| 单词 | 该词 |
| 释义 | 〔paradise〕Perhaps the supreme example of the semantic process known as melioration is the wordparadise. In tracing this word from its origins to its present status,we see an elevation, or melioration, of meaning that raises the word to new heights.The history begins with the Avestan (the eastern dialect of Old Iranian) wordpairi-daēza-, "enclosure,” made up ofpairi, "around,” and daēza-, "wall.” The Greek military leader and historian Xenophon, who served with Greek mercenaries in Persia,first used the Greek wordparadeisos adopted from the Avestan wordto refer to the Persian kings' and nobles' parks or pleasure grounds.This Greek word extended to mean "garden" or "orchard" was an obvious choice for translators of the Bible into Greekto use both for the Garden of Eden and the Abode of the Blessed, or heaven.The Greek word was adopted into Late Latin and was used much as we might expect in its biblical senses in ecclesiastical Latin (Late Latinparadīsus ). The Old English wordparadis taken from Latin is found, but our word probably really established itself in Middle English (first recorded before 1200),derived both from Latin and from Old French, which had adopted the word from Latin.paradise. 这个词也许能作为词义进化最典型的例子， 从它的起源到现在的地位，我们可以看到词义的进化或改进把这个词带到了一个新的高度。这个历史过程从意为“领地，圈地”的阿维斯陀语（古伊朗人西部方言）pairi-daeza-, 开始， 由意为“环形的”pairi, 和意为“墙”的 daeza-, 组成。 曾随希腊雇佣军到波斯服役的希腊军事将领和历史学家色诺芬，首先使用了希腊语词paradeisos, ， 该词采用了阿维斯陀词，指波斯国王和贵族们的花园或游乐场，这个希腊词衍生到表示“花园”或“果园”，显然是译者在把《圣经》翻译成希腊文时所做出的选择，以用来表明伊甸园和天国或天堂，有这两种含义的希腊词被引入后期的拉丁语中且当它们在教会拉丁文（后期拉丁语paradisus )中意为《圣经》方面的意义时被更广泛地使用， 古英语paradis 一词来自拉丁文， 但我们用的这个词可能在中古英语（首次记录在1200年前）中真正确立了起来，人们发现它源于拉丁文和从拉丁文中采纳了这个词的古法语〔parallel〕In its mathematical usageparallel is an absolute term— two lines either do or do not intersect—and as such does not admit of qualification as to degree.Some grammarians have arguedthat this restriction should apply as well to nontechnical uses of the word.According to this logic,one may not sayThe two roads have been made more parallel, except perhaps as a loose way of saying what is rendered more precisely by expressions such asmore nearly parallel. Like the analogous objection that has been made to the comparison ofequal, the point betrays a misconception about the relation between mathematical concepts and their ordinary-language equivalents.Applied to objects in the world,parallel can only denote a rough approximation to a geometric ideal. A pair of rails or parked cars cannot be truly parallel in the mathematician's sense of the termbut only more or less so,just as a road or shelf cannot be truly straight in the geometric sensebut nonetheless may be described as very straight or relatively straight.The grammarians' compunctions make even less sense when applied to metaphorical uses ofparallel, as inThe difficulties faced by the Republicans are quite parallel to those that confronted the Democrats four years ago, in which the intended meaning has nothing to do with the possibility of intersectionbut instead suggests the structural correspondence of two distinct situations.In this sense, parallelism is clearly a matter of degreeand the wordparallel can be modified accordingly. See Usage Note at equal ,perfect ,unique 在数学用法中，parallel 是一个绝对的表达法—— 两条线要么相交，要么就不相交——它既没有限定性也没有程度差别。一些语法学家曾提出，这种限制也应该适用于该词在非科技方面的用法，按照这种逻辑，人们不能说这两条路已被修得更加平行了， 除非作为用例如更接近于平行 这样的表达方法更精确地表示的东西的不够精确的说出方法。 