英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

auto-erotic (adj.)[auto-erotic 词源字典]: 1898, coined by Havelock Ellis from auto- + erotic. Related: Auto-eroticism.[auto-erotic etymology, auto-erotic origin, 英语词源]
bag-end (n.): "bottom of a bag," c. 1400, from bag (n.) + end (n.).
buck-eye (n.): "American horse chestnut," 1763, said to be so called from resemblance of the nut to a stag's eye. See buck (n.1) + eye (n.). Meaning "native of Ohio" is attested since 1822.
co-ed (n.): also coed, 1886, American English, (first in Louisa Mae Alcott's "Jo's Boys"); short for "co-educational system;" 1889 as an adjective, short for coeducational; 1893 as a noun meaning "girl or woman student at a co-educational institution."
cost-effective (adj.): also cost effective, 1967, from cost (n.) + effective.
cross-examination (n.): also cross examination; 1827, "an examination of a witness by the other side, to 'check' the effects of previous questioning," from cross (adj.) + examination. Related: Cross-examine (1660s).
cross-eye: also crosseye, 1770 (implied in cross-eyed), from cross- + eye.
de-emphasize (v.): also deemphasize, 1938, from de- + emphasize. Related: De-emphasized; de-emphasizing.
de-escalate (v.): also deescalate, 1964, from de- + escalate. Related: De-escalated; de-escalating; de-escalation.
down-to-earth (adj.): also down to earth, as an adjectival phrase, attested from 1932.
-ea-: digraph introduced early 16c., originally having the sound of long "a" and meant to distinguish words spelled -e- or -ee- with that sound from those with the sound of long "e"; for example break, great. Since c. 1700, the sound in some of them has drifted to long "e" (read, hear) or sometimes short "e" (bread, wealth).
-ean: variant of -an after names ending in -ea, -es, -eus.
-ectomy: word-forming element meaning "surgical removal," from Greek -ektomia "a cutting out of," from ektemnein "to cut out," from ek "out" (see ex-) + temnein "to cut" (see tome).
-ed: past participle suffix of weak verbs, from Old English -ed, -ad, -od (leveled to -ed in Middle English), from Proto-Germanic *-da- (cognates: Old High German -ta, German -t, Old Norse -þa, Gothic -da, -þs), from PIE *-to-, "suffix forming adjectives marking the accomplishment of the notion of the base" [Watkins] (cognates: Sanskrit -tah, Greek -tos, Latin -tus; see -th (1)).

Originally fully pronounced, as still in beloved (which, with blessed, accursed, and a few others retains the full pronunciation through liturgical readings). In Old English already first and third person singular past tense forms of some "weak" verbs was -te, a variant of -de (see -ed), often accompanied by a change in vowel sound (as in modern keep/kept, sleep/slept). A tendency to shorten final consonants has left English with many past tense forms spelled in -ed but pronounced "-t." In some older words both forms exist, with different shades of meaning, as in gilded/gilt, burned/burnt.
-ee: word-forming element in legal English (and in imitation of it), representing the Anglo-French -é ending of past participles used as nouns. As these sometimes were coupled with agent nouns in -or, the two suffixes came to be used as a pair to denote the initiator and the recipient of an action.
-een: anglicized form of French -in, -ine, ultimately from Latin -inus, -ina.
-eer: noun word-forming element meaning "one who" (operates, produces, deals in); anglicized form of French -ier, from Latin -arius, -iarius; compare -ary.
-el (2): diminutive suffix (though in Modern English not always perceived as such), from Old French -el (fem. -elle, Modern French -el, -eau), from Latin -ellus, -ella, -ellum, diminutive suffix, from PIE *-olo-lo-, itself a double diminutive, from *-lo- (see -ule).
-el (1): instrumental suffix, from Old English -ol, -ul, -el, representing PIE *-lo- (see -ule). In modern English usually -le except after -n-.
-ella: diminutive word-forming element, from Latin -ella, fem. of -ellus.
-eme: in linguistics, noted as an active suffix and word-formation element from 1953; from French -ème "unit, sound," from phonème (see phoneme).
