英语词源字典 - 爱词海词源词典

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a [a 词源字典]: a: [OE] The indefinite article in English is ultimately identical with the word one (as is the case, even more obviously, in other European languages – French un, German ein, and so on). The ancestor of both a(n) and one was ān, with a long vowel, but in the Old English period it was chiefly used for the numeral; where we would use a(n), the Anglo-Saxons tended not to use an article at all. Ān begins to emerge as the indefinite article in the middle of the 12th century, and it was not long before, in that relatively unemphatic linguistic environment, its vowel became weakened and shortened, giving an.

And at about the same time the distinction between an and a began to develop, although this was a slow process; until 1300 an was still often used before consonants, and right up to 1600 and beyond it was common before all words beginning with h, such as house.
=> one[a etymology, a origin, 英语词源]
a (1): indefinite article, mid-12c., a variation of Old English an (see an) in which the -n- began to disappear before consonants, a process mostly complete by mid-14c. The -n- also was retained before words beginning with a sounded -h- until c. 1600; it still is retained by many writers before unaccented syllables in h- or (e)u-, but is now no longer normally spoken as such. The -n- also lingered (especially in southern England dialect) before -w- and -y- through 15c.
a (2): as in twice a day, etc., from Old English an "on," in this case "on each." The sense was extended from time to measure, price, place, etc. The habit of tacking a onto a gerund (as in a-hunting we will go) died out 18c.

aardvark [aardvark 词源字典]: aardvark: see earth, farrow
[aardvark etymology, aardvark origin, 英语词源]
bazaar: bazaar: [16] Bazaar is a word of Persian origin; it comes from Persian bāzār ‘market’ (whose ultimate source was a prehistoric Old Persian *abēcharish), and reached English via Turkish and Italian (whence the early English form bazarro). Many fanciful spellings competed in 16th- and 17th-century English, including buzzard.
aardvark (n.): 1833, from Afrikaans Dutch aardvark, literally "earth-pig" (the animal burrows), from aard "earth" (see earth) + vark "pig," cognate with Old High German farah (source of German Ferkel "young pig, sucking pig," a diminutive form), Old English fearh (see farrow).
Aaron: masc. proper name, in the Old Testament the brother of Moses, from Hebrew Aharon, probably of Egyptian origin. The Arabic form is Harun. Aaron's beard as a type of herb is from 1540s.
bazaar (n.): 1580s, from Italian bazarra, ultimately from Persian bazar (Pahlavi vacar) "a market."
Saar: river in western Germany, from PIE root *ser- (2) "to run, flow" (see serum).
aargh: "Used as an expression of anguish, horror, rage, or other strong emotion, often with humorous intent", Late 18th century: lengthened form of ah, expressing a prolonged cry.
haar: "A cold sea fog on the east coast of England or Scotland", Late 17th century: perhaps from Old Norse hárr 'hoar, hoary'.
deurmekaar: "In a state of muddle or confusion", Afrikaans, from Dutch dialect variants of door elkaar, literally 'through one another, interchangeable'.
yaar: "A friendly form of address", Via Hindi from Arabic yar 'friend'.

aardvark [aardvark 词源字典]: aardvark: see earth, farrow
[aardvark etymology, aardvark origin, 英语词源]
aardvark (n.): 1833, from Afrikaans Dutch aardvark, literally "earth-pig" (the animal burrows), from aard "earth" (see earth) + vark "pig," cognate with Old High German farah (source of German Ferkel "young pig, sucking pig," a diminutive form), Old English fearh (see farrow).

Aaron [Aaron 词源字典]: masc. proper name, in the Old Testament the brother of Moses, from Hebrew Aharon, probably of Egyptian origin. The Arabic form is Harun. Aaron's beard as a type of herb is from 1540s.[Aaron etymology, Aaron origin, 英语词源]

ankle (n.)[ankle 词源字典]: Old English ancleow "ankle," from PIE root *ang-/*ank- "to bend" (see angle (n.)). The modern form seems to have been influenced by Old Norse ökkla or Old Frisian ankel, which are immediately from the Proto-Germanic form of the root (cognates: Middle High German anke "joint," German Enke "ankle"); the second element in the Old English, Old Norse and Old Frisian forms perhaps suggests claw (compare Dutch anklaauw), or it may be from influence of cneow "knee," or it may be diminutive suffix -el. Middle English writers distinguished inner ankle projection (hel of the ancle) from the outer (utter or utward).[ankle etymology, ankle origin, 英语词源]
claw (v.): Old English clawian "to scratch, claw," from the same root as claw (n.). Related: Clawed; clawing. Compare Dutch klaauwen, Old High German klawan, German klauen. To claw back"regain by great effort" is from 1953; as a noun, an act of this, from 1969.