象对equal 的比较所做的类似反对一样， 这个观点使数学概念与普通用语中等价词之间的关系引起误解。当运用到世间的实物时，parellel 仅能指与几何理想状态大致接近的状况。 一对铁轨或停放的车辆不可能按数学家对于这个术语的理解来真正地相互并行，而不过是大致平行而已，正如公路和架子不可能是真正几何意义上的笔直，但仍可被描绘成很直的或相对而言的笔直。在用到parallel 的比喻用法时，语法学家的不安就更显得意义不大了， 例如：共和党人所面临的重重困难与四年前民主党人遇到的困难十分相似， 在这句话中，该词的引申意义与相交的可能性毫无关系，然而它暗指了两种不同情况结构上的一致。在此意义上，相似性明显是程度的问题，相应地，parallel 一词也能被其它词限定修饰了。 参见 equal,perfect,unique〔irregardless〕The labelNon-Standard does only approximate justice to the status of irregardless. More precisely,it is a form that many people mistakenly believe to be a correct usage in formal stylebut that in fact has no legitimate antecedents in either standard or nonstandard varieties. (The word was likely coined from a blend ofirrespective and regardless. ) Perhaps this is why critics have sometimes insisted that there is "no such word" asirregardless, a charge they would not think of leveling at a bona fide nonstandard word such asain't, which has an ancient genealogy.给irregardless 贴上 Non-Standard 的标签只是对其地位做了近似恰当的评价。 更精确地说，许多人错误地相信它是正式语体中的规范用法，但实际上无论在标准或非标准变体中都没有这个词真正的前身。(该词可能是把irrespective 和 regardless 合在一起生造出来的。） 也许这就是为什么批评者们有时坚持认为“没有irregardless 这么个词”的原因， 他们不会把这项指责安在一个象ain't 这样一个正牌的非标准用词上， 因为这个词的家史渊源流长〔ponder〕I sat mulling over my problem without finding a solution. Tomuse is to be absorbed in one's thoughts; the word often connotes an abstracted quality: 我坐着一遍又一遍地思考我的问题，可总是找不到解决办法。 Muse 是指沉浸在自己的思想中； 该词经常含有一种抽象的性质： 〔igg〕Igg, a shortened form of ignore, seems to have come into American speech from jive, the special jargon of Black jazz musicians in the 1930's. Its use has spread from the musicians' exclusive jargon into the Black communities of Northern U.S. cities. The reduction of a word to its initial syllable is a common source of slang or informal words, especially among groups of speakers who for reasons of exclusivity like to remain avant garde in their speech. Often such words come into general use, as in mike for microphone. Igg 一词作为 ignore 一词的简略语，可能是从20世纪30年代黑人爵士乐乐师的专业术语中进入美国语言的。该词从乐师独有的术语传入美国北部城市的黑人聚居区。将一个字缩短到它开头的几个字母是俚语和非正式用语的一个主要来源，有些语言圈的人为保持其独特性而尽量在语言上保持特殊，他们就常用这种方法。这种词语在生活中 经常使用，就象用 mike 代表 microphone 这个词 〔claustrophobic〕Clinically speaking,claustrophobic denotes a pathological disposition to feel terror in closed spaces. But like other terms from clinical psychology (narcissism and schizophrenic, for example), the word has been applied more loosely in general usage:at first to refer to a temporary feeling of being closed in (as in 客观地说，claustrophobic 表示了一种在封闭空间里感到恐惧的病理倾向。 但象其它来自临床病理学的词汇（例如narcissism 和 schizophrenic ）一样， 该词已经被应用于更广泛的普遍意义了：首先是指被关禁时的短暂感受（如 〔Spackle〕A trademark used for a powder to be mixed with water or a ready-to-use plastic paste designed to fill cracks and holes in plaster before painting or papering. This trademark often occurs in lowercase in print:"In the Sierra . . . the snow generally is the consistency of spackle" (San Francisco Chronicle). It also occurs as a verb in various contexts: "Two young men quietly spackled and whitewashed the walls . . . for an exhibition" (New York Times). "Support compensates, underpins, retrofits, translates, spackles, patches and reinforces" (Computerworld). The trademark has also generated a derivative noun: 斯百克填料：一种涂料粉的商标，用水或即用石膏泥与粉末合成，用以在作画或裱纸前填补石膏上的裂缝或洞眼。该商标印刷时通常以小写字母排印：“在塞拉…雪花通常都是斯百克填料组成的” （旧金山年鉴）。