-emia: word-forming element in medicine meaning "condition of the blood," Modern Latin comb. form of Greek haima (genitive haimatos) "blood," possibly from hypothetical PIE root *sai- (3) "thick liquid."
-en (1): word-forming element making verbs (such as darken, weaken) from adjectives or nouns, from Old English -nian, from Proto-Germanic *-inojan (also source of Old Norse -na), from PIE adjectival suffix *-no-. Most active in Middle English.
-en (2): suffix added to nouns to produce adjectives meaning "made of, of the nature of" (such as golden, oaken, woolen), corresponding to Latin -anus, -inus, Greek -inos; from Proto-Germanic *-ina-, from PIE *-no-, adjectival suffix. Common in Old and Middle English (e.g. fyren "on fire; made of fire"), the few surviving uses are largely discarded in everyday use, and the simple form of the noun doubles as adjective (gold ring, wool sweater). Some are used in special contexts (brazen, wooden).
-ence: see -ance.
-ency: word-forming element denoting quality or state, from Latin -entia. Derivatively identical with -ence; also see -ancy.
-ene: hydrocarbon suffix, from Greek name-forming element -ene. It has no real meaning in itself; in chemistry terminology probably abstracted from methylene (1834). Put in systematic use by Hofmann (1865).
-ent: word-forming element making adjectives from nouns or verbs, from French -ent and directly from Latin -entem (nominative -ens), present participle ending of verbs in -ere/-ire. Old French changed it in many words to -ant, but after c. 1500 some of these in English were changed back to what was supposed to be correct Latin. See -ant.
-er (1): English agent noun ending, corresponding to Latin -or. In native words it represents Old English -ere (Old Northumbrian also -are) "man who has to do with," from Proto-Germanic *-ari (cognates: German -er, Swedish -are, Danish -ere), from Proto-Germanic *-arjoz. Some believe this root is identical with, and perhaps a borrowing of, Latin -arius (see -ary).

Generally used with native Germanic words. In words of Latin origin, verbs derived from past participle stems of Latin ones (including most verbs in -ate) usually take the Latin ending -or, as do Latin verbs that passed through French (such as governor); but there are many exceptions (eraser, laborer, promoter, deserter; sailor, bachelor), some of which were conformed from Latin to English in late Middle English.

The use of -or and -ee in legal language (such as lessor/lessee) to distinguish actors and recipients of action has given the -or ending a tinge of professionalism, and this makes it useful in doubling words that have a professional and a non-professional sense (such as advisor/adviser, conductor/conducter, incubator/incubater, elevator/elevater).
-er (2): comparative suffix, from Old English -ra (masc.), -re (fem., neuter), from Proto-Germanic *-izon (cognates: Gothic -iza, Old Saxon -iro, Old Norse -ri, Old High German -iro, German -er), from PIE *-yos-, comparative adjective suffix. Originally also with umlaut change in stem, but this was mostly lost in Old English by historical times and has now vanished (except in better and elder).
For most comparatives of one or two syllables, use of -er seems to be fading as the oral element in our society relies on more before adjectives to express the comparative; thus prettier is more pretty, cooler is more cool [Barnhart].
-er (3): suffix used to make jocular or familiar formations from common or proper names (soccer being one), first attested 1860s, English schoolboy slang, "Introduced from Rugby School into Oxford University slang, orig. at University College, in Michaelmas Term, 1875" [OED, with unusual precision].
-eroo: "factitious slang suffix" (OED), sometimes affectionate, forming nouns indicating "a humorous or remarkable instance" of what is indicated, in use by 1940s, perhaps from buckaroo. An earlier suffix in a similar sense is -erino (after 1900), apparently from -er + Italian suffix -ino.
-ery: word-forming element making nouns meaning "place for, art of, condition of, quantity of," from Middle English -erie, from Latin -arius (see -ary). Also sometimes in modern colloquial use "the collectivity of" or "an example of."
-escence: word-forming element meaning "process or state of being," from Latin -escentia, from -escentem (see -escent).
