other的词源
英文词源
- other
- other: [OE] Other is one of a widespread family of Germanic words expressing ‘alternative’, represented today also by German and Dutch ander. The prehistoric ancestor of all three was *antheraz, which came ultimately from an Indo- European *ánteros. This, a comparative formation based on *an-, may have been related to Latin alter ‘other’ (source of English alter, alternative, etc).
- other (adj.)
- Old English oþer "the second" (adj.), also as a pronoun, "one of the two, other," from Proto-Germanic *antharaz (cognates: Old Saxon athar, Old Frisian other, Old Norse annarr, Middle Dutch and Dutch ander, Old High German andar, German ander, Gothic anþar "other").
These are from PIE *an-tero-, variant of *al-tero- "the other of two" (source of Lithuanian antras, Sanskrit antarah "other, foreign," Latin alter), from root *al- (1) "beyond" (see alias (adv.)) + adjectival comparative suffix *-tero-. The Old English, Old Saxon, and Old Frisian forms show "a normal loss of n before fricatives" [Barnhart]. Meaning "different" is mid-13c.
Sense of "second" was detached from this word in English (which uses second, from Latin) and German (zweiter, from zwei "two") to avoid ambiguity. In Scandinavian, however, the second floor is still the "other" floor (Swedish andra, Danish anden). Also compare Old English oþergeara "next year."
The other woman "a woman with whom a man begins a love affair while he is already committed" is from 1855. The other day originally (mid-12c.) was "the next day;" later (c. 1300) "yesterday;" and now, loosely, "a day or two ago" (early 15c.). Phrase other half in reference to either the poor or the rich, is recorded from c. 1600.La moitié du monde ne sçayt comment l'aultre vit. [Rabelais, "Pantagruel," 1532]
中文词源
来自古英语other,来自PIE*an-tero,异化自PIE*al-tero,两个中的另外一个，来自*al,另外，其它，词源同alias,else,*tero,比较级后缀，词源同alternate,exterior.在古英语中鼻音n在摩擦音前自然脱落。
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：other 词源，other 含义。
