英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

dilly-dally (v.)[dilly-dally 词源字典]: 1741, probably a reduplication of dally. Related: Dilly-dallying.[dilly-dally etymology, dilly-dally origin, 英语词源]
dilute (v.): 1550s, from Latin dilutus, past participle of diluere "dissolve, wash away, dilute," from dis- "apart" + -luere, comb. form of lavere "to wash" (see lave). Related: Diluted; diluting. As an adjective from c. 1600.
dilution (n.): 1640s, noun of action from past participle stem of Latin diluere (see dilute).
diluvial (adj.): "pertaining to a flood" (or The Flood), 1650s, from Late Latin diluvialis, from Latin diluvium "flood, inundation" (see deluge (n.)). Related: Diluvian.
dim (adj.): Old English dimm "dark, gloomy, obscure," from Proto-Germanic *dimbaz (cognates: Old Norse dimmr, Old Frisian dim, Old High German timber "dark, black, somber"). Not known outside Germanic. Slang sense of "stupid" is from 1892. Related: Dimly; dimness.
dim (v.): c. 1200, perhaps in Old English, from dim (adj.). Related: Dimmed; dimming.
dim sum (n.): 1948, from Cantonese dim sam (Chinese dianxin) "appetizer," said to mean literally "touch the heart."
dime (n.): chosen 1786 as name for U.S. 10 cent coin, from dime "a tenth, tithe" (late 14c.), from Old French disme (Modern French dîme) "a tenth part," from Latin decima (pars) "tenth (part)," from decem "ten" (see ten).

The verb meaning "to inform" (on someone) is 1960s, from the then-cost of a pay phone call. A dime a dozen "almost worthless" first recorded 1930. Phrase stop on a dime attested by 1954 (a dime being the physically smallest unit of U.S. currency).
dimension (n.): late 14c., "measurement, size," from Latin dimensionem (nominative dimensio) "a measuring," noun of action from past participle stem of dimetri "to measure out," from dis- (see dis-) + metiri "to measure" (see measure). Meaning "any component of a situation" is from 1929. Related: Dimensional; dimensions.
diminish (v.): early 15c., from merger of two obsolete verbs, diminue and minish. Diminue is from Old French diminuer "make small," from Latin diminuere "break into small pieces," variant of deminuere "lessen, diminish," from de- "completely" + minuere "make small" (see minus).

Minish is from Old French menuisier, from Latin minuere. Related: Diminished; diminishes; diminishing.
diminuendo: 1775, from Italian diminuendo "lessening, diminishing," present participle of diminuire, from Latin deminuere (see diminish).
diminution (n.): c. 1300, from Anglo-French diminuciun, Old French diminucion, from Latin diminutionem (nominative diminutio), earlier deminutionem, noun of action from past participle stem of deminuere (see diminish).
diminutive (adj.): in grammar, late 14c. (also as a noun, "derivative word denoting a small or inferior example of what is meant by the word it is derived from"), from Old French diminutif (14c.), from Latin diminutivus, earlier deminutivus, from past participle stem of deminuere (see diminish).
dimity (n.): mid-15c., from Italian dimiti, plural of dimito, a name for a kind of strong cotton cloth, from Medieval Latin dimitum, from Greek dimitos "of double thread," from di- (see di- (1)) + mitos "warp thread, thread" (see mitre).
dimmer (n.): 1822, agent noun from dim (v.). Of mechanisms for reducing the brightness of electric lights, from 1905.
dimorphous (adj.): 1832, from Greek dimorphos "of two forms," from di- (see di- (1)) + morphe "form, shape" (see Morpheus).
dimple (n.): c. 1400, perhaps existing in Old English as a word meaning "pothole," perhaps ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dumpilaz, which has yielded words in other languages meaning "small pit, little pool" (such as German Tümpel "pool," Middle Low German dümpelen, Dutch dompelen "to plunge"). Related: Dimples.
dimple (v.): 1570s (implied in dimpled), from dimple (n.).
dimwit (n.): also dim-wit, U.S. college slang by 1922, from dim (adj.) + wit (n.). Related: dimwitted.
din (n.): Old English dyne (n.), dynian (v.), from Proto-Germanic *duniz (cognates: Old Norse dynr, Danish don, Middle Low German don "noise"), from PIE root *dwen- "to make noise" (cognates: Sanskrit dhuni "roaring, a torrent").