51吃瓜

More about beadledom

Beadledom, 鈥渁 gratuitous or officious display or exercise of authority, as by petty officials,鈥� is a compound of beadle and the noun suffix –dom. In Old English a 产媒诲别濒 meant 鈥渁 herald, proclaimer, preacher,鈥� from an original Germanic budilaz 鈥渁 herald,鈥� akin to Old High German butyl and German 叠眉迟迟别濒 鈥渂ailiff, beadle.鈥� The Germanic word was adopted into Romance, becoming bidello in Italian, bedel in Spanish and Old French, and bidellus or bedellus in Medieval Latin.

Nowadays a beadle is a minor officer in a parish who acts as an usher and maintains order during services, a sense the word has had since the late 16th century. The Middle English forms, such as budel, beodel, bidell (deriving from Old English 产媒诲别濒), were gradually replaced by French bedel beginning in the early 14th century; the modern spelling beadle dates from the early 17th century.

The abstract noun suffix –dom, indicating a state or condition, as in 飞颈蝉诲贸尘 鈥渨isdom鈥� and 肠测苍颈苍驳诲贸尘 鈥渒ingdom,鈥� is akin to Old English and Old Saxon –诲贸尘, German –tum (as in Heiligtum 鈥渟anctuary, shrine, relic鈥�), and was originally an independent noun meaning 鈥減utting, position, stature, judgment,” a derivative of the verb do. Beadledom entered English in the 1840s.

More about golden

The adjective golden is obviously a compound of the noun gold and the suffix –en, which is used to form adjectives of source or material from nouns. The odd thing about golden is that it is first recorded only about 1300. Golden is a Middle English re-formation of gold and –en that replaced earlier Middle English gulden, gilden, gelden, gylden 鈥渕ade of or consisting of gold,鈥� from Old English gylden, gilden 鈥済辞濒诲别苍.鈥�

Golden age occurs in The Works and Days of the Greek didactic poet Hesiod (c700 b.c.) and has persisted throughout Western literature. Golden mean 鈥渢he perfect moderate course or position that avoids extremes鈥� entered English in the 1540s. Golden mean was also formerly called the golden mediocrity, a literal translation of Horace’s聽aurea mediocrit膩s聽(翱诲别蝉听2.10).听罢丑别 golden mean as an ethical principle is usually associated with Aristotelian ethics, it being a virtue, the midpoint between two opposite extremes, as, for example, the virtue of courage being the golden mean between the two opposite vices of cowardice and foolhardiness.

The Americanism golden handcuffs聽鈥渁 series of raises, bonuses, etc., given at intervals or tied to length of employment in order to keep an executive from leaving the company,鈥� dates to the mid-1960s; golden handshake聽鈥渁 special incentive, such as generous severance pay, given to an older employee as an inducement to elect early retirement,鈥� dates to the late 1950s; and golden parachute 鈥渁n employment contract guaranteeing an executive of a company substantial severance pay and other perquisites in the event of job loss caused by the company’s being sold or merged,鈥� dates to the early 1980s.

More about plebeian

English plebeian, adjective and noun, ultimately derives from the Latin adjective and noun 辫濒脓产脓颈耻蝉 鈥減ertaining to the common people, a commoner.鈥� The adjective also meant 鈥渃ommon, ordinary, everyday鈥� and was usually disparaging. 笔濒脓产脓颈耻蝉 derives from the noun plebs (also 辫濒脓产脓蝉, stem 辫濒脓产-) 鈥渢he general citizenry (as opposed to the patricians).” Plebs (辫濒脓产脓蝉) is akin to Greek 辫濒锚迟丑辞蝉 鈥済reat number, multitude, the majority of people, the commons鈥�; the Latin and Greek nouns derive from a Proto-Indo-European 辫濒脓诲丑飞辞-, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root pele-, 辫濒脓– 鈥渢o fill.鈥� Plebeian entered English in the 16th century.