该词同时也在各种文本中以动词出现： “两个年轻人静静地抹墙并把墙刷白…为了展览” （纽约时报）。 “支持可以补偿、巩固、翻新、转化、填补、修补和加强” （计算机世界）。此商标还派生出一名词： 〔decay〕wood that had rotted), but it often, likeputrefy, stresses a stage of deterioration marked by offensiveness to the sense of smell: 已经腐烂了的木头)， 但正如putrefy， 该词经常强调恶化的阶段，伴有显著的令人作呕的气味： 〔cayuse〕The nouncayuse comes from the name of the Cayuse people in the Pacific Northwest. Cayuse is used chiefly in the territory of the word's origin—the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho—although its use has also spread into other Western states. A verb meaning "to buck,” derived from the noun,is cited by Ramon F. Adams inOld-Time Cowhand (1961): "What cowboys in other sections calledbuckin', the Texan called pitchin', and a term used in South Texas, though seldom heard in other sections, wascayusein'. ” 名词cayuse 源自太平洋西北部卡尤塞人的名字。 Cayuse 一词主要在该词的起源地区——华盛顿州、俄勒冈州和衣阿华州使用——尽管它也被其它一些西部州使用。 从名词引申的动词意为“碰撞”，被拉门·F·亚当斯在过去时代的牛仔 （1961年）中引用： “牛仔们在其它地区称为buckin'， 得克萨斯人称 pitchin'， 而在南得克萨斯经常使用， 在其他地区很少听到的一个词是cayusein' ” 〔leprechaun〕Nothing seems more Irish than the leprechaun;yet, hiding within the wordleprechaun is a word from another language entirely. If we look back beyond Modern Irish Gaelicluprachán and Middle Irish luchrupán to Old Irish luchorpān, we can see the connection.Luchorpān is a compound of Old Irish lū, meaning "small,” and the Old Irish word corp, "body.” Corp is borrowed from Latin corpus (which we know from habeas corpus ). Here is a piece of evidence attesting to the deep influence of Church Latin on the Irish language.Although the word is old in Irishit is fairly new in English,being first recorded in 1604.没有什么东西看上去比矮妖精更具有爱尔兰特色；但是，leprechaum （矮妖精）这个单词里却隐藏着一个完全来源于另一种语言的单词。 如果我们通过现代爱尔兰语中的luprachan 和中世纪爱尔兰语 luchrupan 一词，追溯到古代爱尔兰语中的 luchorpan 这个单词， 我们就可以看出其中的联系了。luchorpan 是由古代爱尔兰语中表示“小、矮小”，意思的 lu 和古代爱尔兰语中表示“身体”的 corp 一词所构成的复合词。 corp 一词是从拉丁语中 corpus 借用过来的（这一点我们可以从 habeas corpus 【人身保护令】得知）。 这是一个证明教堂拉丁语对爱尔兰语有着重大影响的证据。虽然该词在爱尔兰语中已经很古老了，但在英语中却很新，首次记录于1604年〔apartheid〕Although South Africa has not furnished a great number of words that have achieved general currency in British and American English,one in particular,apartheid, has gained wide circulation. The first recorded use ofapartheid as an English term, in the Cape Times on October 24, 1947, is an ironic commentary on much of the word's use since then: "Mr. Hofmeyr said apartheid could not be reconciled with a policy of progress and prosperity for South Africa.” According to the March 15, 1961, issue of theLondon Times, the wordself-development was supposed to replace apartheid as the official term used by the South African Broadcasting Corporation for "the Government's race policies. ” And inMove Your Shadow, published in 1985, Joseph Lelyveld says that the "word is [now] shunned, even resented by the [National Party's] high priests as if it were an epithet fashioned by the country's enemies.” Butapartheid as a word and as a reality has been slow to disappear. The history ofapartheid, however, offers a possible model for change in this policy, for the word is an example of a mixture and combination of resources, in this case linguistic.Apartheid is an English word that came into South African English from Afrikaans, the language of the Dutch settlers of South Africa. They in turn had made up the word from the Dutch wordapart, "separate,” and the suffix -heid, which corresponds to our suffix -hood. Thusapartheid literally means "separateness.” The Dutch had earlier borrowed the wordapart, as did we, from the French phrase à part, meaning "to one side.” 