ankle (n.)[ankle 词源字典]: Old English ancleow "ankle," from PIE root *ang-/*ank- "to bend" (see angle (n.)). The modern form seems to have been influenced by Old Norse ökkla or Old Frisian ankel, which are immediately from the Proto-Germanic form of the root (cognates: Middle High German anke "joint," German Enke "ankle"); the second element in the Old English, Old Norse and Old Frisian forms perhaps suggests claw (compare Dutch anklaauw), or it may be from influence of cneow "knee," or it may be diminutive suffix -el. Middle English writers distinguished inner ankle projection (hel of the ancle) from the outer (utter or utward).[ankle etymology, ankle origin, 英语词源]
claw (v.): Old English clawian "to scratch, claw," from the same root as claw (n.). Related: Clawed; clawing. Compare Dutch klaauwen, Old High German klawan, German klauen. To claw back"regain by great effort" is from 1953; as a noun, an act of this, from 1969.

Ab [Ab 词源字典]: "(In the &Jewish calendar) the eleventh month of the &civil and fifth of the religious year, usually &coinciding with parts of &July and &August", From &Hebrew 'āḇ.[Ab etymology, Ab origin, 英语词源]

abacus [abacus 词源字典]: abacus: [17] Abacus comes originally from a Hebrew word for ‘dust’, ’ābāq. This was borrowed into Greek with the sense of ‘drawing board covered with dust or sand’, on which one could draw for, among other purposes, making mathematical calculations. The Greek word, ábax, subsequently developed various other meanings, including ‘table’, both in the literal sense and as a mathematical table.

But it was as a ‘dust-covered board’ that its Latin descendant, abacus, was first used in English, in the 14th century. It was not until the 17th century that the more general sense of a counting board or frame came into use, and the more specific ‘counting frame with movable balls’ is later still.
[abacus etymology, abacus origin, 英语词源]
abandon: abandon: [14] The Old French verb abandoner is the source of abandon. It was based on a bandon, meaning literally ‘under control or jurisdiction’, which was used in the phrase mettre a bandon ‘put someone under someone else’s control’ – hence ‘abandon them’. The word bandon came, in altered form, from Latin bannum ‘proclamation’, which is circuitously related to English banns ‘proclamation of marriage’ and is an ancestor of contraband.
=> banns, contraband
abash: abash: [14] Abash shares a common ancestry with abeyance [16], although the latter underwent an about-turn in meaning in the 17th century which disguises their relationship. They go back to a Latin verb batāre, meaning ‘yawn’ or ‘gape’. This was borrowed into French as baer, later bayer (it was the source of English bay ‘recessed space’).

The addition of the prefix es- (from Latin ex-) produced esbaer, later e(s)bahir ‘gape with astonishment’, whence, via the present stem e(s)bass-, came English abash, which originally meant ‘stand amazed’ as well as ‘embarrass, discomfit’. (Bashful is a 16thcentury derivative, with elision of the a-, which was first used by the dramatist Nicholas Udall.) Addition of the prefix a- to Old French baer, meanwhile, had given abaer ‘aspire after’, and its noun abeance ‘aspiration, desire’.

In legal terminology, this word was used in French for the condition of a person in expectation or hope of receiving property, but in English the focus quickly became reversed to the property, and its condition of being temporarily without an owner.
=> abeyance, bashful
alabaster: alabaster: [14] Chaucer was the first English author to use the word alabaster: in the Knight’s Tale (1386) he writes of ‘alabaster white and red coral’. It comes, via Old French and Latin, from Greek alábast(r)os, which may be of Egyptian origin. Scottish English used the variant from alabast until the 16th century (indeed, this may predate alabaster by a few years); and from the 16th to the 17th century the word was usually spelled alablaster, apparently owing to confusion with arblaster ‘crossbowman’.

