英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

hermaphrodite [hermaphrodite 词源字典]: hermaphrodite: [15] Biologically a combination of male and female, hermaphrodite is etymologically a blend of the names of Hermes, the messenger of the Greek gods, and Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. According to Ovid Hermaphródītos, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, was beloved of the nymph Salmacis with an ardour so strong that she prayed for complete union with him – with the result that their two bodies became fused into one, with dual sexual characteristics. English acquired the term via Latin hermaphrodītus.
[hermaphrodite etymology, hermaphrodite origin, 英语词源]
hermetic: hermetic: [17] Hermetic means literally ‘of Hermes’. Not Hermes the messenger of the Greek gods, though, but an Egyptian priest of the time of Moses, who in the Middle Ages was regarded as identical with the versatile Hermes in his capacity of patron of science and invention, and who was thus named Hermes Trismegistus ‘Hermes the thrice greatest’. This shadowy figure was the supposed author of various works on alchemy and magic, and so the term hermetic came to be roughly synonymous with alchemical.

One of the inventions credited to Hermes Trismegistus was a magic seal to make containers airtight, and by the 1660s we find hermetic being used for ‘airtight’.
hermit: hermit: [13] Etymologically, a hermit is someone who lives alone in the desert. The word comes ultimately from Greek érēmos ‘solitary’, from which was derived erēmíā ‘desert, solitude’. Many of the early Christian hermits, notably Saint Anthony, lived not only alone but in the desert, so it was appropriate that the term erēmítēs was applied to them. It came into English via medieval Latin herēmīta and Old French hermite.
thermometer: thermometer: [17] Greek thérmē meant ‘heat’ (it came from prehistoric Indo-European *ghwerm-, *ghworm-, which probably also produced English warm). From it was formed French thermomètre (first recorded in 1624), which was borrowed into English in the early 1630s. The same source produced English therm [19] and thermal [18]; and thermos (from the related Greek thermós ‘hot’) was registered as a trademark for a vacuum flask in 1907.
=> warm
endothermic (adj.): 1866, from French endothermique; see endo- + thermal.
exothermic (adj.): "relating to a liberation of heat," 1879, modeled on French exothermique (1879); see exo- + thermal.
fisherman (n.): 1520s, from fisher + man (n.).
furthermore (adv.): c. 1200, from further (adv.) + more. There also was a farthermore in Middle English. Related: Furthermost.
geothermal (adj.): 1875, from geo- + thermal.
Herman: masc. proper name, from German Hermann, from Old High German Hariman, literally "man of war, warrior," from hari "host, army" (see harry (v.)) + man "man" (see man (n.)).
hermaphrodism (n.): 1808, from French hermaphrodisme, from hermaphrodite (see hermaphrodite).
hermaphrodite (n.): late 14c. (harmofroditus), from Latin hermaphroditus, from Greek Hermaphroditos (Latin Hermaphroditus), son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who, in Ovid, was loved by the nymph Salmacis so ardently that she prayed for complete union with him and as a result they were united bodily, combining male and female characteristics. Also used figuratively in Middle English of "one who improperly occupies two offices." As a name for the condition, Middle English had hermofrodito (late 14c.), hermofrodisia (early 15c.). As an adjective, from c. 1600.
hermaphroditic (adj.): 1620s, from hermaphrodite + -ic. Earlier form was hermaphroditical (c. 1600).
hermeneutic (adj.): "interpretive," 1670s, from Greek hermeneutikos "interpreting," from hermeneutes "interpreter," from hermeneuein "to interpret," of unknown origin (formerly considered ultimately a derivative of Hermes, as the tutelary divinity of speech, writing, and eloquence).
hermeneutical (adj.): 1798, from hermeneutic + -al (1). Related: Hermeneutically.
hermeneutics (n.): 1737, from hermeneutic; also see -ics.
Hermes: Olympian messenger and god of commerce, son of Zeus and Maia, identified by the Romans with their Mercury, from Greek Hermes, of unknown origin.
hermetic (adj.): c. 1600 (implied in hermetically), "completely sealed," also (1630s) "dealing with occult science or alchemy," from Latin hermeticus, from Greek Hermes, god of science and art, among other things, identified by Neoplatonists, mystics, and alchemists with the Egyptian god Thoth as Hermes Trismegistos "Thrice-Great Hermes," who supposedly invented the process of making a glass tube airtight (a process in alchemy) using a secret seal.
hermetically (adv.): c. 1600; see hermetic.
Hermione: fem. proper name, from Greek Hermione, derived from Hermes (genitive Hermeio).
hermit (n.): early 12c., "religious recluse," from Old French (h)eremite, from Late Latin ermita, from Greek eremites, literally "person of the desert," from eremia "desert, solitude," from eremos "uninhabited, empty, desolate, bereft," from PIE *ere- (2) "to separate" (cognates: Latin rete "net," Lithuanian retis "sieve"). Transferred sense of "person living in solitude" is from 1799. The hermit crab (1735) was so called for its solitary habits.
hermitage (n.): late 13c., "dwelling place of a hermit," from Old French hermitage, from Latin heremite (see hermit). Earlier in the same sense was hermitorie (c. 1200), from Medieval Latin hermitorium. Transferred sense of "solitary or secluded dwelling place" is from 1640s.