尽管南非并没有向英国和美国英语里加入很多得以普遍使用的词汇，但尚有一例外，apartheid 这个词就得到了普遍应用。 apartheid 一词作为英语词汇的使用最早记录于1947年10月24日的 开普时报 上，从那时起对该词的使用就作了反讽式的评论： “霍夫梅伊先生说种族隔离制不能与南非进步及繁荣的政策相容。”根据1961年3月15日的一期伦敦时报 ， 南非广播公司试图以self-development 作为官方用语来代替 apartheid 表示“政府的种族政策”。 在1985年出版的移动你的影子 中，约瑟夫·莱莉瓦德说“这个词为高级牧师们所回避甚至痛恨， 似乎它是这个国家的敌人创造出来的修饰语。”但apartheid 作为词汇和作为现实存在消失得很慢。 然而apartheid 的历史为这种政策的变化提供了一个可能的模式， 因为这个词是语言学方面各种来源混合及联合的一个例子。Apartheid 是从南非的荷兰殖民者的语言进入南非英语的一个英语词汇。 依次由荷兰词apart “分隔”，和后缀 -heid （其与后缀 -hood 相对应）构成。 这样，apartheid 可逐字译为“分隔，隔离。” 荷兰人较早地借用了apart 一词，就如我们从法语里借用了意为“到一边”的 a part 一样 〔retire〕Despite the upbeat books written about retiringand the fact that it is a well-earned time of relaxation from the daily rigors of work,many people do not find it a particularly pleasant prospect.Perhaps the etymology ofretire may hint at why. The ultimate source of our word is the Old French wordretirer, made up of the prefixre-, meaning in this case "back,” and the verb tirer, "to draw,” together meaning "to take back or withdraw.” The first use of the English wordretire is recorded in 1533 in reference to a military force that withdraws.It is not until 1667 that we find the word used to mean "to withdraw from a position for more leisure.”In regard to the sting in all thiswe need to look at the source oftirer, "to draw, draw out, endure,”which ultimately may be from Old Frenchmartir, "a martyr,” probably reflecting the fact that martyrs had to endure the torture of being stretched up to and beyond the point of dislocating their bones.尽管有关于退休的乐观书籍，以及退休是从日常工作的严酷中解放出来的极好时光的事实，许多人并没有发现它特别令人愉悦的地方。也许retire 的语源学暗示了原因。 这个词最早的来源是古法语单词retirer ， 由在此意指“向后”的前缀re- 及意为“拉”的动词 tiver 合在一起组成，意为“撤回或退回”。 英语单词retire 的使用则最早记录于1553年， 指撤退的军队。直到1667年我们才发现该词用于表达“为得到更多的闲暇而退出职位。”考虑到所有这些词的负面含义，我们有必要看看tirer 的词源， 其意为“拉，拉出，容忍，”它可能最初源于意为“殉道者”的古法语martir ， 这可能反映了一个事实，即殉者不得不忍受四肢被拉直至骨肉脱离的酷刑〔sarcophagus〕A gruesome name befits a gruesome thing,as in the case ofsarcophagus, our term for a stone coffin, often a decorated one, that is located above ground. The word comes to us from Latin and Greek,having been derived in Greek fromsarx, "flesh,” and phagein, "to eat.” The Greek wordsarkophagos meant "eating flesh,” and in the phraselithos ("stone") sarcophagos denoted a limestone that was thought to decompose the flesh of corpses placed in it. The Greek term used by itself as a noun then came to mean "coffin.”The term was carried over into Latin,wheresarcophagus was used in the phrase lapis ("stone") sarcophagus, referring to the same stone as in Greek. Sarcophagus used as a noun in Latin meant "coffin of any material.” This Latin word was borrowed into English,first being recorded in 1601 with reference to the flesh-consuming stone and then in 1705 with reference to a stone coffin.恐怖的名字适合恐怖的事物，如Sarcophagus （指石棺的专有名称）一词，常指一个置于地上的装饰过的石棺。 该词源于拉丁语和希腊语，即从希腊语sarx （“肉”）和 phagein （“吃”）而来。 希腊词sarkophagos 意为“吃肉”， 而在短语lithos （“石头”） sarcophagos 中则指被认为能腐蚀其中尸体腐肉的石头。 该希腊词单独作为名词使用，后来指“棺材”。该词后来被引入拉丁语，sarcophagus 在短语 lapis （“石头”） sarcophagus 中指代其在希腊文中指代的同种石头。 Sarcophagus 在拉丁文中用作名词，指“任何材料做成的棺材”。 