英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

rice (n.)[rice 词源字典]: mid-13c., from Old French ris, from Italian riso, from Latin oriza, from Greek oryza "rice," via an Indo-Iranian language (compare Pashto vriže, Old Persian brizi), ultimately from Sanskrit vrihi-s "rice." The Greek word is the ultimate source of all European words (Welsh reis, German reis, Lithuanian rysai, Serbo-Croatian riza, Polish ryż, etc.). Introduced 1647 in the Carolinas. Rice paper (1822), originally used in China, Japan, etc., is made from straw of rice.[rice etymology, rice origin, 英语词源]
rich (adj.): Old English rice "strong, powerful; great, mighty; of high rank," in later Old English "wealthy," from Proto-Germanic *rikijaz (cognates: Old Norse rikr, Swedish rik, Danish rig, Old Frisian rike "wealthy, mighty," Dutch rijk, Old High German rihhi "ruler, powerful, rich," German reich "rich," Gothic reiks "ruler, powerful, rich"), borrowed from a Celtic source akin to Gaulish *rix, Old Irish ri (genitive rig) "king," from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line," hence, "direct, rule" (see rex).

The form of the word was influenced in Middle English by Old French riche "wealthy, magnificent, sumptuous," which is, with Spanish rico, Italian ricco, from Frankish *riki "powerful," or some other cognate Germanic source.

Old English also had a noun, rice "rule, reign, power, might; authority; empire." The evolution of the word reflects a connection between wealth and power in the ancient world. Of food and colors, from early 14c.; of sounds, from 1590s. Sense of "entertaining, amusing" is recorded from 1760. The noun meaning "the wealthy" was in Old English.
Richard: masc. proper name, Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Old High German Ricohard "strong in rule," from Proto-Germanic *rik- "ruler" (see rich) + *harthu "hard," from PIE *kar-o- (see hard (adj.)). "One of the most popular names introduced by the Normans. Usually Latinized as Ricardus, the common form was Ricard, whence the pet form Rick, etc." ["Dictionary of English Surnames"]
riches (n.): "valued possessions, money, property," c. 1200, modified from richesse (12c.), a singular form misunderstood as a plural, from Old French richesse, richece "wealth, opulence, splendor, magnificence," from riche (see rich (adj.)). The Old French suffix -esse is from Latin -itia, added to adjectives to form nouns of quality (compare fortress).
richly (adv.): Old English ricelice "powerfully, sumptuously;" see rich (adj.) + -ly (2).
richness (n.): mid-14c., from rich (adj.) + -ness.
Richter scale: 1938, devised by U.S. seismologist Charles Francis Richter (1900-1985).
ricin (n.): poison obtained from the castor-oil bean, 1888, from ricinus, genus name of the castor-oil plant (1694), from Latin ricinus (Pliny), of uncertain origin, perhaps the same word as ricinus "tick" (in sheep, dogs, etc.).
rick (n.): Old English hreac "stack of hay or straw," from Proto-Germanic *khraukaz (cognates: Old Norse hraukr, Frisian reak, Dutch rook "heap"); perhaps related to ridge.
rickets (n.): disease caused by vitamin D deficiency, 1630s, of uncertain origin. Originally a local name for the disease in Dorset and Somerset, England. Some derive it from a Dorset word, rucket "to breathe with difficulty," but the sense connection is difficult. The Modern Latin name for the disease, rachitis, comes from Greek rhakhis "spine" (see rachitic), but this was chosen by English physician Daniel Whistler (1619-1684) for resemblance to rickets.
rickettsia (n.): parasitic organism, 1919, named 1916 in Modern Latin by H. da Rocha-Lima in honor of U.S. pathologist H.T. Ricketts (1871-1910), who first identified it in 1909 and died of typhus as a result of his contact with it, + abstract noun ending -ia. The bacteria causes typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but is unrelated by pathology or etymology to rickets (q.v.), which is the result of vitamin D deficiency. The surname is a development from Rickard, variant of Richard, or else from the diminutive form Ricot.
rickety (adj.): "liable to fall down," 1680s, from rickets (with + -y (2)), via notion of "weak, unhealthy." Literal sense is from c. 1720 but never common in English. Of material things, from 1799.
rickey (n.): alcoholic drink made with carbonated water and lime juice, 1895; reputedly from the name of "Colonel" Joseph K. Rickey (1842-1903), Democrat, of Callaway County, Missouri, U.S., lobbyist and wire-puller, who is said to have concocted it to entertain political friends.
And as long as there is thirst and limes, or lemons and gin, so long will the Honorable Joe Rickey be remembered in Missouri and his famous beverage tickle the palates of discriminating citizens. A hundred summers hence Joe Rickey will be called and Champ Clark and DeArmond forgotten. ["The Conservative," Nebraska City, Neb., July 6, 1899.]
rickshaw (n.): 1887, shortened form of jinrikisha, popularized by Kipling, from Japanese jin "a man" + riki "power" + sha "carriage."
ricochet (v.): 1758, originally in a military sense, from French ricochet (n.) "the skipping of a shot, or of a flat stone on water" (see ricochet (n.). Related: Ricochetted; ricochetting.
ricochet (n.): 1769, from ricochet (v.) or French ricochet "the skipping of a shot or of a flat stone on water," but in earliest French use (15c.) "verbal to-and-fro," and only in the phrase fable du ricochet, an entertainment in which the teller of a tale skillfully evades questions, and chanson du ricochet, a kind of repetitious song; of uncertain origin.
ricotta (n.): kind of Italian cottage cheese, 1877, earlier ricoct (1580s), from Italian ricotta, literally "recooked," from fem. past participle of Latin recoquere, from re- "again" (see re-) + coquere "to cook" (see cook (n.)).
rid (v.): c. 1200, "clear (a space); set free, save," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse ryðja (past tense ruddi, past participle ruddr) "to clear (land) of obstructions," from Proto-Germanic *reudijan (cognates: Old High German riuten, German reuten "to clear land," Old Frisian rothia "to clear," Old English -royd "clearing," common in northern place names), from PIE root *reudh- "to clear land." The general sense of "to make (something) free (of something else)" emerged by 1560s. Senses merged somewhat with Northern English, Scottish, and U.S. dialectal redd. To get rid of (something or someone) is from 1660s. Related: Ridden; ridding.
riddance (n.): 1530s, from rid + -ance. Good riddance, "a welcome relief from unpleasant company or an embarrassing connection" attested from 1650s (fair riddance in same sense from 1610s).
ridden (adj.): mid-14c., from past participle of ride (q.v.). Sense evolution, via horses, is from "that which has been ridden upon, broken in" (1520s) to, in compounds, "oppressed, taken advantage of" (1650s).