英语词源

• spoonerism 英文词源 spoonerism spoonerism: [19] The term spoonerism commemorates the name of the Reverend William Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who reputedly was in the habit of producing utterances with the initial letters of words reversed, often to comic effect (as in ‘hush my brat’ for ‘brush my hat’ or ‘scoop of boy trouts’ for ‘troop of boy scouts’) spooneris
• spick-and-span 英文词源 spick-and-span (adj.) also spic-and-span , 1660s, from spick-and-span-new (1570s), literally "new as a recently made spike and chip of wood," from spick "nail" (see spike (n.1)) + span-new "very new" (c. 1300), from Old Norse span-nyr , from spann "chip" (see spoon (n.)) + nyr "new." Imitation of Dutch spiksplinter nieuw "spike-splinter new." 中文词源 spick-and-span ：崭新的，极
• soybean 英文词源 soybean (n.) 1795, from soy + bean (n.). 中文词源 soybean ：大豆 中国古时把酱油称作“豉油”，读如shiyou，日语借用了这个词，作shoyu，以后变为shoy，17世纪末英语又借用了该词，作soy或soya，用以指“黄豆”或“大豆”，也指“酱油”。为避免混淆，“酱油”一般多说soy(a) sauce，而“大豆”则常说soybea
• solecism 英文词源 solecism solecism: [16] Solecism ‘act of (grammatical) impropriety’ comes via Latin soloecismus from Greek soloikismós , a derivative of sóloikos ‘ungrammatical utterance’. This is said to have referred originally to the speech of Athenian colonists in Soloi, in ancient Cilicia, southern Turkey, held by snooty sophisticates back home in Athens to be a debased form of their o
• Santa Claus 英文词源 Santa Claus (n.) 1773 (as St. A Claus , in "New York Gazette"), American English, from dialectal Dutch Sante Klaas , from Middle Dutch Sinter Niklaas "Saint Nicholas," bishop of Asia Minor who became a patron saint for children. Now a worldwide phenomenon (Japanese santakurosu ). Father Christmas is attested from 1650s. 中文词源 Santa Claus ：圣诞老人 相传公元4世纪小亚细
• satellite 英文词源 satellite satellite: [16] Satellite comes via French satellite from Latin satelles ‘attendant, escort’, which itself probably went back to Etruscan satnal . Its use for a ‘body orbiting a planet’ is first recorded in English in 1665, and comes from the astronomer Johannes Kepler’s application of Latin satelles to the moons of Jupiter. satellite (n.) 1540s, "follower or atten
• satire 英文词源 satire satire: [16] A satire is etymologically a ‘verse medley’, an ‘assortment of pieces on various subjects’. The word comes via Old French satire from Latin satira ‘mixture’, an alteration of an earlier satura . This is said to have been derived from satus ‘full’ (a relative of satis ‘enough’, source of English satisfy ), and the link in the semantic chain from ‘
• sceptic 英文词源 sceptic sceptic: [16] The Greek verb sképtesthai meant ‘examine, consider’ (it was descended from a base * skep - which was related to * skop -, source of English scope , and may have been a reversed version of * spek -, from which English gets spectator , speculate , etc). From it was derived the adjective skeptikós , which was applied to various schools of philosophy (particul
• scholar 英文词源 scholar (n.) Old English scolere "student," from Medieval Latin scholaris , noun use of Late Latin scholaris "of a school," from Latin schola (see school (n.1)). Greek scholastes meant "one who lives at ease." The Medieval Latin word was widely borrowed (Old French escoler , French écolier , Old High German scuolari , German Schüler ). The modern English word might be a Middle Engli
• schedule 英文词源 schedule schedule: [14] Late Latin scedula meant ‘small piece of paper’. It was a diminutive form of Latin sceda ‘papyrus leaf, piece of paper, page’, itself a borrowing from Greek skhedē . By the time it reached English via Old French cedule it had moved on semantically to ‘small piece of paper with writing on it, used as a ticket or label’; and this subsequently develop
