| 单词 | 词义 |
| 释义 | 〔conserve〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔condone〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔conclude〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔compliment〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔emollient〕ē-, ex- [intensive pref.] * see ex- ē-, ex- [加强词义前缀] * 参见 ex-〔rape〕Although three senses are listed in our entry for the verbrape, it is unlikely that many people think of the word as having more than one sense.The Latin wordrapere from which rape comes had an even wider range of meanings, including "to ravish.”It must be kept in mind, however, that most of its senses had to do with the notion of seizing or carrying offand that sexual violation was confined to the one sense.In the case of the Middle Englishwordrapen, taken from Latin rapere, fewer senses existed, but some of them differed quite significantly from any in which we would use the word today.It could mean "to fix or set a certain time" ("The tyme he wild [would] not rape" ) or "to carry off somebody to heaven from earth" ( "the visions of seynt poul wan [when] he was rapt in to paradys" ). The past participlerapt has survived in Modern English, where it has become a separate wordreferring to states of deep delight or absorption,far removed from the hideous cruelties ofrape. The sense involving these cruelties was probably present in Middle Englishand has largely taken over the word.尽管在动词rape 这一词条中，我们列了三个意思， 但实际很多人并不认为该词有这么多意思。Rape 从其起源的拉丁语单词 rapere 甚至有更多的词义， 其中包括“使销魂”这一含意。然而，我们必须记住所有这些词义都同“用武力夺取或抢走”有关，性方面的侵犯只是其中的一个意思。在中古英语中，由拉丁语rapere 一词产生的动词 rapen 的词义已经减少， 不过其中有些词义和现在的词义完全不同。它可以意为“约定或确定时间”(“他不肯 约定时间” )或“由人间带某人进入天堂”( “圣保罗进入天堂 的情景” )。 该词的过去分词rapt 仍存在于现代英语中， 在这里它已成为一个单独的单词，意为一种极其兴奋或被深深吸引的状态，这个意思与rape 一词丑恶的词义相去甚远。 与残酷行为有关的词义可能在中世纪就存在，后来被保留了下来〔fizzle〕In Philemon Holland's 1601 translation of Pliny'sNatural History, we are surprised by the use of the wordfizzle in the statement that if asses eat a certain plant,"they will fall a fizling and farting.” Fizzle was first used in English to mean,in the decorous parlance of theOxford English Dictionary, "to break wind without noise.” During the 19th centuryfizzle took on a related but more respectable sense, "to hiss, as does a piece of fireworks,”illustrated by a quotation from the November 7, 1881, issue of theLondon Daily News: "unambitious rockets which fizzle doggedly downwards.”In the same centuryfizzle also took on figurative senses, one of which seems to have been popular at Yale.TheYale Literary Magazine for 1849 helpfully defines the word as follows: “Fizzle, to rise with modest reluctance, to hesitate often, to decline finally; generally, to misunderstand the question.”The figurative sense offizzle that has caught on is the one with which we are most familiar today, "to fail or die out.”在腓利门荷兰1601年对普林尼的博物志 中， 我们对fizzle 一词的用法感到很惊讶， 它说如果驴吃了某种植物，“他们就会放屁。” Fizzle 首先在英语中指“无声地放屁，”是在牛津英语字典 的高雅用语中出现的。 在19世纪，fizzle 有了一个相关的但更文雅的含义， “发嘶嘶声，如同烟火那样，”这个词义是通过1881年11月7日的伦敦每日新闻 的引文说明的： “抱负不大的火箭，它们顽固地嘶嘶下坠。”同一世纪，fizzle 还赋与了比喻义， 其中的一个比喻义似乎在耶鲁大学很流行。1849年的耶鲁文学杂志 给这个词下了一个有益的定义： “Fizzle， 不十分情愿地上升，常犹豫不决，最终放弃； 通常是弄错问题。”人们已接受的fizzle 的比喻义， 即今天我们最为熟悉的“失败或消失”〔confess〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔complain〕Latin com- [intensive pref.] * see com- 拉丁语 com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔dictionary〕A reference book containing an alphabetical list of words, with information given for each word, usually including meaning, pronunciation, and etymology.