英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

bedlam [bedlam 词源字典]: bedlam: [15] The word bedlam is a contraction of Bethlehem. It comes from the Hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem founded in 1247 by Simon FitzMary, Sheriff of London, as the Priory of St Mary Bethlehem. Situated outside Bishopsgate, in the City of London, the hospital began to admit mental patients in the late 14th century. In the 16th century it officially became a lunatic asylum. The word bedlam came to be used for any ‘madhouse’, and by extension for a ‘scene of noisy confusion’, in the 17th century.
[bedlam etymology, bedlam origin, 英语词源]
garage: garage: [20] As the motor-car age got under way at the start of the 20th century, a gap opened up in the lexicon for a word for ‘car-storage place’. English filled it in 1902 by borrowing French garage. The first references to it show that the term (station was an early alternative) was originally applied to large commercially run shelters housing many vehicles – the equivalent more of modern multi-storey car parks than of garages (the Daily Mail, for example, on 11 January 1902, reports the ‘new “garage” founded by Mr Harrington Moore, hon. secretary of the Automobile Club … The “garage”, which is situated at the City end of Queen Victoria-street, has accommodation for 80 cars’, and Alfred Harmsworth, in Motors 1902, wrote of ‘stations or “garages” where a number of cars can be kept’).

It was not long, however, before individual houses got more personalized garages, and the application to an establishment where vehicle repairs are carried out and fuel sold soon followed. The French word garage itself is a derivative of the verb garer, which originally meant ‘dock ships’. It comes from Old French garer ‘protect, defend’, a loanword from Old High German warōn (to which English ward, warn, and the -ware of beware are related).
=> beware, ward, warn
hallmark: hallmark: [18] The hallmark on a piece of gold, silver or platinum, which allows it to be legally sold, is so called simply because it was originally applied in Goldsmiths’ Hall, the headquarters of the Goldsmiths’ Company (a City livery company), where the London assay office was situated. The building is in Foster Lane, to the northeast of St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London.
inferno: inferno: [19] Etymologically, an inferno is that which is ‘below’. The word comes ultimately from Latin infernus, meaning ‘situated below, subterranean’. In ancient mythology, the nether regions were the abode of the dead, so inferna came to be used as the equivalent of Dis, and the Greek Hades. In Jewish and Christian belief, this basement area was the realm of evil spirits, and consequently in late Latin infernus came to cover much the same semantic ground as English hell.

In Italian this became inferno, and English adopted it (strongly under the influence of the Inferno of Dante’s Divine Comedy) in that form in the early 19th century. Its metaphorical use for ‘intense heat’, inspired by the stereotypical flames of hell, is a comparatively recent development. Meanwhile the related infernal [14] (from late Latin infernalis) had long since taken up residence in English, and by the 18th century was being used as an expletive (as in ‘their infernal cheek’).
intrinsic: intrinsic: [15] The Latin adverb intrinsecus meant ‘on the inside’. It was formed from *intrim ‘inward’, an unrecorded derivative of the adverb intrā ‘within’, and secus ‘alongside’ (a relative of English second, sect, sequel, etc). In the post-classical period it came to be used as an adjective, meaning ‘inward’, and it passed into Old French as intrinseque ‘inner, internal’.

This general concrete sense accompanied the word into English, but it now survives only as an anatomical term, meaning ‘situated within a body part’. The abstract sense ‘inherent’, now the adjective’s main meaning, developed in the 17th century. The derivation of the antonym extrinsic [16] is precisely parallel, with Latin extrā ‘outside’ taking the place of intrā.
=> extrinsic, second, sect, sequel
jade: jade: English has two words jade, of which by far the commoner nowadays is the name of the green stone [18]. Despite the mineral’s close association with China and Japan, the term has no Oriental connections. It is of Latin origin, and started life in fact as a description of the stone’s medical applications. Latin īlia denoted the ‘sides of the lower torso’, the ‘flanks’, the part of the body where the kidneys are situated (English gets iliac [16] from it).

In Vulgar Latin this became *iliata, which passed into Spanish as ijada. Now it was thought in former times that jade could cure pain in the renal area, so the Spanish called it piedra de ijada, literally ‘stone of the flanks’. In due course this was reduced to simply ijada, which passed into English via French. (Jade’s alternative name, nephrite [18], is based on the same idea; it comes from Greek nephrós ‘kidney’.) English’s other word jade [14] now survives really only in its derivative adjective jaded ‘tired, sated’ [16].

