英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

cockroach [cockroach 词源字典]: cockroach: [17] Cockroach is a product of folk etymology, the process by which a ‘foreign’ – sounding is adapted by speakers of a language so as to seem more familiar. In this case the foreign word was Spanish cucaracha. This was evidently too much for 17th-century English tongues, so the first element was transformed into cock and the second to roach (presumably after the freshwater fish of that name). Modern English roach ‘butt of a marijuana cigarette’ [20] is probably an abbreviation of cockroach, but this is not certain.
[cockroach etymology, cockroach origin, 英语词源]
bass (n.): freshwater fish, c. 1400 corruption of Middle English baers, from Old English bærs "a fish, perch," from Proto-Germanic base *bars- "sharp" (cognates: Middle Dutch baerse, Middle High German bars, German Barsch "perch," German barsch "rough"), from PIE root *bhar- "point, bristle" (see bristle (n.)). The fish was so called for its dorsal fins. For loss of -r-, see ass (n.2).
bream (n.): freshwater fish, late 14c., from Old French braisme "bream," from Frankish *brahsima, from West Germanic *brahsm- (compare Old High German brahsima), perhaps from Proto-Germanic base *brehwan "to shine, glitter, sparkle," from PIE *bherek- (see braid (v.)).
carp (n.): type of freshwater fish, late 14c., from Old French carpe "carp" (13c.) and directly from Vulgar Latin carpa (source also of Italian carpa, Spanish carpa), from a Germanic source (compare Middle Dutch carpe, Dutch karper, Old High German karpfo, German Karpfen "carp"); possibly the immediate source is Gothic *karpa. A Danube fish (hence the proposed East Germanic origin of its name), introduced in English ponds 14c. Lithuanian karpis, Russian karp are Germanic loan words.
cooter (n.): name for some types of freshwater terrapin in southern U.S., 1835 (first attested 1827 in phrase drunk as a cooter, but this probably is a colloquial form of unrelated coot), from obsolete verb coot "to copulate" (1660s), which is of unknown origin. The turtle is said to copulate for two weeks at a stretch.
crappie (n.): type of freshwater fish, 1856, American English, of unknown origin; perhaps from Canadian French dialectal crappé.
crayfish (n.): "small, freshwater lobster," early 14c., crevis, from Old French crevice "crayfish" (13c., Modern French écrevisse), probably from Frankish *krebitja or a similar Germanic word that is a diminutive form of the root of crab (n.1); compare Old High German krebiz "crab, shellfish," German Krebs. Modern spelling is 16c., under influence of fish (n.).
dace (n.): small, freshwater fish, early 15c., from Old French darz, nominative or plural of dart "dart" (see dart (n.)). So called for its movements. But another theory traces it to a Medieval Latin darsus, said to be of Gaulish origin.
fresh-water (adj.): also freshwater, 1520s, from fresh (adj.1) + water (n.1).
gourami (n.): type of freshwater fish, 1834, earlier in French, from Malay gurami.
grayling (n.): trout-like freshwater fish, early 14c., from gray (n.) + diminutive suffix -ling.
gudgeon (n.1): European small freshwater fish, early 15c., from Middle French goujon, from Old French gojon (14c.), from Latin gobionem (nominative gobio), alteration of gobius, from Greek kobios, a kind of fish, a word of unknown origin. They are easily caught, hence the figurative sense of "a credulous person" (one who will "bite" at "bait"), from 1580s.
hydra (n.): 1835, genus name of a freshwater polyp, from Greek Hydra, many-headed Lernaean water serpent slain by Hercules (this sense is attested in English from late 14c.), from hydor "water" (see water (n.1)); related to Sanskrit udrah "aquatic animal" and Old English ottur "otter." Used figuratively for "any multiplicity of evils" [Johnson]. The fabulous beast's heads were said to grown back double when cut off, and the sea creature is said to be so called for its regenerative capabilities.
minnow (n.): small freshwater fish, early 15c., probably related to Old English myne, earlier *mynwe, a name for some kind of fish, from Proto-Germanic *muniwon (cognates: Middle Low German möne, Dutch meun, Old High German muniwa, German Münne), of unknown origin, perhaps from PIE *men- "small." Perhaps influenced in Middle English by French menu "small."
mullet (n.2): "hairstyle short on top and long in back," 1996, perhaps from mullet-head "stupid, dull person" (1857). Also the name of a type of North American freshwater fish with a large, flat head (1866). The term in reference to the haircut seems to have emerged into pop culture with the Beastie Boys song "Mullet Head."
#1 on the side and don't touch the back
#6 on the top and don't cut it wack, Jack
[Beastie Boys, "Mullet Head"]
As a surname, Mullet is attested from late 13c., thought to be a diminutive of Old French mul "mule." Compare also mallet-headed, in reference to the flat tops of chisels meant to be struck with a mallet.
perch (n.2): "spiny-finned freshwater fish," c. 1300, from Old French perche, from Latin perca "perch," from Greek perke "a perch," from PIE root *perk- "speckled, spotted" (cognates: Sanskrit prsnih "speckled, variegated;" Greek perknos "dark-colored," perkazein "to become dark"), typically in names of animals.
pike (n.3): "voracious freshwater fish," early 14c., probably short for pike-fish, a special use of pike (n.2) in reference to the fish's long, pointed jaw, and in part from French brochet "pike" (fish), from broche "a roasting spit."
roach (n.2): small freshwater fish, c. 1200, from Old French roche (13c.), of uncertain origin, perhaps from a Germanic source. Applied to similar-looking fish in North America.
Rotifera (n.): class of microscopic freshwater organisms, 1830, Modern Latin, from Rotifer (Leeuwenhoek, 1702), from Latin rota "wheel" (see rotary) + -fer "bearing" (see bear (v.)). The animalcules use rotary organs to swim about.
teal (n.): "small freshwater duck," early 14c., of uncertain origin, probably from an unrecorded Old English word cognate with Middle Dutch teling "teal," Middle Low German telink, from West Germanic *taili. As the name of a shade of dark greenish-blue resembling the color patterns on the fowl's head and wings, it is attested from 1923 in clothing advertisements.
bowfin: "A predatory American freshwater fish with a large blunt head and a long dorsal fin. It is able to survive for long periods out of water", Late 19th century: from bow¹ + fin.
barramundi: "Any of a number of large, chiefly freshwater fishes of Australia and SE Asia", Late 19th century: probably from an Aboriginal language of Queensland.
gemmule: "A tough-coated dormant cluster of embryonic cells produced by a freshwater sponge for development in more favourable conditions", Mid 19th century: from French, from Latin gemmula, diminutive of gemma 'bud, jewel'.
platy: "A small live-bearing freshwater fish of Central America, which is popular in aquaria", Early 20th century: colloquial abbreviation of modern Latin Platypoecilus (former genus name), from Greek platus 'broad' + poikilos 'variegated'.
callop: "A deep-bodied edible gold and green freshwater fish found in Australia", 1920s: perhaps from an Aboriginal language of southern Australia.
melanian: "A freshwater snail of the former family Melaniidae (now separated into the Melanopsidae, Pleuroceridae, and Thiaridae)", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in The Penny Cyclopaedia. From scientific Latin Melania, genus name + -an, after French mélanien.