quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- analyst (n.)[analyst 词源字典]
- 1650s, "mathematician skilled in algebraic geometry," from French analyste "a person who analyzes," from analyser (see analysis). As a short form of psychoanalyst, attested from 1914. Greek analyter meant "a deliverer."[analyst etymology, analyst origin, 英语词源]
- liberator (n.)
- 1640s, from Latin liberator "one who sets free, a deliverer," agent noun from past participle stem of liberare (see liberate).
- messiah (n.)
- c. 1300, Messias, from Late Latin Messias, from Greek Messias, from Aramaic meshiha and Hebrew mashiah "the anointed" (of the Lord), from mashah "anoint." This is the word rendered in Septuagint as Greek Khristos (see Christ). In Old Testament prophetic writing, it was used of an expected deliverer of the Jewish nation. The modern English form represents an attempt to make the word look more Hebrew, and dates from the Geneva Bible (1560). Transferred sense of "an expected liberator or savior of a captive people" is attested from 1660s.
- Prester John
- c. 1300, Prestre Johan, legendary medieval Christian king and priest, said to have ruled either in the Far East or Ethiopia. From Vulgar Latin *prester, a transition between Latin presbyter and English priest. First mentioned in the West by mid-12c. chronicler Otto of Freising, who told how Johannes Presbyter won a great victory over the Persians and the Medes. Between 1165 and 1177 a forged letter purporting to be from him circulated in Europe. All this recalls the time when the Christian West was culturally backwards and militarily threatened, dreaming of a mythical deliverer. Compare Old French prestre Jehan (13c.), Italian prete Gianni.