem- "to break; broken," with derivatives meaning "crippled" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic lomiti "to break," Lithuanian luomas "lame"). In Middle English, "crippled in the feet," but also "crippled in the hands; disabled by disease; maimed." Sense of "socially awkward" is attested from 1942. Noun meaning "crippled persons collectively" is in late Old English.
- machinery (n.)
- 1680s; from machine (n.) + -ery. Originally theatrical, "devices for creating stage effects" (which also was a sense of Greek mekhane); meaning "machines collectively" is attested from 1731. Middle English had machinament "a contrivance" (early 15c.).
- mathematics (n.)
- 1580s; see mathematic + -ics. Originally denoting the mathematical sciences collectively, including geometry, astronomy, optics.
- nobility (n.)
- mid-14c., "quality of being excellent or rare," from Old French nobilite "high rank; dignity, grace; great deed" (12c., Modern French nobilité), and directly from Latin nobilitatem (nominative nobilitas) "celebrity, fame; high birth; excellence, superiority; the nobles," from nobilis "well-known, prominent" (see noble (adj.)). Meaning "quality of being of noble rank or birth" is attested from late 14c.; sense of "noble class collectively" is from 1520s.
- offspring (n.)
- Old English ofspring "children or young collectively, descendants," literally "those who spring off (someone,)" from off + springan "to spring" (see spring (v.)). The figurative sense is first recorded c. 1600.
- peerage (n.)
- mid-15c., "peers collectively," from peer (n.) + -age. Probably on model of Old French parage.
- penny (n.)
- Old English pening, penig, Northumbrian penning "penny," from Proto-Germanic *panninggaz (cognates: Old Norse penningr, Swedish pänning, Danish penge, Old Frisian panning, Old Saxon pending, Middle Dutch pennic, Dutch penning, Old High German pfenning, German Pfennig, not recorded in Gothic, where skatts is used instead), of unknown origin.
Offa's reformed coinage on light, broad flans is likely to have begun c.760-5 in London, with an awareness of developments in Francia and East Anglia. ... The broad flan penny established by Offa remained the principal denomination, with only minor changes, until the fourteenth century. [Anna Gannon, "The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage," Oxford, 2003]
The English coin was originally set at one-twelfth of a shilling and was of silver, later copper, then bronze. There are two plural forms: pennies of individual coins, pence collectively. In translations it rendered various foreign coins of small denomination, especially Latin denarius, whence comes its abbreviation d.
As American English colloquial for cent, it is recorded from 1889. Penny-a-liner "writer for a journal or newspaper" is attested from 1834. Penny dreadful "cheap and gory fiction" dates from c. 1870. Phrase penny-wise and pound-foolish is recorded from c. 1600. Penny-pincher "miserly person" is recorded from 1906 (as an adjective penny-pinching is recorded from 1858, American English). Penny loafers attested from 1960. - poor (n.)
- "poor persons collectively," mid-12c., from poor (adj.). The Latin adjective pauper "poor" also was used in a noun sense "a poor man."
- press (n.)
- c. 1300, presse, "crowd, throng, company; crowding and jostling of a throng; a massing together," from Old French presse (n.) "throng, crush, crowd; wine or cheese press" (11c.), from Latin pressare (see press (v.1)). Late Old English had press "clothes press."
Meaning "device for pressing cloth" is from late 14c., as is also the sense "device to squeeze juice from grapes, oil from olives, cider from apples, etc.," from Middle French presse. Specific sense "machine for printing" is from 1530s; this was extended to publishing houses by 1570s and to publishing generally (in phrases like freedom of the press) from c. 1680. This gradually shifted c. 1800-1820 to "periodical publishing, journalism." The press, meaning "journalists collectively" is attested from 1921 (though superseded by media since the rise of television, etc.).
Press agent is from 1873; press conference is attested from 1931, though the thing itself dates to at least World War I. Press secretary is recorded from 1940. Via the sense "crowd, throng," Middle English in press meant "in public," a coincidental parallel to the modern phrase in the press. Weightlifting sense is from 1908. The basketball defense so called from 1959 (in full-court press). - prolicide (n.)
- "killing of one's child or children," 1824, introduced by Dr. John Gordon Smith in the 2nd edition of his "Principles of Forensic Medicine;" from Latin proles "offspring" (see prolific) + -cide.
It is hoped that this word will be considered entitled to reception, on the score of analogy. We have long had parricide, fratricide, and infanticide, all (if I may use the figure of speech,) of the same family; and recently the very appropriate term foeticide has been introduced into Forensic Medicine. In both these last crimes there is a peculiarity arising from the person accused being, in almost every instance, the parent .... In this relation to the beings destroyed, the general term of murderer, or murder of offspring seems to be the fair converse of parricide; and will suit well the purpose of the Medico-legal writer, who considers the two cases as parts of one subject, for the designation of which collectively a proper term was wanting. [Smith]