• scofflaw 英文词源 scofflaw scofflaw: [20] Aside from proprietary names and some scientific terms, it is rare for words that are pure human inventions (rather than naturally evolved forms) to make a permanent place for themselves in the English language, but scofflaw is a case in point. In the US in the early 1920s, in the middle of the Prohibition years, one Delcevare King of Quincy, Massachusetts offe
• scientist 英文词源 scientist (n.) 1834, a hybrid coined from Latin scientia (see science ) by the Rev. William Whewell (1794-1866), English polymath, by analogy with artist , in the same paragraph in which he coined physicist (q.v.). 中文词源 scientist ：科学家 science（科学）一词源自拉丁词scientia（知识），早在1340年在英语中就已见诸使用，可是其派生词scientist（
• scot-free 英文词源 scot-free scot-free: see shot scot-free (adj.) Old English scotfreo "exempt from royal tax," from scot "royal tax," from Old Norse skot "contribution," literally "a shooting, shot; thing shot, missile," from PIE *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw" (see shoot (v.); the Old Norse verb form, skjota , has a secondary sense of "transfer to another; pay") + freo (see free (adj.)). First elemen
• seesaw 英文词源 see-saw (n.) also seesaw , 1630s, in see-saw-sacke a downe (like a Sawyer) , words in a rhythmic jingle used by children and repetitive motion workers, probably imitative of the rhythmic back-and-forth motion of sawyers working a two-man saw over wood or stone (see saw (n.1). Ha ha.). Reference to a game of going up and down on a balanced plank is recorded from 1704; figurative sense
• semester 英文词源 semester (n.) 1827, from German Semester "half-year course in a university," from Latin semestris , in cursus semestris "course of six months," from semestris , semenstris "of six months, lasting six months, half-yearly, semi-annual," from sex "six" (see six ) + mensis "month" (see moon (n.)). Related: Semestral ; semestrial . 中文词源 semester ：学期 semester直接借自德语
• shilly-shally 英文词源 shilly-shally (v.) "to vacillate," 1782, from adverbial expression to stand shilly-shally (1703), earlier shill I, shall I (1700), a fanciful reduplication of shall I? (compare wishy-washy , dilly-dally , etc.). From 1734 as an adjective, by 1755 as a noun. Related: Shilly-shallying (1816). 中文词源 shilly-shally ：犹豫不决，摇摆不定 shiily-shally是个用重叠法构成的
• shirt 英文词源 shirt shirt: [OE] A shirt , like a skirt , is etymologically a ‘short’ garment, one that stops at or just below the waist rather than reaching down to the knees or beyond. In common with Swedish skjorta and Danish skjorte , it comes from the prehistoric base * skurt -, source of English short . Shirty ‘angry’ [19] was inspired by the now defunct expression get one’s shirt ou
• shrewd 英文词源 shrewd shrewd: [14] Shrewd originally meant ‘wicked, dangerous’. Its modern sense ‘astute’ did not develop (via a less approbatory ‘cunning’) until the 16th century. It was derived from shrew ‘wicked man’ (a sense now obsolete). This is generally assumed to be the same noun as shrew the animal-name [OE], a word of uncertain origin. Shrews were formerly thought to have
• sincere 英文词源 sincere (adj.) 1530s, "pure, unmixed," from Middle French sincere (16c.), from Latin sincerus , of things, "whole, clean, pure, uninjured, unmixed," figuratively "sound, genuine, pure, true, candid, truthful," of uncertain origin. Ground sense seems to be "that which is not falsified." Meaning "free from pretense or falsehood" in English is from 1530s. There has been a temptation to s
• sinecure 英文词源 sinecure sinecure: [17] Sinecure means literally ‘without cure’. It comes from the Latin phrase beneficium sine cūrā ‘benefice without cure’, that is to say an ecclesiastical office that does not involve the cure of souls (looking after people’s spiritual welfare), the usual duty of a priest. Hence it came to be applied to any appointment that involves payment for no work.
