導讀： 簡介: 內容介紹：The average contemporary English speaker knows 50,000 words. Yet stripped down to its origins, this apparently huge vocabulary is in reality much smaller, derived from Latin, French and the G 簡介:


內容介紹：
The average contemporary English speaker knows 50,000 words. Yet stripped down to its origins, this apparently huge vocabulary is in reality much smaller, derived from Latin, French and the Germanic languages. It is estimated that every year, 800 neologisms are added to the English language: acronyms (nimby), blended words (motel), and those taken from foreign languages (savoir-faire). Laid out in an A-Z format with detailed cross references, and written in a style that is both authoritative and accessible, Word Origins is a valuable historical guide to the English language.
　　
This in-depth exploration of the English language covers every nuance and curiosity of this constantly evolving linguistic pastiche. It is estimated that every year 800 neologisms are added to the English language, and include acronyms (NIMBY, Not In My Backyard), blended words (motel), and those taken from foreign languages (savoir-faire). Laid out in an a-to-z format with detailed cross-references and written to appeal equally to students, etymologists, and nonnative speakers, this historical guide is an invaluable resource for this truly global lingua franca.
引用(依然下午 2012 03 05, 07 35 AM)
（新浪博客 Andrew）
三本詞源字典那本更適合初學者？
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第三本，也是我著重向初學者推薦的就是
Word Origins -The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z.
該字典的涵蓋詞匯量比較少，但是簡單易懂，每個詞的介紹都是一片小的段落，邏輯性較強，詞義發展解讀的跳躍性不大，能比較清晰地了解每個詞的詞義以及變體怎麼發展的，對初步建立詞源發展的思路有較好的幫助。
舉例如下：
See ：English has two words see. The older is the verb, ‘perceive visually’ [OE]. Like its Germanic cousins, German sehen, Dutch zien, and Swedish and Danish se, it goes back to a prehistoric *sekhwan, which was descended from an Indo-European base *seq-. This may have been the same *seq- that produced Latin sequī ‘follow’ (source of English sequence, sue, etc), in which case see would denote etymologically ‘follow with the eyes’. See ‘diocese’ originally signified ‘bishop’s throne’. It came via Anglo-Norman se from Vulgar Latin *sedem ‘seat’, descendant of classical Latin sēdem, the accusative case of sēdes ‘seat’. This in turn went back to the Indo- European base *sed- ‘sit’, which also produced English sit.
SIGHT; SEAT, SIT
引用(依然下午 2012 03 05, 08 13 AM)
第二個常用的詞源字典就是
在線詞源字典 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php
這本字典相對於kelin’s字典來講，就簡單易讀，有其特有的專有詞縮寫，但是基本的思路比較清晰，學習起來比較方便，詞之間的來龍去脈基本用句子連接貫穿起來了，但是對於初學者來講也許不能清楚的理解其意義的發展與擴展。該詞典的涵蓋詞匯量也很大。
舉例如下：
See : O.E. seon (contracted class V strong verb; past tense seah, pp. sewen), from P.Gmc. *sekhwanan (cf. O.S., O.H.G. sehan, M.H.G., Ger. sehen, O.Fris. sia, M.Du. sien, O.N. sja, Goth. saihwan), from PIE base *sekw- to see, which is probably the same base that produced words for say in Greek and Latin, and also words for follow (cf. L. sequor), but opinions differ in regard to the semantic starting-point and sequences [Buck]. Thus see could originally mean follow with the eyes. Used in M.E. to mean behold in the imagination or in a dream (c.1200), to recognize the force of (a demonstration), also c.1200, often with ref. to metaphorical light or eyes [OED], and to learn by reading (early 15c.). Past tense saw developed from O.E. pl. sawon.引用(依然下午 2012 03 05, 08 06 AM)
（新浪博客 Andrew）
Klein’s comprehensive etymological dictionary of the English language 點擊此處下載
該詞典涵蓋詞匯量非常大，基本上我們能遇到的單詞這裡都有所講解，但是相對來講其專業性較強。涵蓋語種比較多，而且希臘單詞保留原來的希臘字母，沒有改寫成拉丁字母，不熟悉希臘字母的同學可能辨認起來很費力，舉例如下：
See : tr. And intr. V., to perceive with the eyes. – ME.seen, sen, fr, OE. seon，rel. to OS., OHG. sehan, MHG., G. sehen, OFris. sia, MDu. Sien, Du. zien, ON. sja,Norw. sjaa, Dan., Swed. se, Goth. saihan, and prob. Cogn. With Hitt. Sakwa-,’eye’; fr. Teut. Base *sehw-, corresponding to I.-E. base *seqw-, ‘to see’, which is etymologically identical with *seq w- in the sense ‘to point out, to say’. See say, v., and cp. Seem, sight.
作者介紹：
John Ayto is an experienced lexicographer and author of many language titles. He is Chief Etymologist on the Bloomsbury English Dictionary.
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