该拉丁词后来被借用于英语中，最初记载于1601年，指腐蚀肉的石头，后来在1705年开始指石棺〔ranunculus〕[perhaps of imitative origin] [可能是该词最初的意思] 〔dynamite〕The same man who gave us dynamite gave us the Nobel Peace Prize,an irony that was surely not lost on the pacifistic Alfred Nobel himself.It is perhaps less well known that Nobel also contributed the worddynamite. Coined in Swedish in the formdynamit, the word was taken from Greekdunamis, "power,” and the Swedish suffix-it, which corresponds to our suffix-ite used in various scientific fields. Greekdunamis also gave us words such as dynamic and dynamo and itself probably goes back to the verbdunasthai, "to be able,” from which comesdynasty. 正是那个为我们制造炸药的人建立了诺贝尔和平奖，这种反语在阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔，这个和平主义者身上反映出来。而鲜为人知的是诺贝尔还创造了dunamite 这个词。 该词以瑞典语dynamit 形式创造， 取自希腊文dunamis ，意为“力量”， 再加上瑞典语的后缀-it， 相当于英文用于各种科学领域的后缀-ite。 希腊词dunamis 还向我们提供了其他词，如 dynamic 和 dynamo ， 而后者本身可能追源到动词dunasthai ， 由此又产生了dynasty 〔umpire〕The anguished, hostile cry "Kill the ump" could have been "kill the nump" had it not been for the linguistic process known as false splitting or juncture loss.In the case ofumpire we can almost see the process in action if we study the Middle English Dictionary entry for noumpere, the Middle English ancestor of our word. Noumpere comes from the Old French nonper, made up ofnon, "not,” and per, "equal,” as is someone who is requested to act as arbiter of a dispute between two people; that is, the arbiter is not paired with one of them.In Middle English the earliest recorded form isnoumper (about 1350). The earliest dated form without ann in the entry is owmpere ( a Middle English variant spelling),in a text composed in 1440.How then was lost can be seen if we compare the sequence a noounpier in a text written in 1426-1427 with the sequence an Oumper from a text written probably around 1475. Then of noumpere became attached to the indefinite article, giving usan instead of a and, eventually,umpire instead of .numpire. 要不是因为被称为假分裂或失去连音的语言学过程，"Kill the ump"（杀掉裁判）这样痛苦，仇恨的呐喊可能会成为"kill the nmup"。在umpire 这一例子中，如果我们研究一下 中古英语词典 中 noumpere 这一词条，即该词在中古英语中的原型，便会了解这一语言学现象的过程。 Noumpere 来自于古法语 nonper， 由non, “不”，和 per, “平等的”组成，表示一个应要求就两人之间的争议做出仲裁的人； 也就是说，不与任何一人合作的公断人。中古英语的最先记录形式是noumper （约1350年）。 词条中没有n 的最早形式是 owmpere ( 中古英语的变体拼写），出现于1440年所做的一篇文章。通过比较两个顺序可以看出n 是我们被省略的：一个是 a noounpier ，出现于写于1426年至1427年间的一篇文章；另一个是 an Oumper 摘自可能写于1475年的文章。 noumpere 中的 n 变得和不定冠词连在一起， 成为an 而非 n ， 最后就出现了umpire 而不是 ·numpire 〔tule〕Low, swampy land istules or tule land in the parlance of northern California. When the Spanish colonized Mexico and Central America,they borrowed from the native inhabitants the Nahuatl wordtollin, "bulrush.” The English-speaking settlers of the West in turn borrowed the Spanish wordtule to refer to certain varieties of bulrushes native to California.Eventually the meaning of the word was extended to the marshy land where the bulrushes grew.北加利福尼亚的说法中，潮湿洼地叫做tules 或 tule land 。 当西班牙人殖民于墨西哥和中美洲时，他们从土著居民那里借来了那瓦特语tollin （“灯心草”）。 接着西方讲英语的定居者又借用了西班牙语tule ， 用来表示原产于加利福尼亚的各种灯芯草。