-escent: word-forming element meaning "beginning, becoming, tending to be," from Latin -escentem (nominative -escens), ending of present participles of verbs in -escere.
-ese: word-forming element, from Old French -eis (Modern French -ois, -ais), from Vulgar Latin, from Latin -ensem, -ensis "belonging to" or "originating in."
-esque: word-forming element meaning "resembling or suggesting the style of," from French -esque "like, in the manner of," from Italian -esco, which, with Medieval Latin -iscus, is from Frankish or some other Germanic source (compare Old High German -isc, German -isch; see -ish).
-ess: fem. suffix, from French -esse, from Late Latin -issa, from Greek -issa (cognate with Old English fem. agent suffix -icge); rare in classical Greek but more common later, in diakonissa "deaconess" and other Church terms picked up by Latin.
-et: word-forming element, originally a diminutive suffix but not now always felt as one, Middle English, from Old French -et (fem. -ete; Modern French -et, -ette), from Vulgar Latin *-ittum/*-itta (source also of Spanish -eto/-eta, Italian -etto/-etta), of unknown origin. The French forms are reduced to -et in English, but later borrowings of French words in -ette tend to keep that ending.
-etic: word-forming element meaning "pertaining to," from Greek -etikos, adjectival suffix for nouns ending in -esis.
-ette: diminutive word-forming element, from Old French -ette (fem.), used indiscriminately in Old French with masculine form -et (see -et). As a general rule, older words borrowed from French have -et in English, while ones taken in since 17c. have -ette. In use with native words since late 19c., especially among persons who coin new product names, who tend to give it a sense of "imitation, a sort of" (for example flannelette "imitation flannel of cotton," 1876). Also in words like sermonette, which, OED remarks, "can scarcely be said to be in good use, though often met with in newspapers."
fire-eater (n.): 1670s, "juggler who appears to swallow fire as part of an act," from fire (n.) + eater. From 1804 as "person of irascible or recklessly defiant disposition;" especially in U.S. history in reference to vehement Southern partizans (1851). Perhaps due to the extended senses, fire-swallower began to be used for the original sense by 1883. Related: Fire-eating.
fire-engine (n.): 1680s, "engine designed to throw a stream of water through a hose onto a fire for the purpose of extinguishing it," from fire (n.) + engine (n.). Also an early name for a steam engine (1722).
folk-etymology (n.): 1890; see folk (n.) + etymology.
By Folk-etymology is meant the influence exercised upon words, both as to their form and meaning, by the popular use and misuse of them. In a special sense, it is intended to denote the corruption which words undergo, owing either to false ideas about their derivation, or to a mistaken analogy with other words to which they are supposed to be related. [The Rev. A. Smythe Palmer, "Folk-Etymology," 1890]
four-eyes (n.): "person who wears glasses," slang, 1874; see four + eye (n.).
gastro-enteritis (n.): also gastroenteritis, 1823, from gastro- + enteritis. Related: Gastro-enteric.
gastro-enterology (n.): also gastroenterology, 1904, from gastro- + enterology, from Greek enteron "an intestine, piece of gut" (see enteric). Related: Gastroenterologist.
goggle-eyed (adj.): late 14c.; see goggle (v.).
half-eagle (n.): U.S. $5 gold coin minted from 1795 to 1929, authorized in the 1786 resolution for a new monetary system; see half + eagle in the coinage sense.
Indo-European: 1814, coined by physician, physicist and Egyptologist Thomas Young (1773-1829) and first used in an article in the "Quarterly Review," from Indo-, comb. form of Greek Indos "India" + European. "Common to India and Europe," specifically in reference to the group of related languages and to the race or races characterized by their use. The alternative Indo-Germanic (1835) was coined in German 1823 (indogermanisch), based on the two peoples at the extremes of the geographic area covered by the languages, before Celtic was realized also to be an Indo-European language. After this was proved, many German scholars switched to Indo-European as more accurate, but Indo-Germanic continued in use (popularized by the titles of major works) and the predominance of German scholarship in this field made it the popular term in England, too, through the 19c. See also Aryan.