The use of alabaster for making marbles (of the sort used in children’s games) gave rise to the abbreviation alley, ally ‘marble’ in the early 18th century.
contraband: contraband: [16] Contraband means literally ‘proclamation against’ – hence ‘prohibition’. It comes via French contrebande from Italian contrabbando, a compound formed from contra ‘against’ (see CONTRARY) and bando ‘proclamation’ (whose source was late Latin bannus, bannum, a relative of English ban). The sense ‘dealing in prohibited goods’ had already developed before English acquired the word, and rapidly developed through ‘smuggling’ to ‘smuggled goods’.
=> ban, contrary
gabardine: gabardine: [16] The use of gabardine for a sort of worsted material is an early 20th-century development, but the word itself has been around much longer than that. Its central meaning (for which the usual spelling is gaberdine) is ‘long coarse outer garment’. English acquired it from Old French gauvardine, which was a development of an earlier gallevardine. This was probably derived from Middle High German wallevart ‘pilgrimage’ (a compound formed from wallen ‘roam’ and vart ‘journey, way’), and hence etymologically meant ‘pilgrim’s garment’.
aback (adv.): c. 1200, from Old English on bæc "at or on the back;" see back (n.). Now surviving mainly in taken aback, originally a nautical expression in reference to a vessel's square sails when a sudden change of wind flattens them back against the masts and stops the forward motion of the ship (1754). The figurative sense is first recorded 1840.
abacus (n.): late 14c., "sand table for drawing, calculating, etc.," from Latin abacus, from Greek abax (genitive abakos) "counting table," from Hebrew abaq "dust," from root a-b-q "to fly off." Originally a drawing board covered with dust or sand that could be written on to do mathematical equations. Specific reference to a counting frame is 17c. or later.
Abaddon: late 14c., used in Rev. ix:11 of "the angel of the bottomless pit," and by Milton of the pit itself, from Hebrew Abhaddon "destruction," from abhadh "he perished." The Greek form was Apollyon.
abaft (adv.): "in or at the back part of a ship" (opposed to forward), 1590s, from Middle English on baft (Old English on bæftan) "backwards." The second component is itself a compound of be "by" (see by) and æftan "aft" (see aft). The word has been saved by the sailors (the stern being the "after" part of a vessel), the rest of the language having left it in Middle English.
abalienate (v.): 1550s, from Latin abalienatus, past participle of abalienare "to remove, literally "to make alien," from ab- (see ab-) + alienare (see alienate). Related: Abalienated; abalienating.
abalienation (n.): 1650s, from Latin abalienationem (nominative abalienatio), noun of action from past participle stem of abalienare (see abalienate).
abalone (n.): type of marine shell, 1850, American English, from Spanish abulon from Costanoan (a California coastal Indian language family) aluan "red abalone."
abandon (v.): late 14c., "to give up, surrender (oneself or something), give over utterly; to yield (oneself) utterly (to religion, fornication, etc.)," from Old French abandoner (12c.), from adverbial phrase à bandon "at will, at discretion," from à "at, to" (see ad-) + bandon "power, jurisdiction," from Latin bannum, "proclamation," from a Frankish word related to ban (v.).
Mettre sa forest à bandon was a feudal law phrase in the 13th cent. = mettre sa forêt à permission, i.e. to open it freely to any one for pasture or to cut wood in; hence the later sense of giving up one's rights for a time, letting go, leaving, abandoning. [Auguste Brachet, "An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," transl. G.W. Kitchin, Oxford, 1878]
Etymologically, the word carries a sense of "put someone under someone else's control." Meaning "to give up absolutely" is from late 14c. Related: Abandoned; abandoning.
abandon (n.): "a letting loose, surrender to natural impulses," 1822, from a sense in French abandon (see abandon (v.). Borrowed earlier (c. 1400) from French in a sense "(someone's) control;" and compare Middle English adverbial phrase at abandon, i.e. "recklessly," attested from late 14c.
abandoned (adj.): "self-devoted" to some purpose (usually evil), late 14c., past participle adjective from abandon (v.).
abandonment (n.): 1610s, from French abandonnement, from abandonner (see abandon (v.)).
abase (v.): late 14c., abaishen, from Old French abaissier "diminish, make lower in value or status" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *ad bassiare "bring lower," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + Late Latin bassus "thick, fat, low" (see base (adj.)). Form in English altered 16c. by influence of base (adj.), thus the word is an exception from the rule that Old French verbs with stem -iss- enter English as -ish. Related: Abased; abasing.
abasement (n.): early 15c., "embarrassment, dread, fear," from abase + -ment. Sense of "action of lowering in price" is mid-15c.; "action of lowering in rank" is 1560s; "condition of being abased" is from 1610s.
abash (v.): "perplex, embarrass," early 15c., earlier "lose one's composure, be upset" (late 14c.), from Old French esbaiss-, present stem of esbaer "gape with astonishment," from es "out" (see ex-) + ba(y)er "to be open, gape," from Latin *batare "to yawn, gape," from root *bat, possibly imitative of yawning. Related: Abashed; abashing. Bashful is a 16c. derivative.
abate (v.): c. 1300, "put an end to;" early 14c., "to grow less, diminish in power or influence," from Old French abattre "beat down, cast down," from Vulgar Latin *abbatere, from Latin ad "to" (see ad-) + battuere "to beat" (see batter (v.)). Secondary sense of "to fell, slaughter" is in abatis and abattoir. Related: Abated; abating.
abatement (n.): mid-14c., from Old French abatement, from abattre (see abate).
abatis (n.): "defense made of felled trees," 1766, from French abatis, literally "things thrown down," from Old French abateis, from abattre "to beat down, throw down" (see abate).
abattoir (n.): "slaughterhouse for cows," 1820, from French abattre "to beat down" (see abate) + suffix -oir, corresponding to Latin -orium (see -ory).
adiabatic (adj.): 1838, from Greek adiabatos "not to be passed through," from a- "not" + dia "through" (see dia-) + batos "passable," from bainein "to go" (see come).
Alabama: created and named as a U.S. territory 1817 by a division of Mississippi Territory; ultimately named for one of the native peoples who lived there, who speak Muskogean. Their name probably is from a Choctaw term meaning "plant-cutters." Related: Alabamian.
alabaster (n.): translucent whitish kind of gypsum used for vases, ornaments, and busts, late 14c., from Old French alabastre (12c., Modern French albâtre), from Latin alabaster "colored rock used to make boxes and vessels for unguents," from Greek alabastros (earlier albatos) "vase for perfumes," perhaps from Egyptian 'a-labaste "vessel of the goddess Bast." Used figuratively for whiteness and smoothness from 1570s. "The spelling in 16-17th c. is almost always alablaster ..." [OED].
alabastrine (adj.): 1590s, from Medieval Latin alabastrinus, from alabaster (see alabaster).
anabaptism (n.): 1640s (as a Christian doctrine, with capital A-, from 1570s), from Medieval Latin anabaptismus, from Late Greek anabaptismos, from ana- "up (in place or time), back again, anew" (see ana-) + baptismos "baptism" (see baptism).
Anabaptist (n.): 1530s, "one who baptizes over again," from Modern Latin anabaptista, from Latin anabaptismus "second baptism" (used in literal sense from 4c.; see anabaptism).

