英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

aftermath [aftermath 词源字典]: aftermath: [16] Originally, and literally, an aftermath was a second crop of grass or similar grazing vegetation, grown after an earlier crop in the same season had been harvested. Already by the mid 17th century it had taken on the figurative connotations of ‘resulting condition’ which are today its only living sense. The -math element comes from Old English mǣth ‘mowing’, a noun descended from the Germanic base *mǣ, source of English mow.
=> mow[aftermath etymology, aftermath origin, 英语词源]
ashamed: ashamed: [OE] Ashamed is an Old English compound, formed ultimately from the noun scamu ‘shame’. The verb derived from this, scamian, meant ‘feel shame’ as well as (as in modern English) ‘put to shame’, and in this sense the intensive prefix ā- was added to it. The resulting verb ashame died out in the 16th century, but its past participle ashamed has survived.
=> shame
before: before: [OE] Before is a Germanic compound, made up of *bi- ‘by’ and *forana ‘from the front’ (the resulting *biforana entered Old English as beforan). The second element, *forana, is a derivative of *fora, source of English for; this originally meant ‘before’, and only gradually developed the senses we are familiar with today.
=> for
button: button: [14] Button comes via Old French bouton from Vulgar Latin *botōne, a word connected with the verb *hottāre ‘thrust’ (from which ultimately English gets butt ‘hit with the head’). The underlying notion contained in button is thus of something which pushes up, thrusts itself outwards, rather like a bud growing on a plant; the fact that the resulting round knob is used for fastening is, from the point of view of the word’s semantic history, secondary. (Inconclusive attempts have in fact been made to link bud with Old French boter, a descendant of Vulgar Latin *bottāre, and from the 15th century the word button has been applied in English to ‘buds’.)
=> butt
crocodile: crocodile: [13] The crocodile gets its name from its habit of basking in the sun on sandbanks or on the shores of rivers. The word means literally ‘pebble-worm’, and it was coined in Greek from the nouns krókē ‘pebbles’ and drilos ‘worm’. The resulting Greek compound *krokódrīlos has never actually been found, for it lost its second r, giving krokódīlos, and this r reappeared and disappeared capriciously during the word’s journey through Latin and Old French to English. Middle English had it – the 13th century form was cokodrille – but in the 16th century the modern r-less form took over, based on Latin crocodīlus.
crook: crook: [12] A crook ‘criminal’ is almost literally a ‘bent’ person. The underlying meaning of the word is ‘bend, curve, hook’, as can be seen in other applications such as ‘shepherd’s staff with a crooked end’, and particularly in the derivative crooked [13]. Crook was borrowed into English from Old Norse krókr ‘hook, corner’. Old French also acquired the Old Norse word, as croc, and passed it on to English in crochet, croquet, crotchet, and encroach; and the derived verbs crocher and crochier produced respectively a new noun croche ‘hook’, source of English crotch [16], and the English verb crouch [14].

Moreover, Old French also had croce, resulting from an earlier borrowing of the word’s ultimate West and North Germanic base *krukintroduced into Vulgar Latin as *croccus, and this was eventually to form the basis of English crosier [14] and perhaps lacrosse [18].
=> croquet, crosier, crotch, crotchet, crouch, encroach, lacrosse
gerrymander: gerrymander: [19] The story goes that in 1812 the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, instituted some electoral boundary changes favourable to his party, the Democrats. When a painter named Stuart saw these outlined on a map in the office of a newspaper editor, he remarked that the resulting area resembled a salamander in shape. ‘A gerrymander, you mean!’ replied the editor – and the term caught on for ‘unfair manipulation of constituency boundaries’.
illuminate: illuminate: [16] Etymologically, illuminate is a parallel construction to enlighten. It was formed in the late Latin period from the prefix in- and lūmen ‘light’ (source of English luminous). The past participle of the resulting illumināre gave English illuminate. The medieval-sounding sense ‘illustrate manuscripts’ is actually quite recent, replacing in the 18th century the parallel formation enlumine, acquired by English in the 14th century via Old French enluminer from medieval Latin inlūmināre. Illumine [14] came via Old French illuminer. Illustrate is closely related.
=> illustrate, luminous
mine: mine: English has two quite distinct words mine. The first person possessive pronoun [OE] goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *mīnaz (source also of German mein, Dutch mijn, and Swedish and Danish min), which was derived from the same Indo-European source as produced English me. Originally it was an adjective, but in the 13th century the -n was dropped before consonants, and eventually the resulting my took over the adjective slot altogether, leaving mine as a pronoun only. Mine ‘excavation’ [14] is of uncertain origin.

