英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

sepia [sepia 词源字典]: sepia: [14] Sepia originated as a word for a cuttlefish. It comes via Latin from Greek sēpíā. In English it is now rare in that sense, except as a zoological genus name and in various technical derivatives such as sepiacean and sepioid, but a particular attribute of some types of cuttlefish has given it a much wider role: as a term for a reddish-brown pigment made from the liquid secreted by cuttlefish ink sacs. That application originated in Italy, and it was from Italian seppia, probably by way of French sépia, that English acquired it in the 19th century.
[sepia etymology, sepia origin, 英语词源]
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
sepulchre: sepulchre: [12] Sepulchre comes ultimately from Latin sepelīre ‘bury, inter’. From its past participle sepultus was derived the noun sepulcrum ‘burying place, tomb’, which passed into English via Old French sepulcre. There is no etymological justification for the ch spelling.
sequence: sequence: [14] Sequence is at the centre of a large family of English words that go back ultimately to Latin sequī ‘follow’ (others include consecutive [17], consequence [14], ensue, obsequious [15], persecute [15], prosecute, pursue, second, sect, subsequent [15], sue, and suit). Sequence itself comes from late Latin sequentia, a derivative of the present participle sequēns.

Another Latin derivative was sequēla ‘that which follows’, which has given English sequal [15]. Sequī came from the Indo-European base *seq-, which also produced Greek hépomai, Irish sechur, Lithuanian sekti, and Sanskrit sac-, all meaning ‘follow’.
=> consecutive, consequence, ensue, obsequious, persecute, prosecute, pursue, second, sect, sequal, set, sue, suit
sequin: sequin: [17] When English first adopted sequin, it was the name of a coin. Its ultimate ancestor was Arabic sikkah, which denoted a die from which coins were minted (in Anglo-Indian English from the 17th to the 19th century, a sicca was a newly minted rupee). Italian took the word over as zecca, and created a diminutive form zecchino, referring to a gold coin.