词典：含有字母顺序的参考书，提供有各个词的资料，通常包括词义、语音和词源〔roster〕To be told that the wordroster is related to a gridiron upon which one roasts meat might not come as a surprise, depending on what sort of rosters one's name has graced.The connection between the roster as we know it and a gridiron was made in Dutch,where the wordrooster, meaning "gridiron" (from the verb roosten, "to roast"), was extended in sense to mean "a table, list.”This extension was made because of the resemblance of a gridiron to a piece of paper divided by parallel lines that contains a list or table.The earliest use in English (first recorded in 1727) for the wordroster borrowed from Dutch was military, referring to a list or plan that outlined when officers, men, and bodies of troops should perform their turn of duty. Roster is no longer exclusively military in usage,nor does it mean simply a list of rotating turns of duty;one could perhaps even have a roster of meats to be roasted at a barbecue.如果说roster 一词与供烤肉用的烧烤架有关也许不会令人吃惊， 这就要看名字上了什么样的花名册。荷兰语把我们所知道的roster（花名册）与gridiron（烤架）联系了起来，rooster 意为“烤架”（源于动词 roosten ，意思是“烤”）， 词义延伸后意为“表格，名单”。该词之所以有这样的延伸义是因为烤架与被平行线分成表格的纸张有相似之处。roster 一词从荷兰语中借用后，在英语中（第一次记载于1727年）最早运用于军事， 指粗略记录军官、士兵和部队轮流执行任务的名单或计划。 Roster 不再为军队专用，也不仅仅表示“轮班的名单”的意思，烧烤时我们甚至可以用“烤肉的肉单”〔conscience〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔exacerbate〕ex- [intensive pref.] * see ex- ex- [加强词义的前缀] * 参见 ex-〔confect〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔senile〕In earlier writings one finds phrases such as "asenile maturity of judgment" and "green and vigorous senility, ” demonstrating that these two words have not always been burdened with their current negative connotations. Senile and senility are examples of pejoration, the process by which a word's meaning changes for the worse over time.Even thoughsenile (first recorded in 1661) and senility (first recorded in 1778) initially had neutral senses such as "pertaining to old age,” it is probable that the weakness (in particular the mental weakness) that sometimes accompanies old age eventually caused negative senses to predominate.Certainly some pejorative associations were present in Latinsenīlis, "relating to an old man, aged,” the ultimate source of both words, and in related Latin words such assenēscere, which could mean "to deteriorate with age.” But it seems that pejorative associations have taken over these words in English through general usage,perhaps because average life expectancy has risen steadily over the years.在较早的文学作品中人们可以找到形如“判断力Senile（老练） 成熟”和“精力旺盛的有魄力的 Senility（老态龙钟） ”的短语，表明这两个词一直没有表示他们流行的消极的含义。 Senile 和 senility 是词义转贬的范例， 即一个词的意思随时间变化变得越来越坏。尽管senile （首次记载于1661年）和 senility （首次记载于1778年）最初具有中性的意义，例如“关于老年的”， 可能是伴随老年出现的衰弱（特别是智力衰弱）最终导致了反面的意思居支配地位。当然有一些词义转贬的联系表现在拉丁文中的senilis （“关于老人的，老年的”），是这两个词的最早的词源， 和与之相关的拉丁词如senecer ，意为“随年纪恶化”。 但是看起来在英语中通过广泛的使用词义转贬的联系已经取代了这些词，可能是由于平均估计寿命随时代发展稳步上升〔junk〕The wordjunk is an example of the change in meaning known as generalization, and very aptly too, since the amount of junk in the world seems to be generalizing and proliferating rapidly. The Middle English wordjonk, ancestor of junk, originally had a very specific meaning restricted to nautical terminology.First recorded in 1353,the word meant "an old cable or rope.”On a sailing ship it made little sense to throw away useful materialsince considerable time might pass before one could get new supplies.Old cable was used in a variety of ways,for example, to make fenders,that is, material hung over the side of the ship to protect it from scraping other ships or wharves.Junk came to refer to this old cable as well. The big leap in meaning taken by the word seems to have occurred whenjunk was applied to discarded but useful material in general. This extension may also have taken place in a nautical context,for the earliest, more generalized use ofjunk is found in the compound junk shop, referring to a store where old materials from ships were sold.Junk has gone on to mean useless waste as well. Junk 一词是被称为词义扩大化的例子；由于世界上垃圾的数量正在迅速扩散和激增，该词词义的扩大也是很适宜的。 