• slipshod 英文词源 slipshod (adj.) 1570s, "wearing slippers or loose shoes," from slip (v.) + shod "wearing shoes." Sense of "slovenly, careless" is from 1815, probably from the notion of appearing like one in slippers, or whose shoes are down at the heels. 中文词源 slipshod ：邋遢的，马虎的 16世纪有一种名叫slipshoes的塌跟便鞋，通常只在屋内穿，有的人将它穿上街，人
• skinflint 英文词源 skinflint (n.) "miser, one who makes use of contemptible economy to keep money," 1700, slang; literally "kind of person who would skin a flint to save or gain something," from skin (v.) + flint . Flay-flint in same sense is from 1670s. 中文词源 skinflint ：吝啬鬼，一毛不拔的人 做买卖总要讨价还价。旧时人们常常用to skin a flint这一说法来比喻to driv
• sabbatical 英文词源 sabbatical (adj.) 1640s, "of or suitable for the Sabbath," from Latin sabbaticus , from Greek sabbatikos "of the Sabbath" (see Sabbath ). Noun meaning "a year's absence granted to researchers" (originally one year in seven, to university professors) is from 1934, short for sabbatical year , etc., first recorded 1886 (the thing itself is attested from 1880, at Harvard), related to sabb
• S 英文词源 Word of Today congratulate congratulate: see grateful 中文词源 S ：代表方向“南” 作为表示方向的单词 South 的首字母缩略，代表方向“南”，与之相对应的还有 West => W （西）、 East => S （东）、 North => N （北）。 该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版： S 词源， S 含义。
• sym 英文词源 symbol symbol: [15] Etymologically, a symbol is something ‘thrown together’. The word’s ultimate source is Greek sumbállein , a compound verb formed from the prefix sun - ‘together’ and bállein ‘throw’ (source of English ballistic , problem , etc). The notion of ‘throwing or putting things together’ led on to the notion of ‘contrast’, and so sumbállein came to
• step- 英文词源 step- Old English steop- , with connotations of "loss," in combinations like steopcild "orphan," related to astiepan, bestiepan "to bereave, to deprive of parents or children," from Proto-Germanic *steupa- "bereft" (cognates: Old Frisian stiap- , Old Norse stjup- , Swedish styv- , Middle Low German stef- , Dutch stief- , Old High German stiof- , German stief- ), literally "pushed out,
• Sino- 英文词源 Sino- before vowels Sin- , word-forming element meaning "Chinese," 1879, from Late Latin Sinæ (plural) "the Chinese," from Ptolemaic Greek Sinai , from Arabic Sin "China," probably from Chinese Ch'in , name of the fourth dynasty of China (see China ). 中文词源 Sino- ：中国 来自拉丁语Sinae,中国，中国的，词源同China，China的拉丁发音。见Sinology(汉学), Si
• semi 英文词源 semi "A semi-detached house", Early 20th century: abbreviation. 中文词源 semi ：半 来自PIE *semi, 半。可能来自PIE *sek, 砍，劈，词源同sex. 见semiautomatic, semifinal. 该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版： semi 词源， semi 含义。
• se- 英文词源 se- word-forming element, from Latin se- , collateral form of sed- "without, apart, aside, on one's own," related to sed , Latin reflexive pronoun (accusative and ablative), from PIE *sed- , extended form of root *s(w)e- , pronoun of the third person and reflexive (source also of German sich ; see idiom ). 中文词源 se- ：分开 来自PIE*swe,自己，词源同self.引申词义独自
• super- 英文词源 super- word-forming element meaning "above, over, beyond," from Latin super- , from adverb and preposition super "above, over, on the top (of), beyond, besides, in addition to," from *(s)uper- , variant form of PIE *uper "over" (cognates: Sanskrit upari , Avestan upairi "over, above, beyond," Greek hyper , Old English ofer "over," Gothic ufaro "over, across," Gaulish ver- , Old Irish
• sub- 英文词源 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
• scour 英文词源 scour scour: [13] The notion of ‘cleaning’ implicit in scour evolved from an earlier ‘take care of’. For the word goes back ultimately to Latin cūrāre (source of English cure ), which originally meant ‘take care of’, and only in medieval times came to mean ‘clean’. Combination with the prefix ex - ‘out’ produced excūrāre ‘clean out’, which reached English v
• sibyl 英文词源 sibyl (n.) "woman supposed to possess powers of prophecy, female soothsayer," c. 1200, from Old French sibile , from Latin Sibylla , from Greek Sibylla , name for any of several prophetesses consulted by ancient Greeks and Romans, of uncertain origin. Said to be from Doric Siobolla , from Attic Theoboule "divine wish." 中文词源 sibyl （女预言家）：希腊神话中著名女预言
