X的词源

英文词源

X

The entire entry for X in Johnson's dictionary (1756) is: "X is a letter, which, though found in Saxon words, begins no word in the English language." Most English words beginning in -x- are of Greek origin or modern commercial coinages. East Anglian in 14c. showed a tendency to use -x- for initial sh-, sch- (such as xal for shall), which didn't catch on but seems an improvement over the current system. As a symbol of a kiss on a letter, etc., it is recorded from 1765. In malt liquor, XX denoted "double quality" and XXX "strongest quality" (1827).

Algebraic meaning "unknown quantity" (1660 in English, from French), sometimes is said to be from medieval use, originally a crossed -r-, in that case probably from Latin radix (see root (n.)). Other theories trace it to Arabic (Klein), but a more prosaic explanation says Descartes (1637) took x, y, z, the last three letters of the alphabet, for unknowns to correspond to a, b, c, used for known quantities.

Used allusively for "unknown person" from 1797, "something unknown" since 1859. As a type of chromosome, attested from 1902 (first so called in German; Henking, 1891). To designate "films deemed suitable for adults only," first used 1950 in Britain; adopted in U.S. Nov. 1, 1968. The XYZ Affair in American history (1797) involved French agents designated by those letters.

x (v.)

"cross out with an 'X'," 1942, from X.

中文词源

X：英语字母表的第二十四个字母

英语字母 X 来自希腊字母chi,来自腓尼基字母Samekh, 鱼。

X，英语字母表的第24个字母，相当于希腊字母表的第22个字母Χ (chi)。其实前者系借自后者，而后者则源自腓尼基语中一个代表“鱼”、读如samekh的象形字母。X在罗马数字中代表10，在代数学和数学中X通常被用以表示未知数。当代数学从阿拉伯传入欧洲时，阿拉伯语中表示“未知数”的shei一词被移译为xei，于是首字母X就成了未知数的常用代号。关于字母X的由来，还有这样一种说法：X原为表示接吻（kiss）之象形符号，若写如χ，看起来确有点像两张嘴在亲吻。这种解释可能出自俗词源。（参见A）

该词的英语词源请访问找单词词源英文版：X 词源，X 含义。