junk 一词源自古英语单词 jonk ， 其最初的意思只限于航海术语当中。1353年首次记载下来时，该词义为“旧缆绳或旧绳子”。在帆船上，扔掉有用的东西是不明智的，因为也许要过去好长一段时间才有可能得到新的供应品。旧缆绳可用在很多不同的方面，例如用来做防撞物，即悬在船舷上保护船舷不受其它船只或码头刮擦的材料。Junk 同样也用来指旧缆绳。 当junk 普遍地被用来指丢弃了的然而有用的材料时，该词的词义发生了巨大的变化。 该词的词义延伸也可能已经出现在与航海有关的背景中，因为junk 一词最早的、更为概括性的使用是在 junk shop 这一复合词中发现的。 该词指出售船上旧材料的商店。Junk 仍继续用来指没用的废旧物品 〔condescend〕Latin com- [intensive pref.] * see com- 拉丁语 com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔kaput〕The games people play can become deadly serious,as exemplified by the wordkaput. Our word is an adoption of the German word kaputt, whose senses are similar to those of the English word.German in turn borrowed this word from the French gaming tables,wherecapot as an adjective meant "not having won a single trick at piquet.” Devastating as this might be to a piquet player,it would surprise kibitzers to see how widely the word's range of meaning has been extended in German and English,in which it is first recorded in 1895.For example, one's car can be kaput and so can oneself.As for the ultimate source of Frenchcapot we cannot be certain,but it seems to go back to a modern Provençal word,of which the first element iscap, "head.” 人们在玩牌时可能变得非常认真，如kaput 一词例示的这个英语单词是吸收了德语 kaputt 一词演变而来的。 该德语词的词义与它的词义相似。而德国人又从法国人的赌桌上借用了该词。在赌桌上，capot 作为一个形容词又为“打皮克牌时未赢一圈的”。 尽管这样可能会令玩皮克牌的人晦气，旁观并议论牌局的人也许会吃惊地发现该词在德语和英语中的引申义是多么广泛。该词于1895年首次记载在德语和英语中。例如，车主的车可能会损坏，车主也可能失败。至于法语capot 一词的词源， 我们不甚了解，但似乎可以追溯到现代普罗旺斯语，其中的第一个成分cap 表示“头”的意思 〔ethnic〕When in a Middle English text written before 1400it is said that a part of a temple fell down and "mad a gret distruccione of ethnykis,”one wonders why ethnics were singled out for death.The wordethnic in this context, however, means "gentile,” coming as it does from the Greek adjectiveethnikos, meaning "national, foreign, gentile.”The adjective is derived from the nounethnos, "people, nation, foreign people,” that in the plural phraseta ethnē meant "foreign nations.” In translating the Hebrew Bible into Greek,this phrase was used for Hebrewgōyīm, "gentiles"; hence the sense of the noun in the Middle English quotation.The nounethnic in this sense or the related sense "heathen" is not recorded after 1728, although the related adjective sense is still used. But probably under the influence of other words going back to Greekethnos, such asethnography and ethnology, the adjectiveethnic broadened in meaning in the 19th century. After this broadeningthe noun sense "a member of a particular ethnic group,”first recorded in 1945, came into existence.在一篇1400年以前的中古英语文章中写道，一座神殿的一部分倒塌了并“导致一个种族的彻底毁灭”，人们想知道为什么一个种族单单被挑出去死。但是ethnic 在这个上下文中的意思是“异教徒”， 来自于希腊语的形容词ethnikos ， 意为“民族的，外来的，异教的”。该形容词源自名词ethnos， 意为“民族、种族、外来人”， 它的复数形式ta ethne， 意为“外来民族”。 在把希伯来圣经翻译成希腊语的过程中，这一词组被用作希伯来语中的goyim， 意为“异教徒”； 因此名词的含意在中世纪英语被引用。即使相关含意讲的名词ethnic 在1728年之后也未被收录，尽管这时相关的形容词含义已被应用， 但大概在那些可追溯到古希腊语ethnos 的词， 如ethnograthy 和 ethnology 的影响下， 形容词ethnic 在19世纪时对词义进行了扩充。 