Originally in English in reference to sect that practiced adult baptism and arose in Germany 1521. Probably so called because, as a new faith, they baptized converts who already had been baptized (as infants) in the older Christian churches. Modern branches only baptize once (adults) and do not actively seek converts. The name also was applied, usually opprobriously, to Baptists, perhaps due to the multiple immersions of their baptisms.
anabasis (n.): 1706, from Greek, "military expedition," literally "a going up (from the coast)," especially in reference to the advance of Cyrus the Younger from near the Aegean coast into Asia, and the subsequent story of the retreat of the 10,000 narrated by Xenophon (401 B.C.E.), from anabainein "to go up, mount;" from ana "up" (see ana-) + bainein "to go" (see come).
Athabascan: 1846, Athapaskan, from the name of the North American Indian people, from Lake Athabaska in northern Alberta, Canada, from Woods Cree (Algonquian) Athapaskaw, said by Webster to mean literally "grass or reeds here and there," referring to the delta region west of the lake. Also in reference to their language group.
baba (n.): kind of plum cake, 1827, from French baba (19c.), said by French etymology dictionaries to be from Polish baba.
Barnabas: surname of Joseph the Levite of Cyprus (Acts iv:36), literally "son of exhortation," from Aramaic bar "son" + nabha "prophecy, exhortation." St. Barnabas' Day (colloquially St. Barnaby), June 11, in the Old Style calendar was reckoned the longest day of the year.
bouillabaisse (n.): fish stew, 1845, from French bouillabaisse (19c.), from Provençal bouiabaisso, boulh-abaisso, a compound of two verbs corresponding to English boil-abase (the latter in the original sense of "to lower").
Brabant: region in eastern Belgium (in Middle Ages much more extensive), from Old High German brahha "newly broken land" (see break (v.)) + bant "region."
cabal (n.): 1520s, "mystical interpretation of the Old Testament," later "society, small group meeting privately" (1660s), from French cabal, in both senses, from Medieval Latin cabbala (see cabbala). Popularized in English 1673 as an acronym for five intriguing ministers of Charles II (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale), which gave the word its sinister connotations.
cabala (n.): 1670s, variant of cabbala. Related: Cabalist.
cabalistic (adj.): 1670s; see cabal + -istic.
caballero (n.): 1877, "a Spanish gentleman," from Spanish caballero, from Latin caballarius, from caballus "a pack-horse, nag, hack" (see cavalier (n.)). Equivalent of French chevalier, Italian cavaliere.
cabana (n.): 1898, western U.S., from American Spanish cognate of cabin (q.v.).
cabaret (n.): 1650s, "tavern, bar, little inn," from French cabaret, originally "tavern" (13c.), which is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Middle Dutch cambret, from Old French (Picard dialect) camberete, diminutive of cambre "chamber" (see chamber (n.)). The word was "somewhat naturalized" in this sense [OED]. It was borrowed again from French with a meaning "a restaurant/night club" in 1912; extension of meaning to "entertainment, floor show" is by 1922.
calabash (n.): 1590s, "dried, hollowed gourd used as a drinking cup," from Spanish calabaza, possibly from Arabic qar'a yabisa "dry gourd," from Persian kharabuz, used of various large melons; or from a pre-Roman Iberian *calapaccia.
casaba (n.): 1889, from Kasaba, old name of Turgutlu, in Aegean Turkey, whence the melons were imported to U.S. The old name is literally "the town."
charabanc (n.): British for "sightseeing bus," 1811, originally in a Continental context (especially Swiss), from French char-à-bancs, literally "benched carriage," from char "wagon," from Latin carrus (see car) + à "to" (see ad-) + banc "bench" (see bench (n.)).
ciabatta (n.): type of Italian bread, c. 1990, from Italian ciabatta, literally "carpet slipper," so called for its shape; from the same source that produced French sabot, Spanish zapata (see sabotage (n.)).
cinnabar (n.): mid-15c., "red or crystalline form of mercuric sulphide," also applied to other ores of mercury, originally with reference to its use as a pigment; from Old French cinabre (13c.), from Late Latin cinnabaris, from Greek kinnabari, of oriental origin (compare Persian zanjifrah in the same sense). Also used 14c.-17c. of red resinous juice of a certain Eastern tree, which was believed to be a mixture of dragon's and elephant's blood.
contraband (n.): 1520s, "smuggling;" 1590s, "smuggled goods;" from Middle French contrebande "a smuggling," from older Italian contrabando (modern contrabbando) "unlawful dealing," from Latin contra "against" (see contra) + Medieval Latin bannum, from Frankish *ban "a command" or some other Germanic source (see ban (v.)).
fleabane (n.): also flea-bane, 1540s, from flea (n.) + bane (n.). Old English had fleawyrt, used of various plants supposed to destroy fleas.
gabardine (n.): 1590s, "dress, covering," variant of gaberdine. Meaning "closely woven cloth" is from 1904.