It comes via Old French from an assumed Vulgar Latin *mina, which may go back ultimately to a Celtic *meini- ‘ore’ (Gaelic has mein ‘ore, mine’ and Welsh mwyn ‘ore’). The use of the word for an ‘explosive device’, which dates from the 17th century, arose from the practice of digging tunnels or ‘mines’ beneath enemy positions and then blowing them up.
=> me, my
no: no: English has three words no, which come from quite distinct sources (although they all, of course, contain the ancient negative particle ne). No the negative reply [OE] means etymologically ‘not ever, never’. It originated as a compound of ne and ā ‘ever’ (a relative of archaic modern English aye ‘ever’, whose own negative form is nay [12]) and the resulting nā became in the 13th century no.

The history of no ‘not’ [OE] (which is now used virtually only in the expression ‘whether or no’) is almost exactly parallel: it was formed from Old English ō ‘ever’, a variant of ā. The adjective no ‘not any’ [13] is a reduced form of none, its final n originally dispensed with before consonants.
=> aye, nay; none
potash: potash: [17] Potassium carbonate was originally obtained by burning wood or other vegetable matter, soaking the ashes in water, and evaporating the resulting liquid in iron pots. The resulting substance was hence called in early modern Dutch potasschen, literally ‘pot ashes’, and the word was adopted into English as potash. From it, or its French relative potasse, the chemist Sir Humphry Davy coined in 1807 the term potassium for the metallic element which occurs in potash.
=> ash, pot, potassium
barratry (n.): early 15c., "sale of ecclesiastical or state offices," from Old French baraterie "deceit, guile, trickery," from barat "malpractice, fraud, deceit, trickery," which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Celtic. In marine law, "wrongful conduct by a ship's crew or officer, resulting in loss to owners," from 1620s. Meaning "offense of habitually starting legal suits" is from 1640s. Sense somewhat confused with that of Middle English baratri "combat, fighting" (c. 1400), from Old Norse baratta "fight, contest strife." This was an active word in Middle English, with forms such as baraten "to disturb the peace" (mid-15c.); baratour "inciter to riot, bully" (late 14c., mid-13c. as a surname). Barataria Bay, Louisiana, U.S., is from Spanish baratear "to cheat, deceive," cognate of the French word; the bay so called in reference to the difficulty of its entry passages.
blooper (n.): "blunder," 1943, apparently first in theater, from American English baseball slang meaning "a fly ball in a high arc missed by the fielder" (1937) or else from the earlier sense "radio receiver that interferes with nearby sets" when a careless operator throws it into oscillation (1926), in which case it imitates the resulting sound.
consequent (adj.): late 14c., in various senses now restricted to consequence, from Middle French conséquent "following, resulting," from Latin consequentem (nominative consequens); see consequence. Meaning "an event which follows another" is from 1610s. Mathematical sense is from 1560s. Related: Consequently.
crevice (n.): mid-14c., from Old French crevace (12c., Modern French crevasse) "gap, rift, crack" (also, vulgarly, "the female pudenda"), from Vulgar Latin *crepacia, from Latin crepare "to crack, creak" (see raven); meaning shifted from the sound of breaking to the resulting fissure.
delirium tremens (n.): 1813, medical Latin, literally "trembling delirium," introduced 1813 by British physician Thomas Sutton, for "that form of delirium which is rendered worse by bleeding, but improved by opium. By Rayer and subsequent writers it has been almost exclusively applied to delirium resulting from the abuse of alcohol" [Sydenham Society Lexicon of Medicine]. As synonyms, Farmer lists barrel-fever, gallon distemper, blue Johnnies, bottle ache, pink spiders, quart-mania snakes in the boots, triangles, uglies, etc.
dike (n.): Old English dic "trench, ditch; an earthwork with a trench; moat," from Proto-Germanic *dik- (cognates: Old Norse diki "ditch, fishpond," Old Frisian dik "mound, dam," Middle Dutch dijc "mound, dam, pool," Dutch dijk "dam," German Deich "embankment"), from PIE root *dhigw- "to pierce; to fix, fasten" (cognates: Sanskrit dehi- "wall," Old Persian dida "wall, stronghold, fortress," Persian diz).