• sapphist 英文词源 No matching word found in the dictionary. Word of Random thing thing: [OE] The ancestral meaning of thing is ‘time’: it goes back to a prehistoric Germanic * thingam , which was related to Gothic theihs ‘time’, and may come ultimately from the Indo- European base * ten - ‘stretch’ (source of English tend , tense , etc). In Germanic it evolved semantically via ‘appointed
• sideburns 英文词源 sideburns (n.) 1880, American English, alteration of burnsides (q.v). 中文词源 sideburns （连鬓胡）：南北战争时的大胡子将军伯恩赛德 sideburns是近代历史中流行于西方的一种胡须样式，它的特点是头发的鬓角、脸颊两侧的络腮胡直到嘴唇上方的胡须都连在一起。这种胡须样式得名于美国南北战争时期北方军队将
• satyr 英文词源 satyr (n.) woodland deity, companion of Bacchus, late 14c., from Latin satyrus , from Greek satyros , of unknown origin. In pre-Roman Greek art, a man-like being with the tail and ears of a horse; the modern conception of a being part man, part goat is from Roman sculptors, who seem to have assimilated them to the fauns of native mythology. In some English bibles used curiously to tra
• senate 英文词源 senate senate: [13] The Roman senate was etymologically an assembly of ‘elders’. Latin senātus was a derivative of senex ‘old’, which has also given English senile , senior , sir , etc. English acquired the word via Old French senat . Senator [13] comes from the Latin derivative senātor . = senile , senior , sir senate (n.) c. 1200, "legal and administrative body of ancient
• shylock 英文词源 Shylock (n.) "usurer, merciless creditor," 1786, from Jewish money-lender character in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" (c. 1596). 中文词源 shylock （为富不仁者）：莎士比亚戏剧中冷酷无情的高利贷者 夏洛克（Shylock）是莎士比亚戏剧《威尼斯商人》中的人物角色，是一个冷酷无情的犹太商人，以放高利贷为生。威尼斯商
• svengali 英文词源 Svengali "one who exerts controlling or mesmeric influence on another," 1914, from hypnotist character of that name in the novel "Trilby" (1894) by George Du Maurier. 中文词源 svengali （斯文加利）：小说中能催眠、操控他人的音乐家 斯文加利（Svengali）是英国小说家乔治·杜·莫里耶（George du Maurier）于1894年出版的经典小说《特丽尔比
• scrooge 英文词源 Scrooge (n.) generic for "miser," 1940, from curmudgeonly character in Dickens' 1843 story "A Christmas Carol." It does not appear to be a genuine English surname, but it is an 18c. variant of scrounge . 中文词源 scrooge （吝啬鬼）：狄更斯的名著《圣诞颂歌》中的吝啬鬼 斯克鲁奇（Scrooge）是著名作家狄更斯的《圣诞颂歌》中的主人公，他原
• syphilis 英文词源 syphilis syphilis: [18] Syphilus was the name of a shepherd who according to Syphilis sive morbus Gallicus (Syphilis or the French disease) 1530, a poem by the Veronese doctor Girolamo Fracastoro, was the first sufferer from syphilis. The word Syphilis in Fracastoro’s title meant simply ‘narrative about Syphilus’; he did not use it as a generic term for the disease until 1546, i
• Samaritan 英文词源 Samaritan (n.) Old English, "inhabitant of Samaria," a district of Palestine, from Late Latin Samaritanus , from Greek Samareia (see Samaria ). A non-Hebrew race was settled in its cities by the king of Assyria after the removal of the Israelites from the country. They later adopted some Jewish ways, but largely remained apart. Figurative use with reference to the good Samaritan is fi
• Solomon 英文词源 Solomon masc. proper name, Biblical name of David's son, king of Judah and Israel and wisest of all men, from Greek Solomon , from Hebrew Sh'lomoh , from shelomo "peaceful," from shalom "peace." The Arabic form is Suleiman . The common medieval form was Salomon (Vulgate, Tyndale, Douai); Solomon was used in Geneva Bible and KJV. Used allusively for "a wise ruler" since 1550s. Related:
• serendipity 英文词源 serendipity serendipity: [18] Serendipity – the ‘faculty of making lucky discoveries’ – was coined in 1754 by the British writer Horace Walpole (1717–97). He took it from The Three Princes of Serendip , the title of a fairy tale whose leading characters, in Walpole’s words, ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’
• sir 英文词源 sir sir: [13] In common with many other European terms of address for men (such as monsieur and señor ), sir goes back ultimately to Latin senior ‘older’ (source also of English senior ). This was reduced in Vulgar Latin to * seior , which found its way into Old French as * sieire , later sire . English borrowed this as sire [13], which in weakly-stressed positions (prefixed to n
