- ea (n.)
[ea 词源字典] - the usual Old English word for "river, running water" (still in use in Lancashire, according to OED); see aqua-. "The standard word in place-names for river denoting a watercourse of greater size than a broc or a burna" [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names].[ea etymology, ea origin, 英语词源]
- each[each 词源字典]
- each: [OE] Each comes from Old English ǣlc. This, brief as it is, was in fact originally a compound adjective; it was descended from West Germanic *aiwō galīkaz, literally ‘ever alike’ (*aiwō is the source of English aye ‘ever’ [12], *galīkaz the source of English alike). ǣlc also formed the second element of an Old English expression, literally ‘ever each’, which has become modern English every.
=> alike, aye[each etymology, each origin, 英语词源] - each
- Old English ælc (n., pron., adj.) "any, all, every, each (one)," short for a-gelic "ever alike," from a "ever" (see aye (2)) + gelic "alike" (see like (adj.)). From a common West Germanic expression *aiwo galika (cognates: Dutch elk, Old Frisian ellik, Old High German iogilih, German jeglich "each, every"). Originally used as we now use every (which is a compound of each) or all; modern use is by influence of Latin quisque. Modern spelling appeared late 1500s. Also see ilk, such, which.
- eager[eager 词源字典]
- eager: [13] As its close etymological connection with vinegar and acid might suggest, the underlying sense of eager is ‘sharp’. It comes ultimately from the Indo-European base *ak- ‘sharp, pointed’, amongst whose other English descendants are acne, edge, and oxygen. It was the source of Latin ācer ‘keen, sharp’, which was used in relation both to sight, hearing, etc, and to temperamental qualities – hence ‘ardent, zealous’.
The Latin adjective (from which English also gets acid and acrid) became *acrum in post-classical times, and from this came Old French aigre (source of the -egar of vinegar), which passed into English via Anglo- Norman egre. English retained the literal senses ‘pungent, sour’ and ‘sharp-edged’ until the early 19th century.
=> acid, acne, acrid, acute, edge, oxygen[eager etymology, eager origin, 英语词源] - eager (adj.)
- late 13c., "strenuous, ardent, fierce, angry," from Old French aigre "sour, acid; harsh, bitter, rough; eager greedy; lively, active, forceful," from Latin acrem (nominative acer) "keen, sharp, pointed, piercing; acute, ardent, zealous" (see acrid).
Meaning "full of keen desire" (early 14c.) seems to be peculiar to English. The English word kept a secondary meaning of "pungent, sharp-edged" till 19c. (as in Shakespeare's "The bitter clamour of two eager tongues," in "Richard II"). Related: Eagerly; eagerness. Eager beaver "glutton for work" [OED] is from 1943, U.S. armed forces slang.
- eagle[eagle 词源字典]
- eagle: [14] Eagle comes via Old French aigle from Latin aquila (source also of English aquiline [17]). This was presumably a derivative of the adjective aquilus ‘dark-coloured’, suggesting that the eagle’s name originally signified simply ‘dark-coloured bird’ (Greek had the term melanáetos ‘black eagle’). Before the French word was introduced, the English term for ‘eagle’ was erne, which still survives dialectally.
=> aquiline[eagle etymology, eagle origin, 英语词源] - eagle (n.)
- mid-14c., from Old French egle, from Old Provençal aigla, from Latin aquila "black eagle," fem. of aquilus, often explained as "dark colored" (bird); see aquiline. The native term was erne. Golf score sense is by 1908 (according to old golf sources, because it "soars higher" than a birdie). As the name of a U.S. $10 coin minted from 1792 to 1933, established in the 1786 resolution for a new monetary system (but at first only the desperately needed small copper coins were minted). The figurative eagle-eyed is attested from c. 1600.
- eaglet (n.)[eaglet 词源字典]
- 1570s, from French aiglette, diminutive of aigle (see eagle).[eaglet etymology, eaglet origin, 英语词源]
- ear[ear 词源字典]
- ear: Ear for hearing and ear of corn seem in some way to belong together, but in fact they are two quite distinct words etymologically. Ear for hearing [OE] is an ancient term that goes right back to the Indo-European roots of the language. Its ancestor is the base *aus-, whose underlying signification was perhaps ‘perception’ (a variant, *au-, produced Greek aisthánomai ‘perceive’).
This lies behind the term for ‘ear’ in the majority of European languages: French oreille, for example, Italian orecchio, Spanish oreja, Romanian ureche, Irish ó, Russian and Polish ucho, and modern Greek autí. Its Germanic descendant, *auzon, produced German ohr, Dutch oor, Gothic ausō, Swedish öra, and English ear.
The etymological sense of ear of corn [OE] is ‘spike’ of corn. The word comes from a prehistoric Germanic *akhuz, which goes back ultimately to the Indo-European base *ak- ‘be pointed or sharp’ (ultimate source of English acid, acne, acute, eager, edge, and oxygen).
=> acid, acne, acute, eager, edge, oxygen[ear etymology, ear origin, 英语词源] - ear (n.1)
- "organ of hearing," Old English eare "ear," from Proto-Germanic *auzon (cognates: Old Norse eyra, Danish øre, Old Frisian are, Old Saxon ore, Middle Dutch ore, Dutch oor, Old High German ora, German Ohr, Gothic auso), from PIE *ous- "ear" (cognates: Greek aus, Latin auris, Lithuanian ausis, Old Church Slavonic ucho, Old Irish au "ear," Avestan usi "the two ears").
þe harde harte of man, þat lat in godis word atte ton ere & vt atte toþir. [sermon, c. 1250]
In music, "capability to learn and reproduce by hearing," 1520s, hence play by ear (1670s). The belief that itching or burning ears means someone is talking about you is mentioned in Pliny's "Natural History" (77 C.E.). Until at least the 1880s, even some medical men still believed piercing the ear lobes improved one's eyesight. Meaning "handle of a pitcher" is mid-15c. (but compare Old English earde "having a handle"). To be wet behind the ears "naive" is from 1902, American English. Phrase walls have ears attested from 1610s. French orielle, Spanish oreja are from Latin auricula (Medieval Latin oricula), diminutive of auris. - ear (n.2)
- "grain part of corn," from Old English ear (West Saxon), æher (Northumbrian) "spike, ear of grain," from Proto-Germanic *akhuz (cognates: Dutch aar, Old High German ehir, German Ähre, Old Norse ax, Gothic ahs "ear of corn"), from PIE root *ak- "sharp, pointed" (source of Latin acus "chaff, husk of corn," Greek akoste "barley;" see acrid).
- earache (n.)[earache 词源字典]
- also ear-ache, 1789, from ear (n.1) + ache (n.).[earache etymology, earache origin, 英语词源]
- eardrum (n.)[eardrum 词源字典]
- also ear-drum, 1640s, from ear (n.1) + drum (n.).[eardrum etymology, eardrum origin, 英语词源]
- earful (n.)[earful 词源字典]
- "a piece of one's mind," 1915, from ear (n.1) + -ful. Ear-bash (v.) is Australian slang (1944) for "talk inordinately" (to someone).[earful etymology, earful origin, 英语词源]
- earl (n.)[earl 词源字典]
- Old English eorl "brave man, warrior, leader, chief" (contrasted with ceorl "churl"), from Proto-Germanic *erlaz, which is of uncertain origin. In Anglo-Saxon poetry, "a warrior, a brave man;" in later Old English, "nobleman," especially a Danish under-king (equivalent of cognate Old Norse jarl), then one of the viceroys under the Danish dynasty in England. After 1066 adopted as the equivalent of Latin comes (see count (n.)).[earl etymology, earl origin, 英语词源]