词源字典 D.doc

D-day 1918, date set for the beginning of a military operation, with D as an abbreviation of day, cf. H-hour, also from the same military order of Sept. 7, 1918: The First Army will attack at H-Hour on D-Day with the object of forcing the evacuation of the St. Mihiel salient. Field Order No. 8, First Army, A.E.F.They designate the day and hour of the operation when the day and hour have not yet been determined, or where secrecy is essential U.S. Army Center of Military History Web site. Now almost exclusively of June 6, 1944. D.D.T. 1943, from dichlorodiphenyltrichlorethane; first made in U.S. by Geigey & Co. D.T. abbreviation of delirium tremens (q.v.), attested from 1858. dab c.1307, heavy blow with a weapon, from dabben to strike, perhaps imitative. Modern sense of strike with a slight, quick pressure developed by 1592, infl. by Fr. dauber (see daub). Dab hand is British slang, 1828, from dab expert (1691), said to be school slang, of unknown origin. dabble 1557, frequentative of dab. Original meaning was wet by splashing; modern fig. sense first recorded 1625. dachshund 1881, from Ger. Dachshund, from Dachs, from common I.E. word for badger (cf. L. taxus, taxo) + Hund dog. Probably so called because the dogs were used in badger hunts, their long, thin bodies bred to burrow into setts. Dacron 1951, proprietary name (reg. U.S. Patent Office) by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.; an invented word, on the model of nylon, etc. dactyl 1398, from Gk. dactylos finger, of unknown origin; the metrical use (a long syllable followed by two short ones) is by analogy with the three joints of a finger. dad recorded from 1500, but probably much older, from childs speech, nearly universal and probably prehistoric (cf. Welsh tad, Ir. daid, Czech, L., Gk. tata, Lith. tete, Skt. tatah all of the same meaning). Daddylonglegs is from 1814; daddy-o is first recorded 1949, from bop talk. dada 1920, from Fr. dada hobbyhorse, childs nonsense word, selected 1916 by Romanian poet Tristan Tzara, leader of the movement, for its resemblance to meaningless babble. Freedom: DADA DADA DADA, the howl of clashing colors, the intertwining of all contradictions, grotesqueries, trivialities: LIFE. T. Tzara, Dada Manifesto, 1918Daedalus from Gk. Daidalos, lit. the cunning worker, from daidallein to work artfully. daffodil 1548, variant of M.E. affodill asphodel, from M.L. affodillus, from L. asphodelus, from Gk. asphodelos, of unknown origin. The initial d- is perhaps from merging of the article in Du. de affodil, the Netherlands being a source for bulbs. First reference to the flower we know by this name (Narcissus pseudo-Narcissus) is from 1592. daffy 1884, perhaps from daft (q.v.), or from obs. daffe halfwit (cf. 15c. daffish), of unknown origin. daft O.E. gedfte gentle, becoming, from P.Gmc. *gadaftjaz. Sense progression from mildness to dullness (14c.) to foolish (15c.) to crazy (1536), probably influenced by analogy with daffe halfwit. dagger 1375, apparently from O.Fr. dague dagger, from O.Prov. dague, of uncertain origin, perhaps from V.L. *daca Dacian knife, from the Roman province in modern Romania. The ending is possibly the faintly pejorative -ard suffix. Attested earlier (1279) as a surname (Dagard, presumably one who carried a dagger). dago 1823, from Sp. Diego James, orig. used of Sp. or Port. sailors on Eng. or Amer. ships, by 1900 it had broadened to include non-sailors and shifted to mean chiefly Italian. daguerreotype 1839, from Fr., coined from name of inventor, Louis Daguerre. dahlia 1804, named 1791 for Anders Dahl, Sw. botanist who discovered it in Mexico. No blue variety had ever been cultivated, hence blue dahlia, fig. for something impossible or unattainable (1880). daily O.E. dglic (see day). This form is known from compounds, twadglic happening once in two days, reodglic happening once in three days; the more usual O.E. word was dghwamlic. dainty c.1225, from O.Fr. daintie (n.) price, value, also delicacy, pleasure, from L. dignitatem (nom. dignitas) worthiness, worth, beauty, from dignus worthy (see dignity). Adj. use first recorded c.1300. Meaning evolved from choice, excellent, to delicately pretty. daiquiri type of alcoholic drink, 1920 (first recorded in F. Scott Fitzgerald), from Daiquiri, name of a district or village in eastern Cuba. dairy 