英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

diploma [diploma 词源字典]: diploma: [17] Etymologically, a diploma is a ‘folded paper’. It comes via Latin diplōma from Greek díplōma; this was a derivative of the verb diploun ‘fold’, which in turn came from diplous ‘double’ (a distant cousin of English double). Since official letters tended to be folded over, díplōma eventually came to mean ‘document, especially one issued by the government’ – the sense in which the word was acquired by English.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the use of the derived Latin adjective diplōmaticus ‘relating to official documents’ with specific reference to the field of international relations led eventually to its French descendant, diplomatique, coming to mean ‘relating to international relations’. English acquired the word as diplomatic in the 18th century.
=> double[diploma etymology, diploma origin, 英语词源]
double: double: [13] Double comes via Old French doble or duble from Latin duplus (direct source of English duple [16]). This was a compound adjective formed from duo ‘two’ and an Indo- European element *pl- which denoted ‘folding’ (it is present also in English fold and ply). The same semantic elements went to make up English twofold, and indeed duplex (see DUPLICATE), and also Greek diplous (source of English diploma and diplomat).

The underlying meaning of doublet ‘close-fitting jacket’ [14] (borrowed from French doublet, a derivative of double) is ‘something folded’, while doubloon [17], borrowed via French doublon from Spanish doblón (a derivative of doble ‘double’) was originally a gold coin worth ‘double’ a pistole.
=> diploma, diplomat, dub, duplicate, fold, ply
explicit: explicit: [17] Something that is explicit has literally been ‘unfolded’. Like the earlier borrowing explicate [16], the word comes from the past participle of Latin explicāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘un-’ and plicāre ‘fold’ (source of English ply and related to English fold). At first, in the 16th and 17th centuries, English retained the literal sense of the original, but gradually it dropped out in favour of the metaphorical ‘make clear, distinct, and open’ (already present in Latin).
=> exploit, fold, ply
exploit: exploit: [14] Latin explicāre (source of English explicate and explicit) meant ‘unfold’. A Vulgar Latin descendant of its past participle was *explictum ‘something unfolded’, which passed into Old French as exploit or esplait. In the process, the original sense of ‘unfolding’ had developed through ‘bringing out, development’ and ‘advantage, success’ to ‘achievement’.

In the case of the English noun, it is the latter meaning which has survived, and in fact originally the verb too denoted ‘achieve, accomplish’. This seems to have died out in the 18th century, however, and when the verb reappears in the 19th century it is closer to the earlier ‘develop’ in meaning, particularly as applied to ‘getting the most out of’ natural resources. The modern derogatory sense ‘use for one’s own selfish ends’ emerged from this.
=> explicit, fold, ply
ply: ply: English has two distinct words ply, although ultimately they are related. The one meaning ‘fold, twist, layer’ [14], now mainly found in plywood [20] and in combinations such as twoply and three-ply, comes from Old French pli, a derivative of the verb plier ‘bend, fold’ (source of English apply [14], pliable [15], pliant [14], pliers [16], and reply).