• silhouette 英文词源 silhouette silhouette: [18] The term silhouette commemorates the name of the French author and politician Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67). As finance minister in the late 1750s he gained a reputation for cheeseparing, and silhouette came to be used for anything skimped. One account of the application of the word to a ‘simple cut-out picture’ is that it carries on this notion of
• sycophant 英文词源 sycophant sycophant: [16] Sycophants are etymologically ‘fig-showers’. The word comes via Latin sychophanta from Greek súkophántēs , a compound formed from súkon ‘fig’ and - phántēs ‘shower’, a derivative of phaínein ‘show’ (source of English fancy , phantom , etc). Súkon (which probably came from a Semitic source that also produced Latin ficus ‘fig’, sourc
• slave 英文词源 slave slave: [13] The word slave commemorates the fate of the Slavic people in the past, reduced by conquest to a state of slavery. For ultimately slave and Slav are one and the same. The earliest record we have of the ethnic name is as Slavic Sloveninu , a word of unknown origin borrowed by Byzantine Greek as Sklábos and passed on to medieval Latin as Sclavus . It was this that was
• salver 英文词源 salver salver: [17] The word salver recalls the ancient practice of paranoid monarchs employing a special servant to taste their food before it was committed to the royal mouth, in case it was poisoned. The Spanish term for this was salva , a derivative of the verb salvar ‘save’, hence ‘make safe, try something out to make sure it is safe’, which in turn was descended from Lat
• supper 英文词源 supper supper: [13] Supper started life as a verb. It was borrowed from Old French super , which was a noun use of the verb super ‘eat one’s evening meal’ (source of English sup ‘have supper’ [13]). This in turn was formed from the Germanic base * sup -, which also produced English sip , sop , and sup [OE] and Latin * suppāre ‘soak’ (source of English soup ). = sip , so
• soy 英文词源 soy soy: [17] Chinese shi-yu is the ultimate source of soy ( shi means ‘salted beans’ and yu means ‘oil’). Japanese adopted the term as shō-yu , whose colloquial form soy was borrowed by English at the end of the 17th century. Dutch acquired shō-yu as soja , from which English gets soya [17]. soy (n.) 1670s, saio "soybean-based Asian fish sauce," from Dutch soya , from Japan
• starboard 英文词源 starboard starboard: [OE] Starboard is etymologically ‘steer-board’. The word originated as an Old English compound formed from stēor ‘paddle, rudder’ (a relative of the verb steer ) and bord ‘board’. The early Germanic peoples propelled and steered their boats by means of a paddle on the right-hand side of the vessel – hence the use of starboard as the nautical equival
• scribe 英文词源 scribe scribe: [14] Scribe is at the centre of a large network of English words that go back to Latin scrībere ‘write’. Others include ascribe [15], describe , scribble [15], and shrive , while its past participle scriptus has contributed script [14], scripture [13], and transcript [13]. Scribe itself comes from the Latin derivative scrība ‘official writer’. Scrībere went b
• salute 英文词源 salute salute: [14] Salute goes back ultimately to the Latin noun salūs , a relative of salvus ‘safe, healthy’ (source of English safe and save ). This had two main strands of meaning. The primary one was ‘health, well-being’, and in that sense it lies behind English salubrious [16] and salutary [15]. But by extension it also denoted a ‘wish for someone’s well-being’, h
• steward 英文词源 steward steward: [OE] A steward is etymologically someone ‘in charge of a sty’. Its Old English ancestor stigweard was a compound formed from stig ‘hall, house’ (a relative, if not the direct ancestor, of English sty ‘dwelling for pigs’) and weard ‘guardian, keeper’ – hence ‘keeper of the hall’. = guard , sty , ward steward (n.) Old English stiward, stigweard "ho
• savage 英文词源 savage savage: [13] A savage is etymologically someone who comes from the ‘woods’ – woodlands being anciently viewed as places of untamed nature, beyond the pale of civilized human society. The word comes via Old French sauvage from Vulgar Latin * salvāticus , an alteration of Latin silvāticus ‘of the woods, wild’. This was a derivative of silva ‘woods, forest’ (source