It originally meant ‘worn-out horse’, and was later transferred metaphorically to ‘disreputable woman’. Its origins are not known.
=> iliac; jaded
staple: staple: English has two distinct words staple, but they come from a common ancestor – prehistoric Germanic *stapulaz ‘pillar’. This evolved into English staple [OE], which at first retained its ancestral meaning ‘post, pillar’. The modern sense ‘U-shaped metal bar’ did not emerge until the end of the 13th century, and the details of its development from ‘pillar’ are obscure.

The Middle Low German and Middle Dutch descendant of *stapulaz was stapel, which had the additional meaning ‘market, shop’ (presumably from the notion of a stall situated behind the ‘pillars’ of an arcade). This was borrowed into Old French as estaple, which in turn gave English staple ‘market’ [15], hence ‘principal commercial commodity’.
stool: stool: [OE] Although stools are for sitting on, the word’s etymological meaning is ‘stand’. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic *stōlaz, which was formed from the base *stō-, *sta- ‘stand’ (source of English stand) using the noun suffix *-l- (in much the same way as saddle was formed from a base meaning ‘sit’). The notion of ‘standing’ no doubt passed into ‘sitting’ via an intermediate generalized ‘be positioned or situated’.

In the 15th century stool came to be applied specifically to a ‘commode’, and this led to its use in the following century for an ‘act of defecating’, and hence for a ‘piece of faeces’. Stoolpigeon [19] originated in American English as a term for a decoy pigeon tied to a stool.
=> stall, stand
thyroid: thyroid: [18] The thyroid glands are situated in the neck, and they get their name ultimately from a comparison of the shape of the large oblong cartilage in front of the throat (which includes the Adam’s apple) with that of a door. The word comes via early modern French thyroide from Greek thuroidés ‘door-shaped’, an alteration of thureoeidés, which was derived from thúrā ‘door’ (a relative of English door). The term khóndros thureoiedés, literally ‘door-shaped cartilage’, was used by the Greek physician Galen for the ‘cartilage in front of the throat’ (now known in English as the thyroid cartilage).
=> door, foreign
epidural (adj.): 1873, "situated on or affecting the dura mater," from epi- "on" + dura mater + -al (1). The noun meaning "injection into the epidural region" (usually given during childbirth) is attested by 1966.
fore (adj.): mid-15c., "forward;" late 15c., "former, earlier;" early 16c., "situated at the front;" all senses apparently from fore- compounds, which frequently were written as two words in Middle English.
Frank (n.): one of the Germanic tribal people (Salian Franks) situated on the lower Rhine from 3c. that conquered Romano-Celtic northern Gaul c.500 C.E.; from their territory and partly from their language grew modern France and French. Old English franc, franca "freeman, noble; Frank, Frenchman," from Medieval Latin francus, a Late Latin borrowing of Frankish *Frank, the people's self-designation (cognate with Old High German Franko, the Latin word also is the source of Spanish and Italian names Franco).

The origin of the ethnic name is uncertain; it traditionally is said to be from the old Germanic word *frankon "javelin, lance" (compare Old English franca "lance, javelin"), their preferred weapon, but the reverse may be the case. Compare also Saxon, traditionally from root of Old English seax "knife." The adjectival sense of "free, at liberty" (see frank (adj.)) probably developed from the tribal name, not the other way round. It was noted by 1680s that, in the Levant, this was the name given to anyone of Western nationality (compare Feringhee and lingua franca).
habit (n.): early 13c., "characteristic attire of a religious or clerical order," from Old French habit, abit "clothing, (ecclesiastical) habit; conduct" (12c.), from Latin habitus "condition, demeanor, appearance, dress," originally past participle of habere "to have, hold, possess; wear; find oneself, be situated; consider, think, reason, have in mind; manage, keep," from PIE root *ghabh- "to give; to receive" (cognates: Sanskrit gabhasti- "hand, forearm;" Old Irish gaibim "I take, hold, I have," gabal "act of taking;" Lithuanian gabana "armful," gabenti "to remove;" Gothic gabei "riches;" Old English giefan, Old Norse gefa "to give"). The basic sense of the root probably is "to hold," which can be either in offering or in taking.