The original application was specifically to a Venetian coin, but this subsequently broadened out, and the term was also used for a Turkish coin (alternatively known as a sultanin). In French, zecchino became sequin, which is the form in which English acquired it. The word might well have followed the coin into oblivion, but in the late 19th century it managed to get itself applied to the small round shiny pieces of metal applied to clothing, and its continued existence was guaranteed.
seraglio: seraglio: see caravan
serenade: serenade: [17] A serenade is strictly a ‘song sung in the evening’, but in fact historically it has nothing to do with ‘night’ – etymologically it is a ‘serene’ piece of music. The word comes via French sérénade from Italian serenata, a derivative of sereno ‘serene’. The notion of a serenata as a piece of ‘night’ music arose through association with sera ‘evening’ (a relative of French soir ‘evening’, from which English gets soirée [19]). Italian sereno came from Latin serēnus ‘bright, clear’, which also produced English serene [16].
=> serene
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’. (Serendip is an old name for Sri Lanka.)
serene: serene: see serenade
serge: serge: [14] The textile term serge is first cousin to silk. It comes via Old French sarge from *sārica, a Vulgar Latin alteration of Latin sērica. This was short for lāna sērica, which meant literally ‘wool of the Seres’. Seres was a name given to a people living in what we would now call China, and it is also the ultimate source of the word silk.
=> silk
sergeant: sergeant: [12] A sergeant is etymologically simply a ‘servant’ – and indeed that is what the word originally meant in English. It comes via Old French sergent from Latin servient-, the present participial stem of servīre ‘serve’. It was subsequently incorporated into the terminology of the feudal system, roughly equivalent in application to esquire, and it was also used for various legal officers, but it does not seem to have become a specific military rank until the mid 16th century. ‘Sergeant’ then was a comparatively exalted position, but by the end of the century we see it settling into its modern niche as a senior noncommissioned officer.
=> servant, serve
series: series: [17] Latin seriēs (from which English got series) denoted a ‘succession of things connected together’. It was derived from serere ‘connect’, which has also given English assert and insert [16]. Serial [19] was coined specifically with reference to stories published in instalments.
=> assert, insert, serial
serious: serious: [15] Serious comes ultimately from Latin sērius ‘serious, grave’. From this was derived late Latin sēriōsus, which passed into English via Old French serieux. It is not clear where sērius came from, although some have linked it with German schwer ‘heavy’ (‘seriousness’ and ‘weightiness’ being semantically close).
sermon: sermon: [12] Latin sermō meant simply ‘talk, conversation, discourse’, but by the time it reached English via Anglo-Norman sermun it had narrowed down to an ‘address given from a pulpit on a religious topic’. It is not clear what its ultimate ancestry is, but probably the favourite candidate as its source is the Indo-European base *swer-, *swar-, which gave English answer and swear.
serpent: serpent: [14] The serpent is etymologically a ‘crawling’ animal. The word comes via Old French serpent from Latin serpēns, a noun use of the present participle of serpere ‘crawl, creep’. This was a close relative of Greek hérpein ‘creep’, from which English gets herpes [17] (etymologically the ‘creeping’ disease) and herpetology ‘study of reptiles’ [19].
=> herpes
serried: serried: [17] The phrase serried ranks is first recorded in William Wilkie’s Epigoniad 1757, but it was clearly inspired by Milton’s ‘Nor serv’d it to relax their serried files’ in Paradise Lost 1667. It means ‘rows crowded close together’, and serried is the past participle of a now obsolete verb serry ‘press together’. This was borrowed from serré, the past participle of Old French serrer ‘close’, which went back via Vulgar Latin *serrāre to Latin sērāre, a derivative of the noun sera ‘lock, bolt’.
serve: serve: [13] Latin servus ‘slave’ has been a rich source of English vocabulary. It is the direct ancestor of serf [15] (and of the second syllable of concierge [17]). but it is its derivatives that have made the most numerous contributions. From the verb servīre ‘serve’ come deserve, dessert, sergeant, servant [13], serve, and serviette [15] (but not, despite the similarity, conserve, observe, preserve, reserve, etc, which go back to the unrelated Latin servāre ‘keep, protect’). Servītium ‘slavery’ has provided service [12] and its derivative serviceable [14], while from servīlis ‘slavish’ comes servile [14].
=> concierge, deserve, dessert, serf, serviette, servile
sesquipedalian: sesquipedalian: [17] Sesquipedalian means etymologically ‘a foot and a half long’. Its use in English was inspired by the Roman poet Horace’s phrase sesquipedalia verba, literally ‘words a foot and a half long’, hence ‘preposterously long words that sound pompous’ – of which sesquipedalian itself is an appropriately good example. It is a compound word formed from the Latin prefix sesqui- ‘half as much again’ (a derivative of sēmi- ‘half’) and pēs ‘foot’.
=> foot, pedal
session: session: [14] Etymologically, a session is simply a ‘sitting’. The word comes via Old French session from Latin sessiō, a derivative of sedēre ‘sit’. Its sense development reflects the symbolic association of ‘sitting down’ with the conducting of business, which can be seen anew in the modern English expression get round a table. Other English descendants of Latin sedēre, which is closely related to English sit, include assess, assiduous [16], insidious [16], séance [19], sedentary [16], sediment [16], size, subsidy [14], and supersede.
=> assess, assiduous, insidious, séance, sedentary, sediment, size, subsidy, supersede
set: set: English has two words set. The verb [OE] is simply the causative version of sit. That is to say, etymologically it means ‘cause to sit’. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic *satjan (source also of German setzen, Dutch zetten, Swedish sätta, and Danish sætte), which was a causative variant of *setjan, ancestor of English sit. Set ‘group’ [14] is essentially the same word as sect.

It comes via Old French sette from Latin secta, source of English sect. It originally meant strictly a ‘group of people’, and its far broader modern application, which emerged in the 16th century, is no doubt due to association with the verb set and the notion of ‘setting’ things together.
=> sit; sect