这次扩充后，名词词意为“某一特定的种族群体中的一员”，在1945年被首次收录并开始存在〔wilderness〕Deer comes from the Old English word dēor, meaning "beast.” Clearly the word has narrowed in meaning and lost its general sense.But another word in English,wilderness, may point to this general sense of Old English dēor. The etymology ofwilderness is variously given, but one etymology traces the-der- of wilderness back to dēor and wild- back to Old English wilde, "wild.” Der- may thus carry on dēor in its general sense, reminding us that wild beasts might be the only inhabitants of a wilderness.Wilderness, though it may have existed in Old English, is first found in 13th-century Middle English.Deer 来自于古英语中意为“野兽”的一词 deor 。 很明显这个词的词义缩小了，失去了它较笼统的意义。但英语中的另一个词wilderness, 大概会指出古英语中 deor 的笼统意义。 wilderness 的词源很多， 但一种说法顺着wilderness 中的 -der- 找到 deor ，顺着 wild- 中找到古英语中的 wilde “野蛮的”。 Der- 大概因此具有笼统意义上的 deor 的意义， 提醒我们野兽大概是荒野处的唯一居民。Wilderness 尽管在古英语中已存在， 但是在13世纪中世纪英语中首次出现的〔confide〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔disinterested〕Despite critical disapproval, disinterested has come to be widely used by many educated writers to mean "uninterested" or "having lost interest,”as inSince she discovered skiing, she is disinterested in her schoolwork (a sense it had at an earlier stage of English, but which had in the interim become outmoded).Many maintain that the word can legitimately be used only in its sense of "having no stake in (an outcome or issue),”as inSince the judge stands to profit from the sale of the company, she cannot be considered a disinterested party in the dispute. In our most recent survey,89 percent of the Usage Panel rejected the sentence 尽管批评界的不赞成， disinterested 已逐渐成为许多有学识的作家们广泛用来指“不感兴趣的”或“失去兴趣的”，如在因为发现了滑雪这一运动，她就对功课失去了兴趣 （该词在英语的早期阶段就有这个词义，但在过渡时间，该词义已不再用）许多人认为在法律上该词只可用来表示“与（结果或事件）无利害关系，”如因为法官站在这一方是为了从公司所售物品中获利，她不能被看作是在这场争论中无任何关系的一方。 在最近的统计中，用法专题使用小组中百分之八十九的成员不接受下面的句子 〔worry〕"Don't worry" is a much milder injunction than it once would have been,for the wordworry has softened its sense greatly over the course of its history. Its Old English ancestor,wyrgan, meant "to strangle.” Its Middle English descendant,worien, kept this sense and developed the new sense "to grasp by the throat with the teeth and lacerate" or "to kill or injure by biting and shaking.” This is the way wolves or dogs might attack sheep, for example.In the 16th centuryworry began to be used in the sense "to harass, as by rough treatment or attack,” or "to assault verbally,” and in the 17th century the word took on the sense "to bother, distress, or persecute.”It was a small step from this sense to the main modern senses "to cause to feel anxious or distressed" and "to feel troubled or uneasy,” first recorded in the 19th century.与过去相比，“别担心”这句话的命令意味减少了许多，因为随着历史的变迁worry 这个词的“攻击性”意味大大削弱了。 其古英语中的前身wyrgan, 意为“扼杀”。 在中世纪英语中的worien 保留了这个意思并衍生出一个新意思“用牙齿咬住喉咙并且撕裂”或“咬住并来回甩动以杀死或伤害”。 例如，这是狼或狗袭击羊的方式。16世纪，worry 开始含有“以粗暴手段或袭击方式来骚扰”，“口头攻击”的意思， 到了17世纪这个词产生了“干扰、使焦虑和烦扰”的意思。19世纪，这个词义向前发展了一点，产生了适用于当代的主要意思“使感到焦虑或痛苦”和“感到烦恼或不安”〔resent〕re- [re-] re- [用于加强词义的前缀] 〔complacent〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔condense〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔pueblo〕The identity of the Pueblo peoples is undeniably connected to the stone and adobe dwellings they have occupied for more than 700 years—especially from an etymological point of view.Originally coming from the Latin wordpopulus, "people, nation,” the Spanish wordpueblo, meaning "town, village,” as well as "nation, people,”was naturally applied by 16th-century Spanish explorers to villages that they discovered or founded in the Southwest.The