1290, from Anglo-Fr. -erie suffix affixed to M.E. daie (in daie maid dairymaid), from O.E. dge kneader of bread, housekeeper, female servant (see dey (1). The native word was dey-house. dais c.1259, from Anglo-Fr. deis, from O.Fr. dais table, platform, from L. discus disk-shaped object, also, by medieval times, table, from Gk. diskos quoit, disk, dish. Died out in Eng. c.1600, preserved in Scotland, revived 19c. by antiquarians. daisy O.E. dgesege, from dges eage days eye, because the petals open at dawn and close at dusk. In M.L. it was solis oculus suns eye. Daisy-cutter first attested 1791, originally of horses that trotted with low steps; later of cricket (1889) and baseball hits that skim along the ground. Daisy-chain in the group sex sense is attested from 1941. Pushing up daisies dead is attested from 1918, but variant with the same meaning go back to 1842. Dakota group of native peoples from the Plains states speaking a Siouan language, from a word often translated as allies; cf. Dakota dakhota friendly. Lakota represents the pronunciation in western dialects; in other dialects it is Nakota. dale O.E. dl, from P.Gmc. *dalan valley, preserved from extinction in north of England by Norse infl. Akin to words for bow (v.), probably through the notion of a bend in the ground. dally c.1300, possibly from Anglo-Fr. dalier to amuse oneself, of uncertain origin. Dalmatian 1810, spotted dog, presumably named for Dalmatia, the reach of modern Croatia along the Adriatic coast, but dog breeders argue over whether there is a Croatian ancestry for the breed, which seems to be represented in Egyptian bas-reliefs and Hellenic friezes. Popular in early 1800s as a carriage dog, to trot alongside carriages and guard them in owners absence. Even fire departments nowadays tend to spell it Dalmation. dam (1) water barrier, c.1325, probably from O.N. dammr or M.Du. dam, both from P.Gmc. *dammaz, of unknown origin. dam (2) animal mother, 1297, variant of dame (q.v.), also originally used, like that word, for lady, mother; but meanings diverged into separate spellings by 16c. damage 1292, from O.Fr. damage loss caused by injury, from dam damage, from L. damnum loss, hurt, damage. damask c.1250, Damaske cloth from Damascus, the Syrian city, famous in medieval times for steel and silk, from Gk. Damaskos, from Ar. Dimashq. dame c.1225, from O.Fr. dame, from L.L. domna, from L. domina lady, mistress of the house, from L. domus house (see domestic). Legal title for the wife of a knight or baronet. Slang sense of woman first attested 1902 in Amer.Eng. damn c.1280, to condemn, from O.Fr. damner, derivative of L. noun damnare, from damnum damage, loss, hurt. Latin word evolved a legal meaning of pronounce judgment upon. Theological sense is first recorded c.1325; the optative expletive use likely is as old. To be not worth a damn is from 1817. Damn Yankee, characteristic Southern U.S. term for Northerner, is attested from 1812. Damocles courtier of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse; his name in Gk. means lit. fame of the people, from demos, damos people (see demotic) + -kles fame, a common ending in Gk. proper names (e.g. Sophocles, Pericles), from PIE *klew-es, from base *kleu- to hear (see listen). To teach Damocles how a tyrant lives, Dionysius seated him at a banquet with a sword suspended above his head by a single hair. damp attested from 1316, probably in O.E., but no record of it. If not, probably from M.L.G. damp; ult. from P.Gmc. *dampaz. Originally a noxious vapor; sense of moisture is first attested 1706. Damper of a piano is from 1783; of a chimney, 1788; either or both of which led to various fig. senses. damsel 1199, from O.Fr. dameisele, modified by association with dame from earlier donsele, from Gallo-Romance *domnicella, dim. of L. domina lady (see dame). Archaic until revived by romantic poets, along with 16c.