This went back to Latin plicāre ‘fold’, a relative of English fold and source of accomplice, complicate [17], employ, explicit, imply, pleat, plight ‘predicament’, and supplicate. It was formed from a base that also produced English perplex [16] and the final syllables of simple and supple. The apple pie of apple-pie bed [18] is thought to be an alteration of French nappe pliée ‘folded sheet’. Ply ‘travel a route regularly’ or ‘solicit’ (as in ‘ply for hire’) [14] is short for apply, a relative of ply ‘fold’, and originally meant ‘apply, employ’ (as in ‘ply one’s needle’).
=> accomplice, apply, complicate, comply, double, employ, explicit, fold, imply, perplex, pleat, pliable, pliers, plight, reply, simple, supple, supplicate
apple pie: attested from 1580s, from apple + pie; noted by 1893 as a typical American dish. Apple-pie bed as a name for a childish prank is recorded from 1781; supposedly from the way of making apple turnovers, but some think it a folk etymology of French nappe pliée "folded sheet."
applied (adj.): "put to practical use," (as opposed to abstract or theoretical), 1650s, from past participle of apply. Earlier it was used in a sense of "folded" (c. 1500).
blindfold (v.): 1520s, alteration, by similarity to fold, of blindfelled (early 14c.), past participle of blindfellan "blindfold, cover the eyes (with a bandage, etc.)," also "to strike blind" (c. 1200), from Old English (ge)blindfellian "to strike blind," from blind (adj.) + Anglian gefeollan "to strike down," as in to fell a tree (see fell (v.)). Related: Blindfolded; blindfolding.
bobby sox: 1943, from diminutive of bob (n.2) + sox. So called because they are "shortened" compared to knee-socks. Derivative bobby-soxer first attested 1944.
Months ago colored bobby sox folded at the top were decreed, not by anyone or any group but, as usual, by a sudden mysterious and universal acceptance of the new idea. Now no teen-ager dares wear anything but pure white socks without a fold. ["Life" magazine, Dec. 11, 1944]
cahier (n.): "exercise book," c. 1845, from French cahier "writing book, copy-book," from Old French cayer, originally quaier "sheet of paper folded in four" (see quire).
complicate (v.): 1620s, "to intertwine" (as a past participle adjective, early 15c.), from Latin complicatus "folded together; confused, intricate," past participle of complicare (see complication). Meaning "to make more complex" is recorded from 1832, from earlier sense "to combine in a complex way" (17c.). Related: Complicated; complicating.
diploma (n.): 1640s, "state paper, official document," from Latin diploma, from Greek diploma "license, chart," originally "paper folded double," from diploun "to double, fold over," from diploos "double" (see diploid) + -oma. Specific academic sense is 1680s in English.
diptych (n.): 1620s, from Latin diptycha (plural), from late Greek diptykha, neuter plural of diptykhos "double-folded, doubled," from dis- "two" + ptykhe "fold."
duodecimo: 1650s, from Latin in duodecimo (folded) "in a twelfth" of a sheet, from ablative of duodecimus "twelfth," from duodecim (see dozen). Often abbreviated 12mo.; a book in which each page is the twelfth part of the printer's sheet.
enfold (v.): also infold, early 15c., from en- (1) "make, put in" + fold (n.). Related: Enfolded; enfolding.
fold (v.): Old English faldan (Mercian), fealdan (West Saxon), transitive, "to bend (cloth) back over itself, wrap up, furl," class VII strong verb (past tense feold, past participle fealden), from Proto-Germanic *falthan, *faldan (cognates: Middle Dutch vouden, Dutch vouwen, Old Norse falda, Middle Low German volden, Old High German faldan, German falten, Gothic falþan).

The Germanic words are from PIE *pel-to- (cognates: Sanskrit putah "fold, pocket," Albanian pale "fold," Middle Irish alt "a joint," Lithuanian pleta "I plait"), from root *pel- (3) "to fold" (also source of Greek ploos "fold," Latin -plus).

Of the arms, from late Old English. Intransitive sense "become doubled upon itself" is from c. 1300 (of the body); earlier "give way, fail" (mid-13c.). Sense of "to yield to pressure" is from late 14c. The weak conjugation developed from 15c. Related: Folded; folding.
fold-out (n.): larger page, inserted folded, in a book, magazine, etc., 1961, from fold (v.) + out (adv.).
gain (n.): late 15c., "that which has been acquired" (possessions, resources, wealth), from Middle French gain, from Old French gaaigne "gain, profit, advantage; work, business; booty; arable land" (12c.), from gaaignier "to gain, earn; capture, win" (see gain (v.)). Meaning "any incremental increase" (in weight, etc.) is by 1851. Related: Gains.

The original French word enfolded the notions of "profit from agriculture" and "booty, prey." Neither the verb nor the noun gain is in Middle English, which however had gainage "profit derived from agriculture" (late 14c., from Old French gaaignage); gaineier "farmer" (late 13c. as a surname); gainerie "a farm" (mid-15c.).
golem (n.): "artificial man, automaton," 1897, from Hebrew golem [Psalm cxxxix:16] "shapeless mass, embryo," from galam "he wrapped up, folded."
ham (n.1): "thigh of a hog used for food" (especially salted and cured or smoke-dried), 1630s, extended from earlier sense " part of the human leg behind the knee; hock of a quadruped," from Old English hamm "hollow or bend of the knee," from Proto-Germanic *hamma- (cognates: Old Norse höm, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch hamme, Old High German hamma), from PIE *kone-mo- "shin bone" (cognates: Greek kneme "calf of the leg," Old Irish cnaim "bone"). Ham-fisted (adj.) in reference to hard-hitting characters is from 1905; ham-handed "coarse, clumsy" is by 1896. With hammen ifalden "with folded hams" was a Middle English way of saying "kneeling."
inexplicable (adj.): early 15c., from Middle French inexplicable or directly from Latin inexplicabilis "that cannot be unfolded or disentangled, very intricate," figuratively, "inexplicable," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + explicabilis "that may be explained" (see explicable). Related: Inexplicably.
inexplicit (adj.): 1775 (implied in inexplicitly), from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + explicit. Or else from Latin inexplicitus "not to be unfolded; unexplained." Related: Inexplicitly; inexplicitness.
megillah (n.): "long, tedious, complicated story," 1957, from Yiddish (as in a gantse Megillah "a whole megillah"), literally "roll, scroll," collective name of the five Old Testament books appointed to be read on certain feast days, from Hebrew meghillah, from galal "he rolled, unfolded." The slang use is in reference to the length of the text.
miter (n.2): in the carpentry sense of "joint at a 45 degree angle," 1670s, perhaps from mitre, via notion of joining of the two peaks of the folded cap. As a verb from 1731.
octavo (n.): 1580s, printer's word for sheets folded to make eight leaves, from Latin in octavo "in the eighth," ablative of octavus "eighth" (see octave). Abbreviation is 8vo.
ordeal (n.): Old English ordel, ordal, "trial by physical test," literally "judgment, verdict," from Proto-Germanic noun *uz-dailjam (cognates: Old Saxon urdeli, Old Frisian urdel, Dutch oordeel, German urteil "judgment"), literally "that which is dealt out" (by the gods), from *uzdailijan "share out," related to Old English adælan "to deal out" (see deal (n.1)). Curiously absent in Middle English, and perhaps reborrowed 16c. from Medieval Latin or Middle French, which got it from Germanic.