最后该词的意义又扩展到这种灯芯草所生长的沼泽地〔chaperon〕The chaperon at a high-school dance seems to have little relationship to what was first signified by the English wordchaperon, "a hood for a hawk,” and not even that much to what the word later meant, "a protectress of a young single woman.”The sense "hood for a hawk,” recorded in a Middle English text composed before 1400,reflects the original meaning of the Old French wordchaperon, "hood, headgear.” In order to understand why ourchaperon came to have the sense "protectress,” we need to know that in French the verbchaperonner, meaning "to cover with a hood,” was derived from chaperon and that this verb subsequently developed the figurative sense "to protect.”Under the influence of the verb sensethe French nounchaperon came to mean "escort,” a meaning that was borrowed into English,being found first in a work published in 1720.In its earlier useEnglishchaperon referred to a person, commonly an older woman, who accompanied a young unmarried woman in public to protect her. The English verbchaperon, "to be a chaperon,” is first recorded in Jane Austen'sSense and Sensibility, begun in 1796 as a sketch called "Elinor and Marianne"and published as a novel in 1811.中学舞会上的年长监护者似乎与英语词chaperon 的最初含义关系极微，（当时其意为“鹰的羽冠”）， 与后来该词的意思“年轻单身女子的伴护人”，关系也不甚大。“鹰的羽冠”的意思，最初见于作于1400年以前的一个中古英语文本，反映了这个古法语词chaperon 的最初的“羽冠”的含义。 为了理解为什么我们所用的chaperon 一词具有了“女伴护人”的意思， 我们需要知道法语中表示“覆以羽冠”意思的动词chaperonner 是从 chaperon 派生出来的， 这个词后来逐渐发展具有了“保护”的意思。受动词意义的影响，法语名词chaperon 也有了“伴护”的含义， 英语借用了这个含义，首见于1720年发表的一部作品。在早期用法上，英语词chaperon 是指一个在社交场合陪伴并保护一名未成婚少女的人，尤指年长妇女。 英语动词chaperon “做伴护人”， 最初见于简·奥斯丁的理智与情感 ， 此作品开始是1796年动笔的一部名为“艾利诺和马利恩”的文学速写，1811年作为一部小说出版〔caring〕Some critics have objected to the use ofcaring as an adjective, perhaps because it appears to treat compassion as a chronic condition.The acceptability of the usage may therefore vary according to the relation between the source and object of the caring.Thus 74 percent of the Usage Panel accepts the sentence A child has a right to certain things: a secure home, a healthful environment, and caring parents. A smaller majority, 58 percent,acceptsWe are looking for a few caring people to help with this program, where the adjective appears to ascribe an undiscriminating disposition to care about whatever object of concern may present itself.Finally, only 29 percent of the Panel accepts 一些评论家反对把caring 当作形容词用， 也许是因为该词看起来把同情作为一种长期的状态来对待。对该词形容词用法的可接受性也许会因此根据同情的缘由和对象的关系而变化。所以有74％的用法专题使用小组成员认为 儿童有权享受一定的事物：安定的家庭，健康的环境以及充满爱心的父母一句可接受。 比例少一些的多数人。即58％的成员，认为我们正在寻找一些有同情心的人帮助实施这项计划 一句可接受。 该句中的形容词似乎把一种不加区别的性情当作关心任何一个可能出现的需要关心注意的对象。最后，只有29％的小组成员接受 〔mannequin〕A department store mannequin is often not a man and often not little,yetmannequin goes back to the Middle Dutch word mannekijn, the diminutive form ofman. Of course we must consider the fact thatman in Dutch, as in English, has often been used to mean "person.” As for the size of a mannequin,the Middle Dutch word could mean "dwarf" but in Modern Dutch developed the specialized sense of "an artist's jointed model.”This was the sense in which we adopted the word (first recorded in 1570),another term likeeasel and landscape that was taken over from the terminology of Dutch painters of the time. The word borrowed from Dutch now has the formmanikin. We later adopted the French version of the Dutch word as well,giving Englishmannequin. Mannequinis considered to be first recorded in a dictionary published from 1730 to 1736 or in 1902,depending on whether one regards early forms showing French influence as variants ofmanikin or as representations of a new word. In any event,mannequin is now the form most commonly encountered and the one commonly used for a department store dummy as well as a live model.