At first "an excavation," later (late 15c.) applied to the resulting earth mound; a sense development paralleled by cognate forms in many other languages. This is the northern variant of the word that in the south of England yielded ditch (n.).
Doppler: 1871, in reference to Christian Doppler (1803-1853), Austrian scientist, who in 1842 explained the effect of relative motion on waves (originally to explain color changes in binary stars); proved by musicians performing on a moving train. Doppler shift is the change of frequency resulting from the Doppler effect. The surname is literally "Gambler."
dotage (n.): "the state of one who dotes," c. 1300; see dote + -age. Originally of all sorts of mental impairment, not just that resulting from old age. First recorded late 14c. for "senility."
egalitarian (adj.): 1881, from French égalitaire, from Old French egalite "equality," from Latin aequalitatem (see equality). Originally often in egalitarian despotism, such as the government resulting from the French Revolution or the ideas of the communists. The noun, "person who favors egalitarianism," is from 1920.
eventual (adj.): 1610s, "pertaining to events," from French éventuel, from Latin event-, stem of evenire (see event). Meaning "ultimately resulting" is by 1823.
factitious (adj.): 1640s, "made by or resulting from art, artificial," from Latin facticius/factitius "artificial," from factus "elaborate, artistic," past participle adjective from facere "to make, do; perform; bring about; endure, suffer; behave; suit, be of service" (source of French faire, Spanish hacer), from PIE root *dhe- "to put, to set, to do" (cognates: Sanskrit dadhati "puts, places;" Avestan dadaiti "he puts;" Old Persian ada "he made;" Hittite dai- "to place;" Greek tithenai "to put, set, place;" Lithuanian deti "to put;" Polish dziać się "to be happening;" Russian delat' "to do;" Old High German tuon, German tun, Old Saxon, Old English don "to do;" Old Frisian dua, Old Swedish duon, Gothic gadeths "a doing;" Old Norse dalidun "they did"). Related: Factitiously; factitiousness.
fatality (n.): late 15c., "quality of causing death," from French fatalité, from Late Latin fatalitatem (nominative fatalitas) "fatal necessity, fatality," from Latin fatalis "ordained by fate; destructive, deadly" (see fatal). Senses in 16c.-17c. included "determined by fate" and "a destiny." Meaning "an occurrence resulting in widespread death" is from 1840. Related: Fatalities.
genetic (adj.): 1831, "pertaining to origins," coined by Carlyle as if from Greek genetikos from genesis "origin" (see genesis). Darwin used it biologically as "resulting from common origin" (1859); modern sense of "pertaining to genetics or genes" is from 1908 (see gene). Related: Genetically. Genetical is attested from 1650s as "pertaining to origins."
gospel (n.): Old English godspel "glad tidings announced by Jesus; one of the four gospels," literally "good spell," from god "good" (see good (adj.)) + spel "story, message" (see spell (n.1)). A translation of Latin bona adnuntiatio, itself a translation of Greek euangelion "reward for bringing good news" (see evangel). The first element of the Old English word originally had a long "o," but it shifted under mistaken association with God, as if "God-story" (i.e. the history of Christ).
The mistake was very natural, as the resulting sense was much more obviously appropriate than that of 'good tidings' for a word which was chiefly known as the name of a sacred book or of a portion of the liturgy. [OED]
The word passed early from English to continental Germanic languages in forms that clearly indicate the first element had shifted to "God," such as Old Saxon godspell, Old High German gotspell, Old Norse goðspiall. Used of anything as true as the Gospel from mid-13c.; as "any doctrine maintained as of exclusive importance" from 1650s. As an adjective from 1640s. Gospel music is by 1955. Gospel-gossip was Addison's word ("Spectator," 1711) for "one who is always talking of sermons, texts, etc."
industrial (adj.): 1774, from French industriel, from Medieval Latin industrialis, from Latin industria (see industry). Earlier the word had been used in English in a sense "resulting from labor" (1580s); the modern use is considered a reborrowing. Meaning "suitable for industrial use" is from 1904. As a style of dance music, attested from 1988. Industrial revolution was in use by 1840 to refer to recent developments and changes in England and elsewhere.
laborious (adj.): late 14c., "hard-working, industrious," from Old French laborios "arduous, wearisome; hard-working" (12c., Modern French laborieux), from Latin laboriosus "toilsome, wearisome, troublesome," from labor (see labor (n.)). Meaning "costing much labor, burdensome" is from early 15c.; meaning "resulting from hard work" is mid-15c. Related: Laboriousness.
leave (n.): "permission," Old English leafe "leave, permission, license," dative and accusative of leaf "permission," from Proto-Germanic *lauba (cognates: Old Norse leyfi "permission," Old Saxon orlof, Old Frisian orlof, German Urlaub "leave of absence"), from PIE *leubh- "to care, desire, love, approve" (see love (n.)). Cognate with Old English lief "dear," the original idea being "approval resulting from pleasure." Compare love, believe. In military sense, it is attested from 1771.
lot (n.): Old English hlot "object (anything from dice to straw, but often a chip of wood with a name inscribed on it) used to determine someone's share," also "what falls to a person by lot," from Proto-Germanic *khlutom (cognates: Old Norse hlutr "lot, share," Old Frisian hlot "lot," Old Saxon hlot, Middle Dutch, Dutch lot, Old High German hluz "share of land," German Los; Old English hleotan "to cast lots, to foretell"), of unknown origin. The object was placed with others in a receptacle, which was shaken, the winner being the one that fell out first. Hence, to cast lots. In some cases the lots were drawn by hand. The word was adopted from Germanic into the Romanic languages (compare lottery, lotto). Meaning "choice resulting from the casting of lots" first attested c. 1200.