English wordpueblo is first recorded in an American text in this sense in 1808, marking it as an Americanism.The distinctive adobe or stone villages of the Pueblo peoples,with some buildings rising as high as five stories,must have impressed the Spaniards considerably,becausepueblo came to be transferred from a name for the village to a name for its inhabitants, perhaps in honor of their architectural achievements or simply as an obvious way to distinguish the Pueblo from other Native American peoples.The first recorded usage of this sense is found in 1834.无可质疑，普埃布洛族的象征是与他们已经居住了700年的土石结构房屋联系在一起的——尤其是从词源学的角度来看。最初源于意为“民族，国家”的拉丁语populus， 意为“城镇，村庄”的西班牙语pueblo ， 同时也有“民族，国家”的意思，16世纪的西班牙探险家们很自然地用这个词来称呼他们在西南部发现或建立的村庄。英语中pueblo 的这个含义最早记载于1808年的一篇美国课文中， 这标志着它成了一个美语词。普埃布洛族有特色的石造和土造村庄，有些建筑高达五层，肯定给西班牙人留下了深刻的印象，因为pueblo 这个词是从这个村庄的名字转变成村庄中居民的名字的， 这可能是出于对他们建筑成就的敬仰或仅仅作为将普埃布洛族和其它美洲土著民族区分开的明显途径。这个词义是在1834年最早有使用记载的。〔transpire〕Transpire has been used since the mid-18th century in the sense "leak out, become publicly known,” as inDespite efforts to hush the matter up, it soon transpired that the colonels had met with the rebel leaders. This usage was objected to as a Gallicism when it was first introducedbut has long been standard.The more common use oftranspire to mean "occur" or "happen" has had a more troubled history.Though it dates at least to the beginning of the 19th century,it has been the object of critical opprobrium for more than a hundred years,charged with being both pretentious and unetymological.There is some signthat resistance to this sense oftranspire is abating, however. In a 1969 survey the usagewas acceptable only to 38 percent of the Usage Panel;in the most recent surveyit was acceptable to 58 percent in the sentenceAll of these events transpired after last week's announcement (though many of the Panelists who accepted the usage also remarked that it was pretentious or pompous).Transpire 这个词从18世纪中叶开始一直有“泄漏，为公众所知”的意思， 如尽管竭力掩盖事实真相，但人们很快就得知军官们已经与反叛者的领导人会晤。 当这种用法一开始出现时，有人把它当作法国式用法而提出异议，但现在它早已成为标准用法。Transpire 更为普通的用法是“发生”或“碰巧发生”的意思， 这个用法的历史更为复杂。尽管这种用法至少可以追溯到19世纪初期，但一百多年以来它一直遭到批评反对，人们认为这个用法不仅矫饰而且在词源上毫无根据。但是有迹象表明，对transpire 的这个词义的异议正在消失。 在一次1969年进行的调查中，用法委员会成员中只有38%的人接受这种用法。在最近进行的一次调查中，有58%的人认为象在所有这些事件都发生在上个星期的宣告之后 这样的句子中，这个词的用法是可以接受的 （许多接受这种用法的使用者也指出这种用法很矫柔造作）〔condemn〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔define〕To state the precise meaning of (a word or sense of a word, for example).给…下定义：给（例如，单词或词义）下精确的定义〔conquer〕com- [intensive pref.] * see com- com- [前缀，表加强词义] * 参见 com-〔what〕Whenwhat is the subject of a clause, it may be construed as singular or plural, depending on the sense.It is singular when taken as the equivalent ofthat which or the thing which, as inI see what seems to be a dead tree; and it is plural when it is taken as the equivalent ofthose which or the things which, as inHe sometimes makes what seem to be gestures of aloofness. ? When awhat clause is itself the subject of a sentence, it may be construed as singular or plural,but the conditions governing this choice are somewhat more complicated.In general, awhat clause will be taken as a plural when the clause contains an explicit indication of its own plurality. There are two principal cases.First, the clause is plural ifwhat is the subject of the clause and the verb of the clause is itself plural: What seem to be two dead trees are blocking the road. What most surprise me are the inflammatory remarks at the end of his article. If the verb in thewhat clause does not anticipate