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espouse [espouse 词源字典]: espouse: [15] Etymologically, to espouse something is the same as to sponsor it. Both words go back ultimately to Latin spondēre ‘promise solemnly’. From it developed late Latin spōnsāre, which produced Old French espouser, source of the English verb. It originally meant ‘promise to marry’, but this particular semantic strand has survived only in the related noun spouse, and by the 17th century the now familiar metaphorical sense ‘adopt and support a cause’ had developed.
=> sponsor, spouse[espouse etymology, espouse origin, 英语词源]
sponsor: sponsor: [17] Etymologically, a sponsor is someone who makes a ‘solemn promise’. The word was borrowed from Latin sponsor, a derivative of spondēre ‘promise solemnly’, which denoted ‘someone who stands surely for another’. In the Christian era it came to be used for a ‘godparent’, which was its original sense in English. From the same source come English despond, respond, spouse, and probably spontaneous [17].
=> despond, respond, spontaneous, spouse
spouse: spouse: [12] A spouse is etymologically someone who has made a ‘promise’ to another – in this case, of marriage. The word comes via Old French spous, spouse from Latin spōnsus ‘bridegroom’ and spōnsa ‘bride’, noun uses of the past participle of spondēre ‘promise solemnly, betroth’ (source of English despondent and sponsor).
=> sponsor
vote: vote: [15] Vote goes back ultimately to Latin vovēre ‘promise solemnly, wish for’. Its past participle was vōtus, which fed directly into English as the verb vote; the noun vote comes from the Latin derivative vōtum. The modern English meaning of the word comes from the notion of expressing one’s ‘wishes’ by means of casting a ballot. ‘Wishing, desiring’ was a secondary semantic development of the Latin verb; its original meaning, ‘promise solemnly’, is preserved in English vow [13], which comes via Anglo-Norman vou from Latin vōtum.
=> vow
avouch (v.): late 15c., from Middle French avochier "call upon as authority," in Old French "call (to court), advocate, plead (a case)," from Latin advocare "call to" as a witness (see advocate).
Avouch, which is no longer in common use, means guarantee, solemnly aver, prove by assertion, maintain the truth or existence of, vouch for .... Avow means own publicly to, make no secret of, not shrink from admitting, acknowledge one's responsibility for .... Vouch is now common only in the phrase vouch for, which has taken the place of avouch in ordinary use, & means pledge one's word for .... [Fowler]
Related: Avouched; avouching.
calendar (n.): c. 1200, "system of division of the year;" mid-14c. as "table showing divisions of the year;" from Old French calendier "list, register," from Latin calendarium "account book," from calendae/kalendae "calends" the first day of the Roman month -- when debts fell due and accounts were reckoned -- from calare "to announce solemnly, call out," as the priests did in proclaiming the new moon that marked the calends, from PIE root kele- (2) "to call, shout" (see claim (v.)).

Taken by the early Church for its register list of saints and their feast days. The -ar spelling in English is 17c. to differentiate it from the now obscure calender "cloth-presser."
censor (n.): 1530s, "Roman magistrate who took censuses and oversaw public morals," from Middle French censor and directly from Latin censor, from censere "to appraise, value, judge," from PIE root *kens- "speak solemnly, announce" (cognates: Sanskrit śamsati "recites, praises," śasa "song of praise").

There were two of them at a time in classical times, usually patricians, and they also had charge of public finances and public works. Transferred sense of "officious judge of morals and conduct" in English is from 1590s. Roman censor also had a transferred sense of "a severe judge; a rigid moralist; a censurer." Of books, plays (later films, etc.), 1640s. By the early decades of the 19c. the meaning of the English word had shaded into "state agent charged with suppression of speech or published matter deemed politically subversive." Related: Censorial.
claim (v.): c. 1300, "to call, call out; to ask or demand by virtue of right or authority," from accented stem of Old French clamer "to call, name, describe; claim; complain; declare," from Latin clamare "to cry out, shout, proclaim," from PIE *kele- (2) "to shout," imitative (compare Sanskrit usakala "cock," literally "dawn-calling;" Latin calare "to announce solemnly, call out;" Middle Irish cailech "cock;" Greek kalein "to call," kelados "noise," kledon "report, fame;" Old High German halan "to call;" Old English hlowan "to low, make a noise like a cow;" Lithuanian kalba "language"). Related: Claimed; claiming.

Meaning "to maintain as true" is from 1864; specific sense "to make a claim" (on an insurance company) is from 1897. Claim properly should not stray too far from its true meaning of "to demand recognition of a right."
devotion (n.): early 13c., from Old French devocion "devotion, piety," from Latin devotionem (nominative devotio), noun of action from past participle stem of devovere "dedicate by a vow, sacrifice oneself, promise solemnly," from de- "down, away" (see de-) + vovere "to vow," from votum "vow" (see vow (n.)).

In ancient Latin, "act of consecrating by a vow," also "loyalty, fealty, allegiance;" in Church Latin, "devotion to God, piety." This was the original sense in English; the etymological sense, including secular situations, returned 16c. via Italian and French.
disk (n.): American English preferred spelling, 1660s, "round flat surface," from Latin discus "quoit, discus, disk," from Greek diskos "disk, quoit, platter," related to dikein "throw," from PIE *dik-skos-, from root *deik- "to show, pronounce solemnly; also in derivatives referring to the directing of words or objects" [Watkins]; see diction.

