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suffer [suffer 词源字典]: suffer: [13] To suffer something is etymologically to ‘hold it up from underneath’, to ‘sustain’ it’. The word comes via Anglo-Norman suffrir from Vulgar Latin *sufferīre, an alteration of Latin sufferre ‘sustain’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘up from underneath’ and ferre ‘carry’ (a relative of English bear). The word’s modern meaning evolved from ‘sustain’ via ‘undergo’ and ‘undergo something unpleasant’ to ‘endure’.
=> bear[suffer etymology, suffer origin, 英语词源]
sufficient: sufficient: [14] Sufficient originated as the present participle of Latin sufficere ‘be enough’ (source also of English suffice [14]). This was a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’ and facere ‘do, make’ (source of English fact, factory, etc). It originally meant literally ‘put under’, and the notion of ‘enough’ evolved via ‘cause to take the place of’.
=> fact, factory, fashion
suffix: suffix: see fix
suffocate: suffocate: [16] To suffocate someone is etymologically to press down their ‘throat’. The word comes from the past participle of Latin suffocāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under, down’ and faucēs ‘throat’ (source of the English technical term faucal ‘of the throat’ [19]). The origins of faucēs are not known.
=> faucal
sugar: sugar: [13] The ultimate source of sugar is Sanskrit, where the substance was named with a term that originally meant ‘gravel, grit’ – sharkarā. This was borrowed into Arabic as sukkar, which made its way into English via medieval Latin succarum, Italian zucchero, and Old French sukere. The Sanskrit word was also acquired by Greek as sákkharon, which passed into English through medieval Latin saccharum as saccharin.
=> saccharin
suggest: suggest: [16] To suggest something is etymologically to ‘carry it under’. It comes from the past participle of Latin suggerere, a compound verb formed from the suffix sub- and gerere ‘carry’ (source also of English digest, gesture, etc). Its meaning evolved via ‘heap up, build’ and ‘furnish a supply’ to ‘bring forward an idea’.
=> congest, digest, gesture
suit: suit: [13] As in the case of its first cousins sect and set, the etymological notion underlying suit is ‘following’. It comes via Anglo-Norman siute from Vulgar Latin *sequita, a noun use of the feminine past participle of *sequere ‘follow’, which in turn was an alteration of Latin sequī ‘follow’ (source of English consequence, persecute, sequence, etc).

It was originally used for a ‘body of followers, retinue’, and it passed from this via a ‘set of things in general’ to (in the 15th century) a ‘set of clothes or armour’. Suite [17] is essentially the same word, but borrowed from modern French. A suitor [13] is etymologically a ‘follower’.
=> sect, set, sue, suite
sulk: sulk: [18] Sulk was a back-formation from sulky [18], which in turn was derived from the now obsolete sulke ‘sluggish’ [17]. It has been plausibly suggested that this may have been descended from Old English āsolcen ‘sluggish, inactive’, an adjectival use of the past participle of āseolcan ‘be lazy or slow’. In the mid-18th century the term sulky was applied to a ‘singleseat carriage’, from the notion of the ‘standoffishness’ of a lone driver.
sullen: sullen: [16] The etymological notion underlying sullen is of being miserable because one is ‘on one’s own’. The word comes from Anglo- Norman *solein ‘alone’, hence ‘miserable’, a derivative of Old French soul ‘alone’ (source of English sole).
=> sole, solo
sully: sully: see soil
sulphur: sulphur: [14] The origins of Latin sulphur are not known, although it may have links with German schwefel ‘sulphur’. It has spread throughout the Romance languages (French soufre, Italian solfo, and, with the addition of Arabic al ‘the’, Spanish azufre), and has been borrowed into Dutch as sulfer and into English (where it eventually replaced the native brimstone [12], etymologically ‘burning stone’) as sulphur.
sultan: sultan: [16] Arabic sultān meant ‘ruler’. It was derived from Aramaic shultānā ‘power’, which in turn was based on the verb shəlēt ‘have power’. English acquired the word via medieval Latin sultānus. The Italian version of the word is sultano, whose feminine form has given English sultana ‘sultan’s wife’ [16]. The word was applied to a variety of small raisin (originally in full sultana raisin) in the early 19th century.
sum: sum: [13] Latin summus meant ‘highest’ (a meaning preserved in English summit [15], which is ultimately derived from it); it evolved from an earlier *supmus, a superlative form based on the stem of Latin super ‘above’ (source of English super). When the Romans counted up columns of figures they worked from the bottom upwards, and put the total on top – whence the use of the expression rēs summa, literally ‘highest thing’, for ‘total’. This was eventually shortened to summa, which reached English via Old French summe. Other derivatives in English include consummate [15] and summary [15].
=> consummate, summary, summit
summer: summer: [OE] Summer is a general Germanic word, with relatives in German and Danish sommer, Dutch zomer, and Swedish sommar. It goes back ultimately to an Indo-European base *sem-, which also produced Welsh haf ‘summer’ and Sanskrit sámā ‘year, season’.
summit: summit: see sum
summon: summon: see monster
sumptuous: sumptuous: [15] Etymologically, sumptuous denotes ‘expensive, costly’; its modern connotations of ‘luxury’ or ‘lavishness’ are a secondary development. It comes via Old French somptueux from Latin sumptuōsus, a derivative of sumptus ‘expense’. This in turn was based on the past participle of the verb sūmere ‘spend, consume, take’ (source also of English assume [15], consume [14], presume [14], resume [15], and subsume [16]). And sūmere in turn was a compound verb, formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’ and emere ‘take’ (source of English example, redeem, etc).
=> assume, consume, example, presume, redeem, resume, sample, subsume
sun: sun: [OE] Not surprisingly, considering the central importance of the sun to human life, the word for it in the vast majority of modern European languages goes back to a common Indo-European source – *sāu- or *su-. These variants have however differentiated into several distinct camps. The *sāu- form adopted an -lsuffix, and evolved into Greek hélios (source of English heliotrope), Latin sōl (whence French soleil, Italian sole, and Spanish sol, not to mention English solar, solarium, etc), Welsh haul, and Swedish and Danish sol.

The *suform with an -l- ending has given Russian solnce, Czech slunce, Serbo-Croat sunce, etc. But the modern West Germanic languages have inherited the *su- form with an -n- suffix, giving German sonne, Dutch zon, and English sun.
=> heliotrope, solar, solarium
sundae: sundae: [19] The ice-cream concoction known as a ‘sundae’ first appeared on the scene in America, at the end of the 19th century. It is generally agreed that its name is an alteration of Sunday, but the why and the how remain unclear. As far as the change in spelling is concerned (sundi was another early variant), it seems plausible that it was intended to placate those who might have been offended by naming a dessert after the Lord’s day.

But why Sunday? Perhaps, it has been speculated, because ice cream was a dessert that could be eaten on Sunday without offending propriety; or because it was a special sort of ice cream that could be sold on Sundays without breaking the Sabbath trading laws; or because it was made of assorted odds and ends of ice cream left over from Sunday. The jury is still out.
Sunday: Sunday: [OE] Sunday is part of the general system of naming days of the week after heavenly bodies inherited by the Germanic peoples from the ancient Mediterranean world. The Romans called the day diēs sōlis ‘day of the sun’, which in translation has become German sonntag, Dutch zondag, Swedish söndag, Danish söndag, and English sunday. Welsh retains the term (dydd sul), but the Romance languages have gone over to variations on ‘Lord’s day’ (French dimanche, Spanish domingo, etc).