the plural sense of the predicate in this way, a singular verb is generally used in the main clause as well,though the plural is sometimes found:What truly commands respect is (sometimes are ) a large navy and a resolute foreign policy. Second, thewhat clause is treated as plural when its predicate contains a plural noun phrase that unambiguously establishes the plurality of the clause as a whole, as inWhat traditional grammarians called "predicates" are called "verb phrases" by modern linguists. What the Romans established as military outposts were later to become important trading centers. In the absence of explicit plural marking of either of these types in a subjectwhat clause, the clause is usually treated as singular for the purposes of agreement, regardless of the sense:What she held in her lap was four kittens. What the apparent diamonds turned out to be was paste. In some cases, however, a clause withwhat as the subject may be treated as singular or plural, depending on a subtle distinction of sense. InWhat excite him most are money and power, the implication is that money and power are distinct elements; inWhat excites him most is money and power, the implication is that money and power are taken as constituting a single entity.See Usage Note at which 当what 作为从句中的主语时， 它既可被当作单数也可以为复数，这取决于词义。当被看作是that which 或 the thing which 时它就是单数， 如在I see what seems to be a dead tree（我看到个象棵死树的物体）” 这句话中； 当它被用作those which 或 the things which 的对应词时它是复数， 如在He sometimes makes what seem to be gestures of aloofness（他有时做一些似乎很超然的手势） 中。 当what 从句本身是句子的主语时， 它可被当作单数或复数，但决定这种选择的条件略为复杂些。总体上说，what 从句的含有对其数性明确指示时，它就可以将当作复数。 这有两种最主要的情况：首先，如果what 是从句的主语而该从句的谓语动词本身是复数，从句就是复数： What seem to be two dead trees are blocking the road.（象两棵死树的物体挡着路）； What mostsurprise me are the inflammatory remarks at the end of his article.（最令我吃惊的是他文章结尾处的煽动性言词） 。 如果what 从句的谓语动词并不预示谓语是复数， 主句中通常也用单数动词，尽管有时也可以发现有复数：What truly commands respect is（有时 are ) a large navy and a resolute foreign policy（真正博得尊敬的是强大的海军和坚定的外交政策） ； 其次what 从句在其谓语含有复数名词短语，并且其明显可建立整个从句的复数性时是被当作复数的， 如在What traditional grammarians called "predicates" are called "verb phrases" by modern linguists.（那些传统语法家所称为“谓语”的则被现代语言学家称作“动词短语”） What the Romans established as military outpostswere later to become important trading centers.（那些罗马人设为军事前哨基地的地方后来成为了重要的贸易中心）。 当what 从句主语缺乏这两类明确表示复数性的标记时， 从句通常为了一致性而不顾及词义地被当作单数：What she held in her lap was four kittens.（她抱在膝盖上的是四只小猫）。 What the apparent diamonds turned out to bewas paste.（那些看上去象真的钻石结果却是人造宝石） 。 然而，在一些情况下，以what 作主语的从句可被当单数或复数，取决于语义上微妙的差异。 在What excite him most are money and power（最让他兴奋的是金钱和权力）， 这句话中暗含着金钱和权力是不同的成分； 在What excites him most is money and power（最让他兴奋的是金钱和权力）， 这句话中暗含着金钱和权力是作为构成一个单一整体的成分 参见 which〔ragamuffin〕Perhapsragamuffin should be seen as an example of melioration, or improvement in the sense of a word, since it can now be used rather affectionately of children who are normally far from dirty or unkempt.In any event,even its use for an unkempt child or man represents something of an improvementover one of its earliest uses.Ragamuffin was a name given to a demon in Piers Plowman, an allegorical poem of the 14th century. This name was once thought to be the source of our word,but researches at theMiddle English Dictionary have shown that the word was used as the last name of a woman, Isabella Ragamuffyn, earlier in the 14th century (1344), before the poem was composed.The word even then had the sense "ragged lout, tattered oaf,”though it was found only in names.The elementraga- is probably from the Middle English adjective raggi, "ragged,” also used of the devil in the sense "shaggy" and as a name.The element-muffin is probably from Middle Dutch moffel or muffe, "mitten.” 