Sense of "plot of land" is first recorded 1630s (distribution of the best property in new settlements often determined by casting lots), that of "group, collection" is 1725, from notion of auction lots. The generalized sense of "great many" is first attested in 1812. To cast (one's) lot with another is to agree to share winnings.
megadeath (n.): 1953, from mega- in scientific sense (one million) + death (n.). The death of one million persons, as a measure of the effectiveness of nuclear weapons. The resulting pile of dead bodies would be a megacorpse, according to writings on the topic.
mortally (adv.): late 14c., "to the death; resulting in death," also "bitterly, intensely," from mortal (adj.) + -ly (2).
Ossianic (adj.): 1808, in reference to Oisin, name of a legendary Gaelic bard, literally "little fawn;" James Macpherson claimed to have collected and translated his works (1760-1763) under the name Ossian, and the poetic prose sparked a Celtic revival and fascination with the glamor of the lost world of the bards. The work turned out to be Macpherson's forgery, and the style later was regarded as bombastic, but the resulting swerve in European literature was real.
re-: word-forming element meaning "back to the original place; again, anew, once more," also with a sense of "undoing," c. 1200, from Old French and directly from Latin re- "again, back, anew, against," "Latin combining form conceivably from Indo-European *wret-, metathetical variant of *wert- "to turn" [Watkins]. Often merely intensive, and in many of the older borrowings from French and Latin the precise sense of re- is lost in secondary senses or weakened beyond recognition. OED writes that it is "impossible to attempt a complete record of all the forms resulting from its use," and adds that "The number of these is practically infinite ...." The Latin prefix became red- before vowels and h-, as in redact, redeem, redolent, redundant.
result (v.): early 15c., "occur as a result, arise as a consequence," from Medieval Latin resultare "to result," in classical Latin "to spring forward, rebound," frequentative of past participle of resilire "to rebound" (see resilience). Related: Resulted; resulting.
siren (n.): mid-14c., "sea nymph who by her singing lures sailors to their destruction," from Old French sereine (12c., Modern French sirène) and directly from Latin Siren (Late Latin Sirena), from Greek Seiren ["Odyssey," xii.39 ff.], one of the Seirenes, mythical sisters who enticed sailors to their deaths with their songs, also in Greek "a deceitful woman," perhaps literally "binder, entangler," from seira "cord, rope."

Meaning "device that makes a warning sound" (on an ambulance, etc.) first recorded 1879, in reference to steamboats, perhaps from similar use of the French word. Figurative sense of "one who sings sweetly and charms" is recorded from 1580s. The classical descriptions of them were mangled in medieval translations and glosses, resulting in odd notions of what they looked like.
sub-: word-forming element meaning "under, beneath; behind; from under; resulting from further division," from Latin preposition sub "under, below, beneath, at the foot of," also "close to, up to, towards;" of time, "within, during;" figuratively "subject to, in the power of;" also "a little, somewhat" (as in sub-horridus "somewhat rough").