hydrothermal (adj.): 1852, from hydro- + thermal (adj.); 1855 in geology.
hyperthermia (n.): 1878, medical Latin, from hyper- + Greek therme "heat" (see thermal) + abstract noun ending -ia.
hypothermia (n.): 1877, Modern Latin, from hypo- "under" (see hypo-) + Greek therme "heat" (see thermal) + abstract noun ending -ia.
isotherm (n.): 1860, from French isotherme (Humboldt, 1817), from Greek iso- (see iso-) + therme "heat" (see thermal).
isothermal: 1826 (adj.); 1852 (n.), from French isotherme (see isotherm) + -al (1).
Sherman: type of U.S. medium tank used in World War II, 1942, named for U.S. Civil War Gen. William T. Sherman (1820-1891). The surname is from Old English scearra "shears" + mann "man;" hence "shearer of woolen garments."
thermal (adj.): 1756, "having to do with hot springs," from French thermal (Buffon), from Greek therme "heat, feverish heat," from PIE *gwher- "to heat, warm" (cognates: Latin fornax "an oven, kiln," formus "warm," Old English wearm; see warm (adj.)). Sense of "having to do with heat" is first recorded 1837. The noun meaning "rising current of relatively warm air" is recorded from 1933.
thermo-: before vowels therm-, word-forming element meaning "hot, heat, temperature," used in scientific and technical words, from comb. form of Greek thermos "hot, warm," therme "heat" (see thermal).
thermochemistry (n.): also thermo-chemistry, 1840, from thermo- + chemistry.
thermocline (n.): 1897, from thermo- + -cline, from Greek klinein "to slope" (see lean (v.)).
thermocouple (n.): also thermo-couple, 1862, from thermo-electric + couple (n.).
thermodynamic (adj.): 1849, from thermo- + dynamic (adj.).
thermodynamics (n.): theory of relationship between heat and mechanical energy, 1854, from thermodynamic (adj.); also see -ics. "The consideration of moving forces, though suggested by the form of the word, does not enter into the subject to any considerable extent" [Century Dictionary].
thermograph (n.): "automatic self-registering thermometer," 1881, from thermo- + -graph "instrument for recording; something written." Related: Thermographic.
thermography (n.): 1840, "method of writing which requires heat to develop the characters," from thermo- + -graphy.
thermometer (n.): 1630s, from French thermomètre (1620s), coined by Jesuit Father Jean Leuréchon from Greek thermos "hot" (see thermal) + metron "measure" (see meter (n.2)). An earlier, Latinate form was thermoscopium (1610s). The earliest such device was Galileo's air-thermometer, invented c. 1597. The typical modern version, with mercury in glass, was invented by Fahrenheit in 1714. Related: Thermometric; thermometrical.
thermonuclear (adj.): 1938 with reference to stars, 1953 of weapons (technically only to describe the hydrogen bomb), from thermo- + nuclear.
thermoplastic (adj.): 1870, see thermo- + plastic (adj.). As a noun from 1929.
Thermopylae: narrow land passage along the Malian Gulf in ancient Greece, from Greek thermos "hot" (see thermal) + pylai, plural of pyle "gate; mountain pass, entrance into a region" (see pylon). In reference to nearby hot sulfur springs. Often simply hai pylai "the gates." Figurative of heroic resistance against overwhelming numbers since the battle fought there between the Greeks and Persians in 480 B.C.E.
Thermos (n.): trademark registered in Britain 1907, invented by Sir James Dewar (patented 1904 but not named then), from Greek thermos "hot" (see thermal). Dewar built the first one in 1892, but it was first manufactured commercially in Germany in 1904, when two glass blowers formed Thermos GmbH. Supposedly the company sponsored a contest to name the thing, and a Munich resident won with a submission of Thermos.
thermosphere (n.): 1924, from thermo- + sphere.
thermostat (n.): automatic instrument for regulating temperature, 1831, from thermo- + -stat.
weatherman (n.): "one who observes the weather," 1869, from weather (n.) + man (n.). Weather-prophet is from 1784 as "barometer;" 1827 as "person who predicts the weather."
Clerk of the Weather, I deplore
That all thy greatness is no more,
As should a gentle bard;
That Nature, or that Nature's law
When you politely called for thaw,
Gave frost was rather hard.

[from Consolatory Address to Mr. Murphy, the Weather Prophet," Colburn's New Monthly Magazine, 1838]
geoisotherm: "A line (either imaginary or in a diagram) connecting points in the interior of the earth having the same temperature", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in American Journal of Science.
homeotherm: "An organism that maintains its body temperature at a constant level, usually above that of the environment, by its metabolic activity", Late 19th century: modern Latin, from Greek homoios 'like' + thermē 'heat'.
endotherm: "An animal that is dependent on or capable of the internal generation of heat", 1940s: from endo- 'within', on the pattern of homeotherm.
aluminothermy: "The production of high temperatures by the use of aluminium powder as a reducing agent, especially in a reaction with ferric oxide; reaction of aluminium in this way, with the liberation of heat", Early 20th cent.; earliest use found in Engineering Magazine. From German Aluminothermie.
isogeotherm: "A line or surface on a diagram connecting points representing those in the interior of the earth having the same temperature", Mid 19th century: from iso- 'equal' + geo- 'earth' + Greek thermē 'heat'.