• stigma 英文词源 stigma stigma: [16] Greek stígma denoted a ‘mark made on the skin with a sharp implement’, hence a ‘tattoo’ or ‘brand’. It was derived from the Indo- European base * stig - ‘be sharp, pierce’, which also produced English stick , stitch , etc. By the time it arrived in English, via Latin stigma , it has acquired the connotation of a ‘brand of shame’, and it was als
• scavenger 英文词源 scavenger scavenger: [15] A scavenger was originally a scavager – the extra n is the same as that intruded into messenger , passenger , etc. This was acquired from Anglo-Norman scawager , and it started life as a term for an official whose job was to collect taxes levied on foreign merchants. Etymologically it denoted ‘inspector’, for it was derived from the verb escauwer ‘ins
• sadism 英文词源 sadism (n.) "love of cruelty," 1888, from French sadisme , from the name of Count Donatien A.F. de Sade (1740-1815). Not a marquis, though usually now called one, he was notorious for cruel sexual practices he described in his novels. 中文词源 sadism （虐待狂）：著名的虐待狂作家萨德侯爵 英语单词sadism（虐待狂）来自法国著名作家、虐待狂萨德侯爵
• sarcasm 英文词源 sarcasm sarcasm: [16] A sarcastic remark is etymologically one which involves the ‘rending of flesh’. Greek sárx meant ‘flesh’ (it has given English sarcoma [17] and sarcophagus ), and it formed the basis of a verb sarkázein ‘tear the flesh’, hence ‘bite one’s lip, gnash one’s teeth’, and by further extension ‘make a cutting remark’. This gave rise to the lat
• sardonic 英文词源 sardonic sardonic: [17] The Greek word for ‘scornful, mocking’ was sardánios , but this came to be changed to sardónios , which literally meant ‘Sardinian’, through association with the Latin term herba Sardonia ‘Sardinian plant’, the name of a sort of plant which when eaten caused facial contortions that resembled a scornful grin. English acquired the word via Latin sar
• satin 英文词源 satin satin: [14] Like many other fabric names, satin betrays the fabric’s place of origin, although only after a little digging. It comes via Old French satin from Arabic zaitūnī , which denoted ‘of Zaitun’ – and Zaitun was the Arabic rendering of Tseutung , the former name of a port (now Tsinkiang ) in southern China from which satin was exported. Sateen [19] is an alterat
• scruple 英文词源 scruple scruple: [16] Latin scrūpus meant ‘sharp stone’, and the notion of something troubling the mind like a painful stone in the shoe led to its metaphorical use for ‘anxiety, doubt, particularly over a moral issue’. Both meanings were carried over into the diminutive form scrūpulus , which also came to be used for a very small unit of weight. This passed into English via
• slogan 英文词源 slogan slogan: [16] Slogan is a Gaelic contribution to English. It comes from sluaghghairm ‘war-cry’, a compound formed from sluagh ‘army’ and ghairm ‘shout’. English at first used it in its original Gaelic sense, and the metaphorical ‘catchphrase’ did not emerge until the 18th century. slogan (n.) 1670s, earlier slogorne (1510s), "battle cry," from Gaelic sluagh-ghair
• snob 英文词源 snob snob: [18] Snob originally meant a ‘shoemaker’. Cambridge University students of the late 18th century took it over as a slang term for a ‘townsman, someone not a member of the university’, and it seems to have been this usage which formed the basis in the 1830s for the emergence of the new general sense ‘member of the lower orders’ (‘The nobs have lost their dirty
• soldier 英文词源 soldier soldier: [13] The etymological idea underlying the word soldier is the ‘pay’ received by mercenary soldiers. It was borrowed from Old French soudier or soldier , a derivative of soulde ‘pay’. This in turn went back to Latin solidus , a term used for an ancient Roman gold coin; it was short for nummus solidus , literally ‘solid coin’. = solid soldier (n.) c. 1300, s
• spinster 英文词源 spinster spinster: see spin spinster (n.) mid-14c., "female spinner of thread," from Middle English spinnen (see spin ) + -stere , feminine suffix (see -ster ). Unmarried women were supposed to occupy themselves with spinning, hence the word came to be "the legal designation in England of all unmarried women from a viscount's daughter downward" [Century Dictionary] in documents from 1
