新编简明英语语言学教程第七章课后习题1

新编简明英语语言学教程第七章课后习题1
size (n.)
c.1300, "an ordinance to fix the amount of a payment or tax," from O.Fr. sise, shortened form of assise "session, assessment, regulation, manner" (see assize), probably a misdivision of l'assise as la sise. The sense of "extent, amount, magnitude" (c.1400) is from the notion of regulating something by fixing the amount of it (weights, food portions, etc.). Specific sense of "set of dimensions of an article of clothing or shoe" is attested from 1591. Sizeable "fairly large" is recorded from 1613.
skill
c.1175, "power of discernment," from O.N. skil "distinction, discernment," related to skilja (v.) "distinguish, separate," from P.Gmc. *skaljo- "divide, separate" (cf. M.L.G. schillen "to differ;" M.L.G., M.Du. schele "difference;" see shell). Sense of "ability, cleverness" first recorded c.1300.
royal
c.1250, from O.Fr. roial, from L. regalis, from rex (gen. regis) "king" (see rex). Battle royal (1672) preserves the Fr. custom of putting the adj. after the noun (cf. attorney general); the sense of the adj. here is "on a grand scale." As a modifier meaning "thorough, total" royal is attested in Eng. from 1940s. Royalist first recorded 1643. The Royal Oak was a tree in Boscobel in Shropshire in which Charles II hid himself during flight after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Sprigs of oak were worn to commemorate his restoration in 1660.
ranch
1808, "country house," from Amer.Sp. rancho "small
farm, group of farm huts," from Sp. rancho, originally, "group of people who eat together," from ranchear "to lodge or station," from O.Fr. ranger "install in position," from rang "row, line" (see rank (n.)). Sense of "large cattle-breeding estate" is from 1831. Meaning "single-story split-level house" is from 1960. Ranchero "one employed on a ranch" is from 1826.
robot
1923, from Eng. translation of 1920 play "R.U.R." ("Rossum's Universal Robots"), by Karel Capek (1890-1938), from Czech robotnik "slave," from robota "forced labor, drudgery," from robotiti "to work, drudge," from an Old Czech source akin to Old Church Slavonic rabota "servitude," from rabu "slave" (see orphan), from a Slavic stem related to Ger. Arbeit "work" (O.H.G. arabeit). According to Rawson the word was popularized by Karel Capek's play, "but was coined by his brother Josef (the two often collaborated), who used it initially in a short story." Robotics coined 1941 in a science fiction context by Isaac Asimov, who proposed the "Three Laws of Robotics" in 1968.
potato
1565, from Sp. patata, from Carib (Haiti) batata "sweet potato." Sweet potatoes were first to be introduced to Europe; in cultivation in Spain by mid-16c.; in Virginia by 1648. Early 16c. Port. traders carried the crop to all their shipping ports and the sweet potato was quickly adopted from
Africa to India and Java. The name later (1597) was extended to the common white potato, from Peru, which was at first (mistakenly) called Virginia potato, or, because at first it was of minor importance compared to the sweet potato, bastard potato. Sp. invaders in Peru began to use white potatoes as cheap food for sailors 1536. The first potato from South America reached Pope Paul III in 1540; grown in France at first as an ornamental plant. According to popular tradition, introduced to Ireland 1565 by John Hawkins. Brought to England from Colombia by Sir Thomas Herriot, 1586. Ger. kartoffel is from It. tartufolo "truffle." Frederick II forced its cultivation on Prussian peasants in 1743. The Fr. is pomme de terre, lit. "earth-apple;" a Swed. dialectal word for "potato" is jordpäron, lit. "earth-pear." Colloquial pronunciation tater is attested in print from 1759. To drop (something) like a hot potato is from 1846. Children's counting-out rhyme that begins one potato, two potato first recorded 1885 in Canada.
astronaut
coined 1929 (but popularized 1961) from astro-, comb. form of Gk. astron "star" + nautes "sailor." Fr. astronautique (adj.) had been coined 1927 by "J.H. Rosny."
emerald
c.1300, from O.Fr. emeraude, from M.L. esmaraldus, from L. smaragdus, from Gk. smaragdos "green gem," from Sem. baraq "shine" (cf. Heb. bareqeth "emerald," Arabic barq "lightning"). Skt. maragdam "emerald" is from the same source, as is Pers. zumurrud, whence Turk. zümrüd, source of Rus. izumrud "emeral
d."
pagoda
1582, from Port. pagode (1516), from a corruption of Pers. butkada, from but "idol" + kada "dwelling." Or perhaps from or infl. by Tamil pagavadi "house belonging to a deity," from Skt. bhagavati "goddess," fem. of bhagavat "blessed, adorable," from *bhagah "good fortune," from PIE base *bhag- "to share out, apportion" (cf. Gk. phagein "to eat;" see -phagous).
khaki
1857, from Urdu khaki, lit. "dusty," from khak "dust," from Pers. First introduced in uniforms of British cavalry in India (the Guide Corps, 1846); widely adopted for camouflage purposes in the Boer Wars (1899-1902).
bulldoze
1876, originally bulldose "a severe beating or lashing," lit. "a dose fit for a bull," a slang word referring to the beating of black voters (by either blacks or whites) in the 1876 U.S. presidential election. A bulldozer was a person who intimidates by violence until the meaning was extended to ground-clearing caterpillar tractor in 1930.
hoodlum
1871, Amer.Eng. (first in ref. to San Francisco) "young street rowdy, loafer," later (1877) "young criminal, gangster," of unknown origin, though newspapers have printed myriad stories concocted to account for it. A guess perhaps better than average is that it is from Ger. dial. (Bavarian) Huddellump "ragamuffin."。