Meaning "clothing generally" is from late 14c. Meaning "customary practice, usual mode of action" is early 14c. Drug sense is from 1887. The Latin word was applied to both inner and outer states of being, and both senses were taken in English, though meaning of "dress" now is restricted to monks and nuns. In 19c. it also was used of the costume worn by women when riding on horseback.
hinder (adj,): "situated in the rear, toward the back," late 14c., probably from Old English hinder (adv.) "behind, back, afterward," but treated as a comparative of hind (adj.). Related to Old High German hintar, German hinter, Gothic hindar "behind." Middle English had hinderhede, literally "hinder-hood; posterity in time, inferiority in rank;" and hinderling "person fallen from moral or social respectability, wretch."
intermural (adj.): 1650s, from Latin intermuralis "situated between walls," from inter- "between" (see inter-) + murus (genitive muralis) "wall" (see mural).
interstellar (adj.): 1620s, "situated between the stars," from inter- + stellar.
leeward (adj.): 1660s, "situated away from the wind," on the opposite of the weather side of the ship; from lee + -ward.
lie (v.2): "rest horizontally," early 12c., from Old English licgan (class V strong verb; past tense læg, past participle legen) "be situated, reamin; be at rest, lie down," from Proto-Germanic *legjan (cognates: Old Norse liggja, Old Frisian lidzia, Middle Dutch ligghen, Dutch liggen, Old High German ligen, German liegen, Gothic ligan), from PIE *legh- "to lie, lay" (cognates: Hittite laggari "falls, lies," Greek lekhesthai "to lie down," Latin lectus "bed," Old Church Slavonic lego "to lie down," Lithuanian at-lagai "fallow land," Old Irish laigim "I lie down," Irish luighe "couch, grave"). To lie with "have sexual intercourse" is from c. 1300, and compare Old English licgan mid "cohabit with." To take (something) lying down "passively, submissively" is from 1854.
lumbar (adj.): "pertaining to or situated near the loins," 1650s, from Modern Latin lumbaris, from Latin lumbus "loin" (see lumbago).
outboard (adj.): "situated on the outside of a ship," 1823, from out + board (n.2). In reference to motors, from 1909.
overground (adj.): "situated above ground" (as opposed to underground), 1879, from over- + ground (n.).
parotid (adj.): "situated near the ear," 1680s, from French parotide (1540s), or directly from Latin parotid-, stem of parotis, from Greek parotis "tumor near the ear," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + ot-, stem of ous "ear" (see ear (n.1)). As a noun, "the parotid gland."
posit (v.): "to assert," 1690s, from Latin positus "placed, situated, standing, planted," past participle of ponere "put, place" (see position (n.)). Related: Posited; positing.
posterior (adj.): 1530s, "later," from Latin posterior "after, later, behind," comparative of posterus "coming after, subsequent," from post "after" (see post-). Meaning "situated behind" is from 1630s.
rialto (n.): 1879, "exchange, mart," from the Rialto of Venice, the name of the quarter where the exchange was situated, contracted from Rivoalto and named for the canal (Latin rivus altus "deep stream") which it crosses.
situate (v.): early 15c., "to place in a particular state or condition," from Medieval Latin situatus, past participle of situare "to place, locate," from Latin situs "a place, position" (see site). Related: Situated; situating.
sublunary (adj.): 1590s, "situated under the moon," hence "earthly, mundane" (old cosmology), from Modern Latin sublunaris, from sub- (see sub-) + lunaris (see lunar).
superior (adj.): late 14c., "higher in position," from Old French superior "higher, upper" (Modern French superieur), from Latin superiorem (nominative superior) "higher," comparative of superus "situated above, upper," from super "above, over" (see super-).

