quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- prima donna[prima donna 词源字典]
- prima donna: see dame
[prima donna etymology, prima donna origin, 英语词源] - Arimasp (n.)
- Latin Arimaspi (plural), from Greek Arimaspoi, mythical race of one-eyed people in Northern Europe believed in antiquity to have carried off a hoard of gold which was under guardianship of griffins. The name is said to be Scythian for "one-eyed." Related: Arimaspian.
- grimace (n.)
- 1650s, from French grimace (15c.) "grotesque face, ugly mug," possibly from Frankish or another Germanic source (compare Old Saxon grima "face mask," Old English grima "mask, helmet"), from the same root as grim (adj.). With pejorative suffix -azo (from Latin -aceus).
- grimace (v.)
- 1707, from French grimacer, from grimace "grotesque face" (see grimace (n.)). Related: Grimaced; grimacing.
- grimalkin (n.)
- name given to a cat, 1620s, as in, or from, Shakespeare's Gray-Malkin, in "Macbeth" (1605), hence any cat, especially an old she-cat; from gray (adj.) + Malkin, diminutive of fem. proper name Matilda or Maud.
- imprimatur (n.)
- 1640, Modern Latin, literally "let it be printed," the formula of a book licenser, third person singular present subjunctive passive of Latin imprimere "to print" (see impress). Originally of state license to print books, later only of Roman Catholic Church.
- ottava rima
- 1820, Italian, "eight-lined stanza," literally "eighth rhyme," from ottava "eighth" (see octave). A stanza of eight 11-syllable lines, rhymed a b a b a b c c, but in the Byronic variety, they are English heroic lines of 10 syllables.
- pilgrimage (n.)
- late 13c., pelrimage; from pilgrim + -age and also from Old French pelrimage, pelerinage "pilgrimage, distant journey, crusade," from peleriner "to go on a pilgrimage." Modern spelling from early 14c.
- prima
- Italian fem. of primo "first" (see primo); as in prima ballerina (1799).
- prima donna (n.)
- 1782, "principal female singer in an opera," from Italian prima donna "first lady," from Latin prima, fem. of primus "first" (see prime (adj.)) + domina "lady" (see dame). Meaning "temperamental person" first recorded 1834.
- prima facie
- Latin, literally "at first sight," ablative of prima facies "first appearance," from prima, fem. singular of primus "first" (see prime (adj.)) + facies "form, face" (see face (n.)).
- primacy (n.)
- late 14c., from Old French primacie (14c., in Modern French spelled primatie) and directly from Medieval Latin primatia "office of a church primate" (late 12c.), from Late Latin primas (genitive primatis) "principal, chief, of the first rank" (see primate).
- primal (adj.)
- c. 1600, "belonging to the earliest age," from Medieval Latin primalis "primary," from Latin primus "first" (see prime (adj.)). Psychological sense, in reference to Freud's theory of behaviors springing from the earliest stage of emotional development, is attested from 1918. Primal scream is from a best-selling book of 1971.
- primary (adj.)
- early 15c., "of the first order," from Latin primarius "of the first rank, chief, principal, excellent," from primus "first" (see prime (adj.)). Meaning "first in order" is from 1802. Primary color is first recorded 1610s (at first the seven of the spectrum, later the three from which others can be made); primary school is 1802, from French école primaire.
The Paris journals ... are full of a plan, brought forward by Fourcroy, for the establishment of primary schools, which is not interesting to an English reader. [London "Times," April 27, 1802]
Related: Primarily.
- primary (n.)
- 1861, American English, short for primary election (1792, with reference to France; in a U.S. context from 1835); earlier primary caucus (1821).
- primate (n.)
- "high bishop," c. 1200, from Old French primat and directly from Medieval Latin primatem (nominative primas) "church primate," noun use of Late Latin adjective primas "of the first rank, chief, principal," from primus "first" (see prime (adj.)).
Meaning "animal of the biological order including monkeys and humans" is attested from 1876, from Modern Latin Primates (Linnæus), from plural of Latin primas; so called from supposedly being the "highest" order of mammals (originally also including bats). - primatology (n.)
- "study of Primates," 1941, from primate (n.) + -ology.
- primavera (n.)
- "spring, spring time," Italian, from Latin prima vera, plural of primus ver literally "first spring;" see prime (adj.) + vernal. Related: Primaveral.
- reprimand (n.)
- 1630s, from French réprimande (16c.), from Middle French reprimende "reproof," from Latin reprimenda "that is to be repressed" (as in reprimenda culpa "fault to be checked"), fem. singular of reprimendus, gerundive of reprimere "reprove" (see repress). Spelling influenced in French by mander "to summon."
- reprimand (v.)
- 1680s, from reprimand (n.) or else from French réprimander (17c.), from réprimande. Related: Reprimanded; reprimanding.
- terza rima (n.)
- 1819, Italian, literally "third rhyme." Dante's measure: a-b-a-b-c-b-c-d-c-, etc.
- trimaran
- "A yacht with three hulls in parallel", 1940s: from tri- + catamaran.