也许ragamuffin 这个词应该看作词义变良或改善的例子， 因为它现在可以用来充满感情地指那些按常规来说远非肮脏或不整洁的孩子。不论如何，即使它被用来指那些不整洁的孩子或大人的时候，其用法较最初也有了很大提高。Ragamuffin 是14世纪的一部寓言诗 犁者码头 中一个魔鬼的名字。 这个名字一度被认为是本词的来源，但对中世纪英语词典 的研究表明这个词曾在14世纪早期(1344年）用作一位妇女的姓，伊莎贝拉·拉格姆芬， 这早于那首诗创作之前。这个词甚至还曾有衣裳破烂的粗人、褴褛的呆子的意思，尽管此词仅见于姓名。构词成分raga- 可能源自中古英语的形容词 raggi “破烂的”， 也曾以“毛长而参差不齐”这个意思用于魔鬼和人名。构词成分-muffin 可能来自中世纪荷兰语中 moffel 或意为“连指手套”的 muffe 〔difference〕the distinction in meaning between "good" and "excellent.” A “好的”和“出色”两词的词义差别。 〔emunctory〕ē-, ex- [intensive pref.] * see ex- ē-, ex- [加强词义前缀] * 参见 ex-〔embroider〕and partly from Old French embroder en- [intensive pref] * see en- 1 broder, brosder [to embroider] [of Germanic origin] 并且部分源自 古法语 embroder en- [加强词义前缀] * 参见 en-1 broder, brosder [刺绣] [源自德国] 〔evict〕ē-, ex- [intensive pref.] * see ex- ē-, ex- [加强词义的前缀] * 参见 ex-〔naughty〕Words have changes in their fortunes over time just as people and institutions do.The wordnaughty at one time might have been high on one's list as an all-purpose word similar to bad or nice. During the 16th centuryone could usenaughty to mean "unhealthy, unpleasant, bad (with respect to weather), vicious (of an animal), inferior, or bad in quality" (one could say "very naughtie figes" or "naughty corrupt water"). All of these senses have disappeared, however,andnaughty is now used mainly in contexts involving mischief or indecency. This recalls its early days in Middle English (with the formnoughti ), when the word was restricted to the senses "evil, hostile, ineffectual, and needy.”Middle Englishnoughti, first recorded in works written in the last quarter of the 14th century, was derived fromnought, which as a noun had senses such as "evil,”as a pronoun meant "nothing,”and as an adjective could mean such things as "immoral, weak, useless.”Nought was descended from Old English nāwiht, with similar senses,a compound made up ofnā, "no,” and wiht, "thing, being.” Thusnaughty, in a sense, has risen from nothing,but its fortunes have been better than they are at present.正像人们和制度那样，词随着时间改变了意思。单词naughty 曾一度作为类似于 bad 或 nice 这种通用词语而列于某人的词汇表中。 在16世纪，人们可以用naughty 来指“不健康的，不舒服的，坏的（和天气相关的），邪恶的（动物），较劣的，或质量坏的”（人们可以说“非常坏的人” 或“不健康的被污染的水”）。 然而所有的这些词义都消失了，现在naughty 主要用于关系到顽皮或不妥的上下文中。 这使人回想起它在中世纪英语的早些时候形式为naughti ， 当这个词被限定为用作“邪恶的，敌意的，无用的，和贫穷的”意思。中世纪英语的noughti 最先记录于写于14世纪后二十五年的著作中， 是由nought 派生而来的， 作为名词用有“邪恶”的意思，作为代词用是“没有”的意思，和作为形容词为“不道德的，虚弱的，无用的”。Nought 是从古英语 nawiht 中传下来的， 并且有相似的意思，由na “没有”和 wiht “事情，事物”组成的合成词。 这样naughty 从某种意义上来说， 从没有中生出，但是其意思却比现在的这些意思好得多〔fornication〕The wordfornication had a lowly beginning suitable to what has long been the low moral status of the word. The Latin wordfornix, from which fornicātiō, the ancestor offornication, is derived, meant "a vault, an arch.” The term also referred to a vaulted cellar or similar place where prostitutes plied their trade.This sense offornix in Late Latin yielded the verb fornicārī, "to commit fornication,” from which is derivedfornicātiō, "whoredom, fornication.” Our word is first recorded in Middle English about 1303.单词fornication 开始时用作指道德水准低的含义。 拉丁语中fornix 一词源自于单词 fornicatio， fornication 一词的前身，词义为“拱顶，穹隆”。 此词也指一个拱顶室或类似结构的妓院。后期拉丁语中fornix 的这种含义衍生出动词 fornicario， 来表示“私通”的含义， 又由此衍生而来fornicari ，表示“卖淫，通奸。” 此词于1303年左右首次出现于中世纪英语中〔embowel〕en- [intensive pref.] * see en- 1en- [加强词义前缀] * 参见 en-1 |
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