英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

glass [glass 词源字典]: glass: [OE] The making of glass goes back to ancient Egyptian times, and so most of the words for it in the various Indo-European languages are of considerable antiquity. In those days, it was far easier to make coloured glass than the familiar clear glass of today. In particular, Roman glass was standardly bluish-green, and many words for ‘glass’ originated in colour terms signifying ‘blue’ or ‘green’.

In the case of glass, its distant ancestor was Indo-European *gel- or *ghel-, which produced a host of colour adjectives ranging in application from ‘grey’ through ‘blue’ and ‘green’ to ‘yellow’. Among its descendants was West Germanic *glasam, which gave German, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish glas and English glass. A secondary semantic development of the word’s base, glass being a shiny substance, was ‘shine, gleam’; this probably lies behind English glare [13], whose primary sense is ‘shine dazzlingly’ (the change of s to r is a well-known phonetic phenomenon, termed ‘rhoticization’).

Irish gloine ‘glass’ also comes from Indo-European *g(h)el-, and French verre and Italian vetro ‘glass’ go back to Latin vitrum ‘glass’ (source of English vitreous), which also meant ‘woad’, a plant which gives a blue dye. The use of the plural glasses for ‘spectacles’ dates from the mid-17th century. The verb glaze [14] is an English derivative of glass.
=> glaze[glass etymology, glass origin, 英语词源]
bedazzle (v.): 1590s, from be- + dazzle (v.). Related: Bedazzled; bedazzling.
bent (n.2): "stiff grass," Old English beonet, from West Germanic *binut- "rush, marsh grass" (cognates: Old Saxon binet, Old High German binuz, German Binse "rush, reed"), which is of unknown origin. An obsolete word, but surviving in place names (such as Bentley, from Old English Beonet-leah; Bentham).
The verdure of the plain lies buried deep
Beneath the dazzling deluge; and the bents,
And coarser grass, upspearing o'er the rest,
Of late unsightly and unseen, now shine
Conspicuous, and, in bright apparel clad
And fledg'd with icy feathers, nod superb.

[Cowper, "The Winter-Morning Walk," from "The Task"]
dazzle (v.): late 15c., frequentative of Middle English dasen (see daze (v.)). Originally intransitive; the transitive sense is from 1530s. Related: Dazzled; dazzling.
fulgent (adj.): "bright, dazzling," early 15c., from Latin fulgentem (nominative fulgens) "shining, bright, dazzling," present participle of fulgere "to shine" (see fulminate). Related: Fulgently.
garish (adj.): "showy, dazzling," especially "glaringly vulgar and gaudy," 1540s, of unknown origin, possibly from obsolete Middle English gawren "to stare" (c. 1200), which is of uncertain origin (perhaps from Old Norse gaurr "rough fellow") + -ish. Related: Garishly; garishness.
glare (n.): c. 1400, "bright light, dazzling glitter," from glare (v.); especially in reference to light reflected off some surface (17c.). From 1660s in sense of "fierce look." Old English glær (n.) meant "amber."
glaring (adj.): late 14c., "staring fiercely," present participle adjective from glare (v.). From 1510s of colors, etc., "vivid, dazzling;" meaning "obtrusively conspicuous" is from 1706. Related: Glaringly.
glimpse (v.): c. 1400, "to glisten, be dazzling," probably from Old English *glimsian "shine faintly," part of the group of Germanic words in *gl- having to do with "smooth; shining; joyous" (see gleam (n.)). If so, the intrusive -p- would be there to ease pronunciation. From mid-15c. as "to glance with the eyes;" from 1779 as "catch a quick view." Related: Glimpsed; glimpsing.
prestige (n.): 1650s, "trick," from French prestige (16c.) "deceit, imposture, illusion" (in Modern French, "illusion, magic, glamour"), from Latin praestigium "delusion, illusion" (see prestigious). Derogatory until 19c.; sense of "dazzling influence" first applied 1815, to Napoleon.
prestigious (adj.): 1540s, "practicing illusion or magic, deceptive," from Latin praestigious "full of tricks," from praestigiae "juggler's tricks," probably altered by dissimilation from praestrigiae, from praestringere "to blind, blindfold, dazzle," from prae "before" (see pre-) + stringere "to tie or bind" (see strain (v.)). Derogatory until 19c.; meaning "having dazzling influence" is attested from 1913 (see prestige). Related: Prestigiously; prestigiousness.
splendid (adj.): 1620s, "marked by grandeur," probably a shortening of earlier splendidious (early 15c.), from Latin splendidus "bright, shining, glittering; sumptuous, gorgeous, grand; illustrious, distinguished, noble; showy, fine, specious," from splendere "be bright, shine, gleam, glisten," from PIE *splend- "to shine, glow" (cognates: Lithuanian splendziu "I shine," Middle Irish lainn "bright"). An earlier form was splendent (late 15c.). From 1640s as "brilliant, dazzling;" 1640s as "conspicuous, illustrious; very fine, excellent." Ironic use (as in splendid isolation, 1843) is attested from 17c.
stunning (adj.): 1660s, "dazzling," present participle adjective from stun (v.). Popularized for "splendid, excellent" c. 1849. Related: Stunningly.