• spruce 英文词源 spruce spruce: Spruce ‘neat’ [16] and spruce the tree [17] are completely different words, of course, but they could have a common origin – in Spruce , the old English name for Prussia. Spruce the tree was originally the spruce fir , literally the ‘Prussian fir’. And it is thought that the adjective spruce may have come from the expression spruce leather ‘Prussian leather’
• succinct 英文词源 succinct (adj.) early 15c., "having one's belt fastened tightly," from Middle French succincte , from Latin succinctus "prepared, ready; contracted, short," past participle of succingere "tuck up (clothes for action), gird from below," from assimilated form of sub "up from under" (see sub- ) + cingere "to gird" (see cinch (n.)). Sense of "brief, concise" first recorded 1530s. Related:
• spartan 英文词源 Spartan (n.) early 15c., "citizen of the ancient Greek city of Sparta " (q.v.), from Latin Spartanus . As an adjective from 1580s; meaning "characterized by frugality or courage" is from 1640s. 中文词源 spartan （清苦的）：清苦尚武的斯巴达人 古代希腊人中的斯巴达人生活清苦，崇尚武艺。整个斯巴达社会等于是个管理严格的大军营。斯巴
• snare 英文词源 snare (n.1) "noose for catching animals," late Old English, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse snara "noose, snare," related to soenri "twisted rope," from Proto-Germanic *snarkho (cognates: Middle Dutch snare , Dutch snaar , Old High German snare , German Schnur "noose, cord," Old English snear "a string, cord"). Figuratively from c. 1300. snare (n.2) "string across a drum,
• sybarite 英文词源 sybarite sybarite: [16] Sybaris was an ancient Greek colony in southern Italy. It was a flourishing trading centre, and its inhabitants put their considerable wealth to the service of unrestrained self-indulgence. Their luxurious and debauched ways became a byword in the ancient world, and Greek Subarítēs ‘inhabitant of Sybaris’ came to be synonymous with ‘pleasure-seeker’,
• soccer 英文词源 soccer soccer: [19] Soccer was coined from Association football , a term introduced around 1870 for football played according to the rules of the Football Association (as opposed to Rugby football ). The suffix - er was commonly used as a more-or-less meaningless addition to nouns in British public-school and university slang of the late 19th and early 20th centuries ( footer ‘footb
• strikeout 英文词源 K Roman letter, from Greek kappa , ultimately from Phoenician and general Semitic kaph , said to be literally "hollow of the hand," so called for its shape. For more on the history of its use, see C . As a symbol for potassium , it represents Latin kalium "potash." Slang meaning "one thousand dollars" is 1970s, from kilo- . K as a measure of capacity (especially in computer memory) me
• suck 英文词源 suck suck: [OE] Suck is part of a widespread Indo- European family of ‘suck’-words which go back to the base * seug -, * seuk -. This no doubt originated in imitation of the sound of sucking from the mother’s breast. Amongst its relatives are Latin sūgere (whose past participle sūctus gave English suction [17]), Welsh sugno , German saugen , Dutch zuigen , Swedish suga , and D
• symposium 英文词源 symposium symposium: [18] A symposium is etymologically a ‘get-together for a drink’. The word comes via Latin symposium from Greek sumpósion , a derivative of sumpótēs ‘drinking companion’. This was a compound noun formed from the prefix sun - ‘together’ and the base * pot - ‘drink’ (source of English poison , potion , etc). The Greeks favoured lubricating intellec
• stump 英文词源 stump (n.) "part of a tree trunk left in the ground after felling," mid-15c. (implied from late 13c. in surnames); from mid-14c. as "remaining part of a severed arm or leg;" from or cognate with Middle Low German stump (from adjective meaning "mutilated, blunt, dull"), Middle Dutch stomp "stump," from Proto-Germanic *stamp- (cognates: Old Norse stumpr , Old High German stumph , German
• sirloin 英文词源 sirloin sirloin: [16] One of the oldest of etymological chestnuts is that sirloin got its name because a particular English king found the joint of beef so excellent that he knighted it. The monarch in question has been variously identified as Henry VIII, James I, and Charles II, but while the first of these is chronologically possible, in fact the story has no truth in it at all. The