The notion is of the kind of arduous physical test (such as walking blindfolded and barefoot between red-hot plowshares) that was believed to determine a person's guilt or innocence by immediate judgment of the deity, an ancient Teutonic mode of trial. English retains a more exact sense of the word; its cognates in German, etc., have been generalized.

Metaphoric extension to "anything which tests character or endurance" is attested from 1650s. The prefix or- survives in English only in this word, but was common in Old English and other Germanic languages (Gothic ur-, Old Norse or-, etc.) and originally was an adverb and preposition meaning "out."
patent (n.): late 14c., "open letter or document from some authority," shortened form of Anglo-French lettre patent (also in Medieval Latin (litteræ) patentes), literally "open letter" (late 13c.), from Old French patente (see patent (adj.).
The Letters Patent were ... written upon open sheets of parchment, with the Great Seal pendent at the bottom ... [while] the 'Litteræ Clausæ,' or Letters Close, ... being of a more private nature, and addressed to one or two individuals only, were closed or folded up and sealed on the outside. [S.R. Scargill-Bird, "A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents at the Public Record Office," 1891]
Meaning "a license covering an invention" is from 1580s.
pretzel (n.): 1851, from German Prezel, also Brezel, from Middle High German brezel, prezel, from Old High German brezitella, brecedela, from Medieval Latin *brachitella, presumably a kind of biscuit baked in the shape of folded arms (source also of Italian bracciatella, Old Provençal brassadel), diminutive of Latin bracchiatus "with branches, with arms," from bracchium "an arm, a forearm," from Greek brakhion "an arm" (see brachio-).
quarto (n.): "book from paper folded to make four pages to the sheet," late 15c., from Medieval Latin in quarto "in the fourth (part of a sheet of paper)," from quarto, ablative singular of Latin quartus "fourth" (see quart).
quire (n.1): c. 1200, "set of four folded pages for a book; pamphlet consisting of a single quire," from Anglo-French quier, Old French quaier "sheet of paper folded in four," from Vulgar Latin *quaternus, from Latin quaterni "four each," from quater "four times." Meaning "standard unit for selling paper" first recorded late 14c. In quires (late 15c.) means "unbound."
tuck (n.): late 14c., "flattened fold in clothing, pleat," from tuck (v.). As a folded-up diving position, from 1951.
unfold (v.): Old English unfealdan, "to open or unwrap the folds of," also figuratively, "to disclose, reveal, explain," from un- (2) "opposite of" + fold (v.). Similar formation in Middle Dutch ontvouden, German entfalten. Intransitive sense is attested from late 14c. Related: Unfolded; unfolding.
wrap (n.): late 15c., "fine cloth used as a cover or wrapping for bread," from wrap (v.). As a type of women's garment, recorded from 1827. Meaning "plastic film or cellophane used as a wrap" is from 1930. Meaning "end of a filming session" is attested from 1970. Meaning "sandwich material folded up in flour tortilla" is by 1998. Figurative phrase under wraps "in concealment" is recorded from 1939.
accumbent: "(Of a cotyledon) lying edgeways against the folded radicle in the seed", Early 19th century: from Latin accumbent- 'reclining', from accumbere, from ad- 'to' + a verb related to cubare 'to lie'.
kirby grip: "A type of hairgrip consisting of a thin folded and sprung metal strip or wire", 1920s: named after Kirby, Beard & Co. Ltd, of Birmingham, England, the original manufacturers.
rolled-up: "Of a flexible object: moved or wound into a more or less cylindrical or spherical shape; turned in on itself; coiled, curled, or folded up", Late 17th cent.; earliest use found in Joseph Moxon (1627–1691), printer and globe maker. From rolled + up, after to roll up.
burse: "A flat, square, fabric-covered case in which a folded corporal cloth is carried to and from an altar in church", Late Middle English (in sense 'purse'): from French bourse or medieval Latin bursa (see bourse, bursa).