-17c. variant form damozel. dance c.1300, from O.Fr. dancier, perhaps from Frankish. A word of uncertain origin but which, through French influence in arts and society, has become the primary word for this activity from Spain to Russia. Replaced O.E. sealtian. dandelion 1513, from M.Fr. dent de lion, lit. lions tooth (from its toothed leaves), transl. of M.L. dens leonis. Other folk names, like tell-time refer to the custom of telling the time by blowing the white seed (the number of puffs required to blow them all off supposedly being the number of the hour), or to the plants more authentic diuretic qualities, preserved in M.E. piss-a-bed and Fr. pissenlit. dander 1831, Amer.Eng., temper, originally (W.Indies) fermentation of sugar, perhaps from Sp. redundar to overflow, from L. redundare. dandle 1530, of unknown origin. dandruff 1545, first element obscure, second element is Northumbrian or E. Anglian dial. huff, hurf scab, from O.N. hrufa, from P.Gmc. *hreufaz, source of O.E. hreofla leper. dandy (n.) c.1780, of uncertain origin, first appeared in a Scottish border ballad: Ive heard my granny crackO sixty twa years backWhen there were sic a stock of Dandies Oetc. In that region, Dandy is dim. of Andrew. In vogue in London c.1813-19. His fem. counterpart was a dandizette (1821) with Fr.-type ending. The adjective dandy first recorded 1792; very popular c.1880-1900. Dane from Dan. Daner, replacing O.E. Dene (pl.), used in O.E. of Northmen generally. Applied 1774 to a breed of large dogs. Danegeld not known by that name in O.E., or until 1086, long after the end of the Viking depredations. Supposedly originally a tax to pay for protection from the Northmen (either to outfit defensive armies or to buy peace). Danelaw (c.1050) was the Danish law in force over that large part of England under Viking rule after c.878; the application to the land itself is modern (1837). dang 1793, euphemism for damn. danger c.1225, power of a lord or master, jurisdiction, from Anglo-Fr. daunger, from O.Fr. dangier power to harm, mastery, alteration (due to assoc. with damnum) of dongier, from V.L. *dominarium power of a lord, from L. dominus lord, master (see domain). Modern sense of risk, peril (from being in the control of someone or something else) evolved first in Fr., and in Eng. 1375. Replaced O.E. pleoh. dangle c.1590, probably from Scandinavian (cf. Dan. dangle, Norw. dangla), perhaps via N.Fris. dangeln. Daniel proper name, Heb., lit. God is my judge; related to Dan, lit. he who judges, the tribe descended from Jacobs son of that name in O.T. Danish O.E. Denisc people of Denmark; danish pastry is 1934; shortened form danish is from 1963. dank c.1400, earlier as a verb (c.1310), now obsolete, meaning to moisten, used of mists, dews, etc. Perhaps from Scand. or German. Now largely superseded by damp. dapper c.1440, from M.Du. or M.L.G. dapper bold, strong, sturdy, from P.Gmc. *dapraz; perhaps with ironical shift of meaning. dapple c.1400 (dappled), perhaps a back-formation from dapple-grey apple-grey (c.1386), by resemblance to the markings on an apple (cf. O.N. apalgrar dapple-gray), or, as it was used of gray horses with round blotches, perhaps of apples themselves. dare O.E. durran to brave danger, from P.Gmc. *ders-, from PIE *dhers- (cf. Skt. dadharsha to be bold, O.Pers. dar- to dare, Gk. thrasys bold, O.C.S. druzate to be bold, dare). An O.E. irregular preterite-present verb: darr, dearst, dear were first, second and third person singular present indicative; mostly regularized 16c., though past tense dorste survived as durst, but is now dying, persisting mainly in northern Eng. dialect. Meaning to challenge or defy (someone) is first recorded 1580. Daredevil is from 1794. Darius name of three Persian rulers, notably Darius the Great, Persian emperor 521-485 BCE, from Gk. Darius, from O.Pers. Darayavaus, probably lit. he who holds firm the good. dark O.E. deorc, from P.Gmc. *derkaz. Absence of light especially at night is the original meaning. Meaning gloomy, cheerless was also in O.E. The Anglo-Saxons also had a useful verb, sweorcan, meaning to grow dark. Application to colors is 16c. Theater slang for closed is from 1916; darky, for black person is from 1775; dark horse is 1842, from horse racing. In the dark ignorant first recorded 1677; Dark Ages is from 1730, in reference to the illiterate and uneducated state of Europe for centuries after the fall of Rome. darling O.E. deorling, double dim. of deor dear. The vowel shift from -e- to -a- (16c.) is usual for -er- followed by a consonant. It is better to be An olde mans derlyng, than a yong mans werlyng (1562). darn (1) mend c.1600, perhaps from M.Fr. darner mend, from darne piece, from Breton darn piece, fragment, part. Alternative etymology is from obs. dern, from