• spouse 英文词源 spouse spouse: [12] A spouse is etymologically someone who has made a ‘promise’ to another – in this case, of marriage. The word comes via Old French spous , spouse from Latin spōnsus ‘bridegroom’ and spōnsa ‘bride’, noun uses of the past participle of spondēre ‘promise solemnly, betroth’ (source of English despondent and sponsor ). = sponsor spouse (n.) c. 1200,
• standard 英文词源 standard standard: Standard ‘flag, banner’ [12] denotes etymologically something that is ‘extended’ or unfurled. The word comes from Anglo-Norman estaundart ‘flag displayed on a battlefield so that troops can rally to it’. This was a derivative of Old French estendre ‘extend’ (first cousin of English extend ). The sense ‘criterion, norm’, which emerged in the 15th
• standoffish 英文词源 standoffish (adj.) 1826, from verbal phrase stand off "hold aloof" (c. 1600); see stand (v.) + off (adv.). Related: Standoffishly ; standoffishness . 中文词源 standoffish （冷淡的）：航海时保持船只之间的距离 英语单词standoffish来自航海术语stand off。后者指的是航行时，为了避免碰撞，船只之间总是要互相保持一定距离，所以要
• swap 英文词源 swap swap: [14] Swap originally meant ‘hit’ (‘With a swing of his sword [he] swapped him in the face’, Destruction of Troy 1400). It came from a prehistoric Germanic base denoting ‘hit’ (presumably imitative of the sound of hitting), which also produced German schwappen ‘splash, whack’. The modern English sense ‘exchange’ emerged in the 16th century from the notion
• Saturday 英文词源 Saturday Saturday: [OE] Saturday is etymologically ‘Saturn’s day’. Old English Sæterdæg was short for Sæternes dæg , a translation of Latin Sāturnī diēs ‘Saturn’s day’. Saturn [OE] itself, as the name of both the god and the planet, comes from Latin Sāturnus , which may have been of Etruscan origin. In ancient Rome, the festival held in honour of Saturn, which took
• sunflower 英文词源 sunflower (n.) 1560s, "heliotrope," from sun (n.) + flower (n.). In reference to the Helianthus (introduced to Europe 1510 from America by the Spaniards) it is attested from 1590s, so called from the appearance of the heads. 中文词源 sunflower （向日葵）：黄色花朵形如太阳的植物 向日葵又名朝阳花，因其花常朝着太阳而得名。英语称之为sunflower（
• sider- 英文词源 sidero- "Relating to the stars", From Latin sidus , sider- 'star'. 中文词源 sider- （铁）：太空坠落的陨石的主要成分 英语词根sider源自拉丁语sideris，本来表示“星星”，如consider（考虑，观察群星）。古人发现星星掉下来后变成了陨石，而陨石的主要成分是铁，所以词根sider又衍生出“铁”的含义。 sidereal：
• search 英文词源 search search: [14] Etymologically, search denotes ‘going round in a circle’ – for its ultimate source is Latin circus ‘circle’ (source of English circle and circus ). From this was derived the verb circāre ‘go round’, which by the time it had reached Old French as cerchier had acquired connotations of ‘examining’ or ‘exploring’. English took it over via Anglo-N
• September 英文词源 September September: [11] September is etymologically the ‘seventh’ month. The word comes from Latin September , a derivative of septem ‘seven’ (the Roman year started with March). Other English descendants of Latin septem , which is a distant relative of English seven , include septet [19] and septuagenarian [18]. = seven September late Old English, from Latin September (also
• school 英文词源 school school: School for teaching [OE] and school of fish [14] are different words. The former was borrowed into prehistoric Germanic from medieval Latin scōla , and has since evolved into German schule , Dutch school , Swedish skola , and Danish skole , as well as English school . The medieval Latin word itself goes back via classical Latin schola to Greek skholé . This originally
• Sunday 英文词源 Sunday Sunday: [OE] Sunday is part of the general system of naming days of the week after heavenly bodies inherited by the Germanic peoples from the ancient Mediterranean world. The Romans called the day diēs sōlis ‘day of the sun’, which in translation has become German sonntag , Dutch zondag , Swedish söndag , Danish söndag , and English sunday . Welsh retains the term ( dyd
• shrine 英文词源 shrine (n.) Old English scrin "ark (of the covenant); chest, coffer; case for relics," from Latin scrinium "case or box for keeping papers," of unknown origin. From late 14c. as "a tomb of a saint" (usually elaborate and large). A widespread word, compare Dutch schrijn , German Schrein , French écrin , Russian skrynya , Lithuanian skrine . 中文词源 shrine （神龛）：存放圣徒