英语词汇sweepstakes的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

词汇	sweepstakes
词源	sweepstakes. Sweepstake is recorded as the name of a ship a century before its first mention as a gambling term in 1593, but no one has been able to connect the ship with the word in any way (or even explain the name of the ship!). Sweepstakes origi- nally meant “winner take all,” as if the winner swept all the stakes into his pocket after winning a game or race, but later a number of winners in sweepstakes, such as the Irish Sweep- stakes have had to divide the stakes among them.
随便看	smooth as silk smooth-shaven smouch snack snafu snail snail mail snake dance snake eyes snake in the grass snake-oil salesman snake pit snap beans snapper snapshot snark snath snawfus sneak sneakers sneaky pete snicker snipe hunting sniper sniper street

英语词源词典收录了13259条英语词源词条，基本涵盖了全部常用英语词汇的起源、历史，是研究英语词汇或通过词源学英语的必备工具。