quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- instantaneous (adj.)[instantaneous 词源字典]
- 1640s (implied in instantaneously), formed in English from Medieval Latin *instantaneus, from instantem (see instant (n.)) on model of spontaneous. Related: Instantaneousness.[instantaneous etymology, instantaneous origin, 英语词源]
- overnight (adv.)
- early 14c., from over- + night (n.). Originally "on the preceding evening;" sense of "during the night" is attested from 1530s. Meaning "in the course of a single night, hence seemingly instantaneously" is attested from 1939.
- twink (n.)
- c. 1400, in phrase in a twynk of oon eye "suddenly, almost instantaneously," from twink (v.) "to wink," probably from Old English twincan (see twinkle (v.)). Meaning "a twinkle" is from 1830. Meaning "young sexually attractive person" is recorded from 1963, probably from Twinkie; but compare 1920s-30s British homosexual slang twank in a similar sense.