英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

sure [sure 词源字典]: sure: [14] Sure and secure are doublets – that is to say, they come from the same ultimate source, but have diverged over the centuries. Latin sēcūrus (etymologically ‘without care’) was borrowed directly into English as secure, but in Old French it evolved into sur, from which English gets sure.
=> secure[sure etymology, sure origin, 英语词源]
surface: surface: [17] Surface was coined in French on the model of Latin superficiēs ‘surface’ (source of English superficial). It contains the same elements: sur- ‘above’ (a descendant of Latin super) and face ‘face’.
=> face, superficial
surge: surge: [15] Latin surgere meant literally ‘lead up from below’, hence ‘rise’ – it originated as a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘up from below’ and regere ‘rule’, hence ‘lead’ (source of English regiment, region, etc). English acquired it via Old Spanish surgir and Old French sourgir, by which time it had taken on watery associations, of waves heaving. Surgere also produced English resource [17], resurrection [13], and source.
=> insurgent, rector, regiment, region, resource, resurrection, source
surgeon: surgeon: [14] A surgeon is etymologically someone who does ‘hand work’ – that is, a medical practitioner who performs manual operations on the body, as opposed to administering drugs. The word comes via Anglo-Norman surgien from Vulgar Latin *chirurgiānus, a derivative of Latin chirurgia ‘work of a surgeon’. This was borrowed from Greek kheirurgíā, which in turn was derived from kheirourgós ‘working by hand’, a compound noun formed from kheír ‘hand’ (source of English chiropodist [18]) and érgon ‘work’ (source of English energy).
=> chiropodist, energy, work
surplus: surplus: see full
surprise: surprise: [15] To surprise someone is etymologically to ‘overtake’ them. The word comes from the past participle of Old French surprendre ‘overtake’, a compound verb formed from the prefix sur- ‘over’ and prendre ‘take’. By the time it reached English it was being used for ‘affect suddenly, as with a particular emotion’ (‘He shall be so surprised with anger and furious woodness [madness]’, William Caxton, Eneydos 1490), and this gradually evolved via ‘take unawares’ to, in the mid 17th century, ‘astonish’.
=> apprehend, comprehend, prison, reprehensible
surrender: surrender: [15] To surrender is etymologically to ‘give up’. The word was borrowed from Old French surrendre ‘deliver over, give up’, a compound verb formed from the prefix sur- ‘over’ and rendre ‘give, deliver’ (source of English render).
=> render
surreptitious: surreptitious: [15] Latin surreptītius meant ‘taken away secretly’. It was formed from the past participle of surripere ‘take away secretly’, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’, hence ‘secretly’, and rapere ‘seize’ (source of English rape, rapture, etc). English acquired surreptitious direct from the Latin adjective.
=> rape, rapture, ravenous
surrogate: surrogate: [17] A surrogate is etymologically someone who has been ‘asked for’ to take the place of another. The word was borrowed from Latin surrogātus, a later form of subrogātus, the past participle of subrogāre ‘nominate an alternative candidate’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix sub-, used here in the sense ‘instead of’, and rogāre ‘ask for, propose’ (source of English interrogate, prerogative, etc).
=> interrogate, prerogative
surround: surround: [15] Although surround means ‘exist round’ something, it has no etymological connection with round. It comes via Old French suronder from late Latin superundāre ‘overflow’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix super- ‘over’ and undāre ‘rise in waves’, a derivative of unda ‘wave’ (source of English undulate).

English took the word over in its original sense, and this survived into the 17th century (an Act of Parliament of 1609 noted that ‘the sea hath broken in … and hath decayed, surrounded, and drowned up much hard ground’). The modern sense ‘exist round, encircle’ arose in the early 17th century, presumably by association with round.
=> abundant, redundant, sound, undulate
surveillance: surveillance: see vigil
survey: survey: [15] To survey something is etymologically to ‘oversee’ it. The word comes via Anglo-Norman surveier from medieval Latin supervidēre, a compound verb formed from the prefix super- ‘over’ and vidēre ‘see’ (source of English view, vision, etc).
=> view, vision
survive: survive: see vivid
suspect: suspect: [14] Latin suspicere originally meant literally ‘look up at’ (it was a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘up from under’ and specere ‘look at’, source of English spectator, spy, etc). It evolved metaphorically along two lines: ‘look up to, admire’, which has since died out, and ‘look at secretly’, hence ‘look at distrustfully’, which has passed into English in the form of its past participial stem suspect-. Suspicion [14] comes from the medieval Latin derivative suspectiō.
=> expect, inspect, spectator, spy, suspicion
suspend: suspend: [13] To suspend something is etymologically to ‘hang it up’. The word comes via Old French suspendre from Latin suspendere ‘hang up’, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘up from under’, hence ‘up’, and pendere ‘hang’ (source of English depend, pendent, etc). The metaphorical sense ‘delay’ developed in Latin.
=> depend, pendant, pendulum
suture: suture: see sew
swallow: swallow: English has two distinct words swallow. The verb, ‘ingest’ [OE], comes from a prehistoric Germanic *swelgan, which also produced German schwelgen, Dutch swelgen, Swedish svälja, and Danish svælge. It was formed from a base which also gave Old Norse svelgr ‘whirlpool, devourer’. Swallow the bird [OE] comes from a prehistoric Germanic *swalwōn, which also produced German schwalbe, Dutch zwaluw, Swedish svala, and Danish svale and is probably related to Russian solovej ‘nightingale’.
swan: swan: [OE] Swan is a general Germanic word, with relatives in German schwan, Dutch zwaan, Swedish svan, and Danish svane. These all come from a prehistoric base *swan-, which may go back ultimately to Indo-European *swon-, *swen- ‘make sound’ (source of Latin sonus ‘sound’, from which English gets sound). If it does, the swan was originally named for the (admittedly rather unmusical) sound it makes.
=> sound
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 of ‘striking the hands together to seal a bargain’.
swarm: swarm: Swarm ‘group of insects’ [OE] and swarm ‘climb’ [16] are distinct words. The former comes from a prehistoric Germanic *swarmaz, which also produced German schwarm, and is closely related to Dutch swerm, Swedish svärm, and Danish sværm. It may go back ultimately to an Indo-European base which also lay behind Latin susurrus ‘hum’ and Sanskrit svárati ‘it sounds’. The origins of swarm ‘climb’ are not known.