英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

jail (n.)[jail 词源字典]: late 13c., gayhol, from Old North French gaiole and Old French jaole, both meaning "a cage, prison," from Medieval Latin gabiola, from Late Latin caveola, diminutive of Latin cavea "cage, enclosure, stall, coop" (see cave (n.)). Both forms carried into Middle English; now pronounced "jail" however it is spelled. Persistence of Norman-derived gaol (preferred in Britain) is "chiefly due to statutory and official tradition" [OED].[jail etymology, jail origin, 英语词源]
jail (v.): "to put in jail," c. 1600, from jail (n.). Related: Jailed; jailing.
jailbait (n.): also jail bait, jail-bait, "girl under the legal age of consent," 1930, from jail (n.) + bait (n.).
jailbird (n.): 1610s, based on an image of a caged bird; from jail (n.) + bird (n.1).
jailbreak (n.): also jail-break, "prison escape," 1872, perhaps 1828, from jail (n.) + break (n.).
jailer (n.): also gaoler, late 14c., from Old North French gayolierre, Old French jaioleur, agent noun from jaole (see jail (n.)).
Jain: 1805, from Hindi Jaina, from Sanskrit jinah "saint," literally "overcomer," from base ji "to conquer," related to jayah "victory," from PIE root *gweie- (2) "to press down, conquer." The sect dates from 6c. B.C.E.
Jainism (n.): 1858, from Jain + -ism. Jainist is attested from 1816.
Jake: colloquial or familiar abbreviation of the masc. proper name Jacob (q.v.). As the typical name of a rustic lout, from 1854. (Jakey still is the typical name for "an Amishman" among the non-Amish of Pennsylvania Dutch country). Slang meaning "excellent, fine" is from 1914, American English, of unknown origin.
jakes (n.): "a privy," mid-15c., genitive singular of jack (n.).
jalapeno (n.): type of pepper, by 1957, literally "of Jalapa," from Mexican Spanish Jalapa, place in Mexico, from Aztec Xalapan, literally "sand by the water," from xalli "sand" + atl "water" + -pan "place."
jalopy (n.): "battered old automobile," 1924 (early variants include jaloupy, jaloppi, gillopy), of unknown origin; perhaps from Jalapa, Mexico, where many U.S. used cars supposedly were sent (see jalapeno).
jalousie (n.): 1766, French, literally "jealousy" (see jealousy), from notion of looking through blinds without being seen.
jam (v.): "to press tightly," also "to become wedged," 1706, of unknown origin, perhaps a variant of champ (v.). Of a malfunction in the moving parts of machinery, by 1851. Sense of "cause interference in radio signals" is from 1914. Related: Jammed; jamming. The adverb is recorded from 1825, from the verb.
jam (n.1): "fruit preserve," 1730s, probably a special use of jam (v.) with a sense of "crush fruit into a preserve."
jam (n.2): "a tight pressing between two surfaces," 1806, from jam (v.). Jazz meaning "short, free improvised passage performed by the whole band" dates from 1929, and yielded jam session (1933); but this is perhaps from jam (n.1) in sense of "something sweet, something excellent." Sense of "machine blockage" is from 1890, which probably led to the colloquial meaning "predicament, tight spot," first recorded 1914.
Jamaica: West Indian island, from Taino (Arawakan) xaymaca, said to mean "rich in springs." Columbus when he found it in 1494 named it Santiago, but this did not stick. Related: Jamaican. The Jamaica in New York probably is a Delaware (Algonquian) word meaning "beaver pond" altered by influence of the island name.
jamb (n.): side-piece of a door, window, etc., early 14c., from Old French jambe "pier, side post of a door," originally "a leg, shank" (12c.), from Late Latin gamba "leg, (horse's) hock" (see gambol).
jambalaya (n.): 1872, from Louisiana French, from Provençal jambalaia "stew of rice and fowl."
jamboree (n.): 1866, represented as typical of American English, perhaps from jam (n.) on pattern of shivaree [Barnhart]. For the second element, Weekley suggests French bourree, a kind of rustic dance. Klein thinks the whole thing is of Hindu origin (but he credits its introduction to English, mistakenly, to Kipling). Boy Scouts use is from 1920. Noted earlier as a term in cribbage:
Jamboree signifies the combination of the five highest cards, as, for example, the two Bowers [jacks], Ace, King, and Queen of trumps in one hand, which entitles the holder to count sixteen points. The holder of such a hand, simply announces the fact, as no play is necessary; but should he play the hand as a Jambone, he can count only eight points, whereas he could count sixteen if he played it, or announced it as a Jamboree. ["The American Hoyle," New York, 1864]