colon的词源

英文词源

colon: colon: There are two distinct words colon in English. Colon ‘part of the large intestine’ [16] comes via Latin from Greek kólon, which meant ‘food, meat’ as well as ‘large intestine’. Colon the punctuation mark [16] comes via Latin from Greek kōlon, which originally meant literally ‘limb’. It was applied metaphorically (rather like foot) to a ‘unit of verse’, and hence to a ‘clause’ in general, meanings which survive in English as technical terms. From there it was a short step to the main present-day meaning, ‘punctuation mark’.
colon (n.1): punctuation mark, 1540s, from Latin colon "part of a poem," from Greek kolon (with a long initial -o-) "part of a verse," literally "limb, member" (especially the leg, but also of a tree limb), also, figuratively, "a clause of a sentence," from PIE root *(s)kel- (3) "bent, crooked" (see scoliosis). Meaning evolved from "independent clause" to punctuation mark that sets it off.
colon (n.2): "large intestine," late 14c., from Latinized form of Greek kolon (with a short initial -o-) "large intestine," which is of unknown origin.

1.冒号，来自PIE*skel, 弯，转，词源同clavicle, scoliosis. 原指分岔，分枝。

2.大肠，词源不详。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：colon 词源，colon 含义。