O.E. diernan to hide, from dierne secret, from W.Gmc. *darnjaz. darn (2) tame curse word, 1781, Amer.Eng. euphemism for damn, said to have originated in New England when swearing was a punishable offense; if so, its spread was probably infl. by tarnal, short for Eternal, as in By the Eternal (God), favorite exclamation of Andrew Jackson, among others. dart c.1314, from O.Fr. dart, from P.Gmc. *darothuz, source of O.E. daro. Verb meaning to move like a dart is attested from 1619. Darwinism 1864, from Charles Darwin (1809-1882), whose major works were The Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871). Darwins family name is from O.E. deorwine dear-friend (10c.) dash 1297, probably from a Scandinavian source, somehow imitative. The oldest sense is that in dash to pieces and dashed hopes. Intrans. meaning move quickly appeared c.1300, that of to write hurriedly is 1726. Sporting sense of race run in one heat is from 1881. Dashboard of an automobile is first recorded 1904, from earlier meaning board in front of a carriage to stop mud from being splashed (dashed) into the vehicle by the horses hoofs (1846). dashiki 1969, of W.Afr. origin. dashing 1801, given to cutting a dash, (1786), which was a colloquial expression for acting brilliantly, from dash in the sense of showy appearance, which is attested from 1715. dastardly 1567, showing despicable cowardice, originally dull, from M.E. dastard (c.1440), from *dast dazed, pp. of dasen to daze + -ard deprecatory suffix. The earliest sense of dastard was one who is lazy or dull; sense of one who shrinks from danger is 1470s. data 1646, pl. of datum, from L. datum (thing) given, neuter pp. of dare to give (see date (1). Meaning transmittable and storable computer information first recorded 1946. Data processing is from 1954. Database formed 1962, from data + base. date (1) time, c.1330, from O.Fr. date, from M.L. data, noun use of fem. sing. of L. datus given, pp. of dare to give, grant, offer, from PIE base *do- to give (cf. Skt. dadati gives, O.Pers. dadatuv let him give, O.C.S. dati give, Gk. didomi, didonai, to give, offer, O.Ir. dan gift, talent). The Roman convention of closing every article of correspondence by writing given and the day and month - meaning given to messenger - led to data becoming a term for the time (and place) stated. The meaning to give is also the root of the grammatical dative (M.E.), the case of giving. Dateline in the journalism sense is attested from 1888. Phrase up to date (1890) is from bookkeeping. Dated old-fashioned is attested from 1900. Date (n.) romantic liaison is from 1885, gradually evolving from the general sense of appointment; the verb in this sense is first recorded 1902. Meaning person one has a date with is from 1925. Blind date first recorded 1925, but probably in use before that. Date rape first attested 1975. date (2) fruit, c.1290, from O.Fr. date, from O.Prov. datil, from L. dactylus, from Gk. daktylos date, orig. finger, toe, because of fancied resemblance between oblong fruit of the date palm and human digits. Possibly from a Sem. source (cf. Heb. deqel, Aram. diqla, Arabic daqal date palm) and assimilated to the Gk. word for finger. daub c.1325, from O.Fr. dauber to whitewash, plaster, probably from L. dealbare, from de- thoroughly + albare to whiten, from albus white. Painting sense is from 1630. daughter O.E. dohtor, from P.Gmc. *dochter, earlier *dhukter, from PIE *dhugheter (cf. Ger. tochter, Skt. duhitar-, Armenian dustr, O.C.S. dusti, Lith. dukte, Gk. thygater). The modern spelling evolved in southern England, 16c. daunt c.1300, from O.Fr. danter, var. of donter, from L. domitare, freq. of domare to tame (see tame). Originally to vanquish; sense of to intimidate is from c.1475. dauphin eldest son of the king of France (title in use from 1349-1830), 1485, from Fr. dauphin, lit. dolphin (see dolphin). Originally the title attached to the Dauphin of Viennois, whose province (in the Fr. Alps north of Provence) came to be known as Dauphin. Three dolphins were on the coat of arms of the lords of Viennois, first worn by Guido IV (d.1142). It is said to have been originally a personal name among the lords of Viennois. Humbert III, the last lord of Dauphin, ceded the province to Philip of Valois in 1349, on condition that the title be perpetuated by the eldest son