recoilyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[recoil 词源字典]
recoil: [13] Recoil has no connection with coil. In fact, etymologically it means virtually ‘withdraw backside first’, for it was coined in French on the basis of cul ‘arse, backside’. This went back to Latin cūlus ‘arse’, which was probably related to Sanskrit kūla- ‘rearguard’.
[recoil etymology, recoil origin, 英语词源]
recoil (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
c. 1300, "retreat," from Old French recul "recoil, backward movement, retreat," from reculer (see recoil (v.)). Meaning "back-kick of a firearm" is from 1570s.
recoil (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
early 13c. (transitive) "force back, drive back," from Old French reculer "to go back, give way, recede, retreat" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *reculare, from Latin re- "back" (see re-) + culus "backside, bottom, fundament." Meaning "shrink back, retreat" is first recorded c. 1300; and that of "spring back" (as a gun) in 1520s. Related: Recoiled; recoiling.