This is said to be from PIE *(s)up- (perhaps representing *ex-upo-), a variant form of the root *upo- "from below," hence "turning upward, upward, up, up from under, over, beyond" (cognates: Sanskrit upa "near, under, up to, on," Greek hypo "under," Gothic iup, Old Norse, Old English upp "up, upward," Hittite up-zi "rises"). The Latin word also was used as a prefix and in various combinations.

In Latin assimilated to following -c-, -f-, -g-, -p-, and often -r- and -m-. In Old French the prefix appears in the full Latin form only "in learned adoptions of old Latin compounds" [OED], and in popular use it was represented by sous-, sou-; as in French souvenir from Latin subvenire, souscrire (Old French souzescrire) from subscribere, etc.

The original meaning is now obscured in many words from Latin (suggest, suspect, subject, etc.). The prefix is active in Modern English, sometimes meaning "subordinate" (as in subcontractor); "inferior" (17c., as in subhuman); "smaller" (18c.); "a part or division of" (c. 1800, as in subcontinent).
subdivide (v.): early 15c. (transitive), from Late Latin subdividere from sub in the sense of "resulting from further division" (see sub-) + Latin dividere (see division). Intransitive sense is from 1590s.
successful (adj.): 1580s, from success + -ful. Originally "having or resulting in any kind of success;" since late 19c. it has tended to mean "wealthy, resulting in financial prosperity" unless otherwise indicated. Related: Successfully.
rubefacience: "Redness (of the skin), especially that resulting from the use of a rubefacient", Early 19th cent. From rubefacient: see -ence.
arbitral: "Relating to or resulting from the use of an arbitrator to settle a dispute", Late 15th century: from late Latin arbitralis, from arbiter 'judge, supreme ruler'.
acalculia: "Loss of the ability to perform simple calculations, typically resulting from disease or injury of the parietal lobe of the brain", Early 20th century: from a-¹ 'not' + Latin calculare 'calculate' + -ia¹.
acariasis: "Infestation, especially of the skin, with mites or ticks; disease resulting from such infestation; an instance of this", Early 19th cent.; earliest use found in William Kirby (1759–1850), entomologist and naturalist. From acarus or its etymon post-classical Latin acarus + -iasis.
tritanopia: "A rare form of colour blindness resulting from insensitivity to blue light, causing confusion of greens and blues", Early 20th century: from trito- 'third' (referring to blue as the third colour in the spectrum) + an-¹ 'without' + -opia.
hyperoxaluria: "The excretion of an abnormally large amount of oxalate in the urine, specifically (in full primary hyperoxaluria) that resulting from oxalosis; an instance of this", 1950s. From hyper- + oxaluria.
acrodynia: "A disorder characterized by swelling and pain or paraesthesia of the hands and feet, with gastrointestinal and various other symptoms, probably resulting from mercury poisoning but originally also attributed to ergotism or arsenic poisoning; (in later use) specifically = pink disease", Mid 19th cent. After French acrodynie.
odontoma: "A tumour arising in connection with the teeth; (later) specifically a growth resulting from anomalous odontogenesis and consisting of dental tissues of epithelial and mesodermal origin (enamel, dentine, and cementum), sometimes organized into the form of a tooth or teeth", Late 19th cent. Alteration of odontome after -oma.
fasciated: "Showing abnormal fusion of parts or organs, resulting in a flattened ribbon-like structure", Mid 18th century (in the sense 'banded'): from Latin fasciatus (past participle of fasciare 'swathe', from fascia 'band') + -ed¹.
alopecia areata: "A disorder, probably of autoimmune origin, typically resulting in loss of hair in patches from the scalp", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in The Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine. From scientific Latin alopecia areata from classical Latin alōpecia + scientific Latin areata (from classical Latin ārea a bald patch (Celsus); in post-classical Latin also a type of baldness + -āta).
afibrinogenaemia: "Absence of fibrinogen in the blood, usually resulting in impaired coagulation; an acquired or inherited condition characterized by this", 1940s; earliest use found in Journal of the American Medical Association. From a- + fibrinogen + -aemia, after German Afibrinogenämie.
allodynia: "Pain resulting from a stimulus that does not normally cause pain", 1970s; earliest use found in Pain. From allo- + -odynia.