Meaning "higher in rank or dignity" is attested from late 15c.; sense of "of a higher nature or character" is attested from 1530s. Original sense was preserved more strongly in French (as in les étages supérieur "the upper stories"), and in Lake Superior, a loan-translation of French Lac Supérieur, literally "upper lake" (at 600 feet above sea-level it has the highest surface elevation of the five Great Lakes and is the furthest north).
Surprise a person of the class that is supposed to keep servants cleaning his own boots, & either he will go on with the job while he talks to you, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, or else he will explain that the bootboy or scullery-maid is ill & give you to understand that he is, despite appearances, superior to boot-cleaning. If he takes the second course, you conclude that he is not superior to it; if the first, that perhaps he is. [Fowler]
supernal (adj.): mid-15c., "heavenly, divine," from Old French supernal "supreme" (12c.), formed from Latin supernus "situated above, that is above; celestial" (from super "above, over;" see super-) as a contrast to infernal.
supreme (adj.): 1520s, from Middle French suprême (15c.) and directly from Latin supremus "highest," superlative of superus "situated above," from super "above" (see super-). Supreme Being "God" first attested 1690s; Supreme Court is from 1689.
terminal (adj.): mid-15c., "relating to or marking boundaries," from Latin terminalis "pertaining to a boundary or end, final," from terminus "end, boundary line" (see terminus). Meaning "fatal" (terminal illness) is first recorded 1891. Sense of "situated at the extreme end" (of something) is from 1805. Slang meaning "extreme" first recorded 1983. Related: Termninally.
trans-: word-forming element meaning "across, beyond, through, on the other side of, to go beyond," from Latin trans-, from trans (prep.) "across, over, beyond," perhaps originally present participle of a verb *trare-, meaning "to cross," from PIE *tra-, variant of root *tere- (2) "to cross over" (see through). In chemical use indicating "a compound in which two characteristic groups are situated on opposite sides of an axis of a molecule" [Flood].
trans-oceanic (adj.): 1827, "situated across the ocean," from trans- + oceanic. Meaning "passing over the sea" is recorded from 1868.
olivary: "Relating to or denoting the nucleus situated in the olive of the medulla oblongata in the brain", Late Middle English: from Latin olivarius 'relating to olives', from oliva (see olive).
transmarine: "Situated or originating on the other side of the sea", Late 16th century: from Latin transmarinus, from trans- 'across' + marinus 'marine, of the sea'.
pisiform: "A small rounded carpal bone situated where the palm of the hand meets the outer edge of the wrist and articulating with the triquetral", Mid 18th century: from modern Latin pisiformis 'pea-shaped', from pisum 'pea' + forma 'shape'.
hamate: "A carpal bone situated on the lower outside edge of the hand. It has a hook-shaped projection on the palmar side to which muscles of the little finger are attached", Early 18th century: from Latin hamatus 'hooked', from hamus 'hook'.
paranasal: "Located beside the nose; specifically designating, relating to, or involving the sinuses situated beside the nose", Early 20th cent..
admaxillary: "Situated close to or connected with the maxilla; (in early use) specifically designating accessory salivary glands associated with the parotid and submaxillary glands in certain mammals. Now rare", Late 19th cent. From ad- + maxillary. Compare earlier submaxillary, intermaxillary, and premaxillary.
riverain: "A person who or animal which lives on the banks or in the vicinity of a river. Now rare", Early 19th cent.; earliest use found in The Universal Magazine. From French riverain (noun) person who lives on the banks of a river or near a river, or who owns land or property there, animal or plant whose habitat is on the banks of or in the vicinity of a river, (adjective) (of a place, estate, building, etc.) extending along a forest or (now chiefly) a way of communication such as a road, railway line, etc., situated on the banks of a river or other expanse of water (1848 or earlier; earlier in sense ‘(of a person) holding feudal possessions on the banks of or in the vicinity of a river’) from rivière + -ain. The sense of the English word was influenced by association with river early on, especially in the case of sense B. 2, which is unparalleled in French.
profundus: "A deep-seated muscle; specifically the flexor digitorum profundus muscle, which arises from the ulna, flexes the distal phalanges of the fingers, and is situated beneath the muscle which flexes the middle phalanges", Late 17th cent. From classical Latin profundus (originally in post-classical Latin or scientific Latin musculus profundus).
peritonsillar: "Situated or occurring around a tonsil or around the tonsils", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Von Ziemssen's Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine. After German peritonsillär.
periapical: "Situated or occurring around the apex of the root of a tooth", 1920s.
out-city: "Situated outside a city; suburban", 1930s; earliest use found in John Steinbeck (1902–1968), author. From out- + city.
geniculum: "Originally: a node or joint (in the stem of a plant, the antenna of an arthropod, etc.). In later use also: a feature resembling a bent knee (in an animal, plant, shell, etc.); an angle in a structure, or a feature situated at such an angle", Early 18th cent.; earliest use found in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Partly (i) from classical Latin geniculum knee, small knee, knot or joint in the stem of a plant from genū + -culum;.
hypogastrium: "The part of the central abdomen which is situated below the region of the stomach", Late 17th century: modern Latin, from Greek hupogastrion, from hupo 'under' + gastēr 'belly'.
subocular: "Situated below or under the eye", Early 19th cent.; earliest use found in John Barrow. From post-classical Latin subocularis under the eyes from sub- + ocularis.
abyssal plain: "An extensive level area of the deep ocean floor, typically situated between the foot of the continental rise and an oceanic trench and covered with a smooth layer of sediment", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Thomas Huxley (1825–1895), biologist and science educationist.
precoracoid: "A bone or cartilage in certain fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and birds, situated anterior to and sometimes fused with the coracoid bone of the pectoral girdle", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in William K. Parker (1823–1890), comparative anatomist and zoologist. From pre- + coracoid.
mesocoracoid: "In some teleostean fishes: a bone situated between and bridging the hypercoracoid and hypocoracoid bones", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in William K. Parker (1823–1890), comparative anatomist and zoologist. From meso- + coracoid.