Sense of "phonograph disk" is 1888; computing sense is from 1947. Disk jockey first recorded 1941; dee-jay is from 1955; DJ is 1961; video version veejay is 1982. Disk-drive is from 1952.
gravely (adv.): 1550s, "solemnly," from grave (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "in an important degree" is by 1835.
morgue (n.): "mortuary," 1821, from French Morgue, originally a specific building in Paris where bodies were exposed for identification:
There is, in the most populous part of the French metropolis, an establishment entitled La Morgue, destined for the reception and exposition of bodies drowned in the Seine, and caught in nets, which are placed in different parts of the river for that purpose. The object of this exposition is, that the deceased may be recognised by their friends or relatives, and receive the rights of sepulture accordingly. The Morgue is open at all hours of the day, to passengers of every description, and often displays at a time, five or six horrible carcasses stretched, without covering, on an inclined platform, and subjected to the promiscuous gaze of the mob. ["American Review," January 1811]
Before that it was the place where new prisoners were displayed to keepers to establish their identification. Thus the name is believed to be probably from French morgue "haughtiness," originally "a sad expression, solemn look," from Old French morguer "look solemnly," from Vulgar Latin *murricare "to make a face, pout," from *murrum "muzzle, snout." The 1768 Dictionnaire Royal François-Anglois Et Anglois-François defines French morgue both as "A proud, big, haughty or stately look, stare, surliness, or surly look" and "A little gratel room wherein a new prisoner is set, and must continue some hours, that the Jailer's ordinary servants may the better take notice of his face."

Adopted as a general term in U.S., 1880s, replacing earlier dead house, etc. In newspaper slang, "collection of pre-written obituary material of living persons" (1903), hence "library of clips, photos, etc.," 1918.
pledge (v.): c. 1400, "to promise" (something to someone), "to give over as security for repayment," also "promise faith to," from pledge (n.) and from Old French plegier, from plege (n.). From mid-15c. as "to stand surety for, be responsible for;" late 15c. as "to mortgage." Meaning "put (someone) under oath" is from 1570s; sense of "to solemnly promise or guarantee" is from 1590s, as is sense "to drink a toast." Related: Pledged; pledging.
protest (v.): mid-15c., "to declare or state formally or solemnly," from Old French protester, from Latin protestari "declare publicly, testify, protest" (see protest (n.)). Original sense preserved in to protest one's innocence. Related: Protested; protesting.
solemn (adj.): mid-14c., "performed with due religious ceremony or reverence, sacred, devoted to religious observances," also, of a vow, etc., "made under religious sanction, binding," from Old French solempne (12c., Modern French solennel) and directly from Latin sollemnis "annual, established, religiously fixed, formal, ceremonial, traditional," perhaps related to sollus "whole" (see safe (adj.)).

"The explanation that Latin sollemnis was formed from sollus whole + annus year is not considered valid" [Barnhart], but some assimilation via folk-etymology is possible. In Middle English also "famous, important; imposing, grand," hence Chaucer's friar, a ful solempne man. Meaning "marked by seriousness or earnestness" is from late 14c.; sense of "fitted to inspire devout reflection" is from c. 1400. Related: Solemnly.
sponsor (n.): 1650s, from Late Latin sponsor "sponsor in baptism," in Latin "a surety, guarantee, bondsman," from sponsus, past participle of spondere "give assurance, promise solemnly" (see spondee). Sense of "person who pays for a radio (or, after 1947, TV) program" is first recorded 1931.
spouse (n.): c. 1200, "a married person, either one of a married pair, but especially a married woman in relation to her husband," also "Christ or God as the spiritual husband of the soul, the church, etc.," also "marriage, the wedded state," from Old French spous (fem. spouse) "marriage partner," variant of espous/espouse (Modern French épous/épouse), from Latin sponsus "bridegroom" (fem. sponsa "bride"), literally "betrothed," from masc. and fem. past participle of spondere "to bind oneself, promise solemnly," from PIE *spend- "to make an offering, perform a rite" (see spondee). Spouse-breach (early 13c.) was an old name for "adultery."
vow (n.): "solemn promise," c. 1300, from Anglo-French and Old French voe (Modern French vœu), from Latin votum "a promise to a god, solemn pledge, dedication; that which is promised; a wish, desire, longing, prayer," noun use of neuter of votus, past participle of vovere "to promise solemnly, pledge, dedicate, vow," from PIE root *wegwh- "to speak solemnly, vow, preach" (cognates: Sanskrit vaghat- "one who offers a sacrifice;" Greek eukhe "vow, wish," eukhomai "I pray"). Meaning "solemn engagement to devote oneself to a religious order or life" is from c. 1400; earlier "to bind oneself" to chastity (early 14c.).
vow (v.): "promise solemnly," c. 1300, from Old French voer, from voe (see vow (n.)). Related: Vowed; vowing.