abacus [abacus 词源字典]: abacus: [17] Abacus comes originally from a Hebrew word for ‘dust’, ’ābāq. This was borrowed into Greek with the sense of ‘drawing board covered with dust or sand’, on which one could draw for, among other purposes, making mathematical calculations. The Greek word, ábax, subsequently developed various other meanings, including ‘table’, both in the literal sense and as a mathematical table.

But it was as a ‘dust-covered board’ that its Latin descendant, abacus, was first used in English, in the 14th century. It was not until the 17th century that the more general sense of a counting board or frame came into use, and the more specific ‘counting frame with movable balls’ is later still.
[abacus etymology, abacus origin, 英语词源]
aback (adv.): c. 1200, from Old English on bæc "at or on the back;" see back (n.). Now surviving mainly in taken aback, originally a nautical expression in reference to a vessel's square sails when a sudden change of wind flattens them back against the masts and stops the forward motion of the ship (1754). The figurative sense is first recorded 1840.
abacus (n.): late 14c., "sand table for drawing, calculating, etc.," from Latin abacus, from Greek abax (genitive abakos) "counting table," from Hebrew abaq "dust," from root a-b-q "to fly off." Originally a drawing board covered with dust or sand that could be written on to do mathematical equations. Specific reference to a counting frame is 17c. or later.
tabacco (n.): obsolete form of tobacco.
abaculus: "A square or tile for use in a mosaic pavement; a tessera", Mid 19th cent. From post-classical Latin abaculus small cube or tile of coloured glass for making ornamental pavements (former reading in e.g. 16th-cent. editions of Pliny (36. 199, as abaculos, accusative plural), where modern editions have ab oculis; also recorded in an undated glossary) from classical Latin abacus + -ulus.
asarabacca: "A low-growing European evergreen plant of the birthwort family, formerly used in medicine and as an ingredient in snuff", Early 16th century: from Latin asarum (from Greek asaron), probably compounded with a shortened form of another name for the plant in Greek.

aback (adv.)[aback 词源字典]: c. 1200, from Old English on bæc "at or on the back;" see back (n.). Now surviving mainly in taken aback, originally a nautical expression in reference to a vessel's square sails when a sudden change of wind flattens them back against the masts and stops the forward motion of the ship (1754). The figurative sense is first recorded 1840.[aback etymology, aback origin, 英语词源]

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