一个百货店的时装模特一般不用男子并且也不会太小，但mannequin 一词来源于中世纪时的荷兰语 mannekijn， 是man 的小词形式。 当然，我们应该考虑到在荷兰语和英语中，man 被用来指“一个人”。 至于人体模型的大小，这个中世纪荷兰词语可以表示“侏儒”，但在现代荷兰语中发展出一个特定的意思是“艺术家的关节活动的人体模型”。我们取的就是这个意思（最早记载于1570年），其它如easel 和 landscape 也是从当时荷兰画家所用术语中搬过来的。 从荷兰语来的这个词今天的形式是manikin 。 我们后来又接受了这个荷兰词的法语变体，英语词是manneqin 。 Mannequin一般认为最早记载于一本字典中， 出版于1730-1736年间或1902年，主要看是把该词的较早的形式看作是用法语影响的manikin 一词的变体还是看作是一个新词。 不论如何，mannequin 一词现在已经是最为常见的形式了， 通常用来表示百货商店里的人体模型或真人模特〔carry〕A non-Southerner is always amused when a Southerner offers to "carry" rather than to drive him or her somewhere,imagining it to be an invitation to be picked up and bodily lugged to the destination.However, the verbcarry, which to Southerners means "to transport (someone) in a motor vehicle, such as an automobile,” is etymologicallymore precise in the Southern usage than anywhere else.Carry derives from the Latin noun carrus, "cart,” from which we get the nounscarriage and our modern car. Therefore,carry is more closely related to car than is drive, which only makes literal sense if the vehicle is drawn by a team of animals.当一个南方人提出把一个非南方人“运送”而不是开车带到某地时，这个非南方人总是觉得好笑，会以为是一个把他或她“拖运”到某地的邀请。然而，carry 这个动词对南方人来说意思是“用机动车辆（例如汽车）运送某人，” 从词源学的角度来讲，该词在南部的用法比在其它任何地方者更为确切。Carry 一词从拉丁语中的名词 carrus “货车”发展而来， 从此我们又得到了名词carriage 和现在的 car 。 因此，carry 比 drive 而更为与 car 的关系密切， 因为如果一辆车由一组动物拉着，那么它就只能表示字面上的意思〔curmudgeon〕The etymology of the wordcurmudgeon has eluded us for at least two centuries, although some lexicographers have thought the solution was at hand, one to his embarrassment.When Samuel Johnson stated in his famous dictionary of 1755 thatcurmugeon "is a vicious manner of pronouncing c÷ur méchant, Fr. an unknown correspondent,” he was giving credit to an anonymous writer for the statement thatcurmudgeon came from French c÷ur, "heart,” and méchant, "evil.” Another lexicographer, John Ash, following in Johnson's tracks though none too carefully,gave the etymology a bit differently in his dictionary of 1775:"from the Frenchc÷ur unknown, and mechant a correspondent"; thus misinterpreting Johnson's attribution as a gloss for the French.Although its origin is unknown,curmudgeon has been around for some time, being first recorded in a work published in 1577. 单词curmudgeon 的词源已经使我们困惑了至少有两个世纪， 虽然有些词典的编辑者已经认为快找到解决方式了，但仍使某些人局促不安。当塞缪尔·约翰逊在他的举世闻名的1755年词典中指出Curmugeon “是对 cour mechant 这一法语词语的错误发音方式（它意指不知名的通讯记者）”时， 他认同一位不署名作家认为curmudgeon 一词来自法语 cour “心”和 mechant “罪恶”的陈述是正确的。 另一个名叫约翰·艾什的词典编辑者承袭了约翰逊的思路，但他也并非很严格地遵循，在他的1775年词典中对该词源作了稍有差别的解释： “从法语cour （不知名的）和 mechant （一名通讯记者）而来”； 由此他误解了约翰逊对于法语的译注。虽然该词词源未知，curmudgeon 已有了一定的历史，它首次被记录于1577年出版的一部作品中 〔jungle〕One might be surprised to learn that the wordjungle is not African in origin nor does it come from a word that only meant "land densely overgrown with tropical vegetation and trees.” Jungle goes back to the Sanskrit word jaṅgalam, meaning "desert, wasteland,”and also "any kind of uncultivated area, such as heavily forested land.”The Sanskrit wordjaṅgala- passed into various Indian languages and from one or more of these languages into English.In Englishjungle was used for land overgrown with vegetation, for the vegetation itself,and for such land outside India.The word was also extended figuratively in various ways.We have, for example, asphalt jungles, concrete jungles, blackboard jungles, academic jungles, corporate jungles,and, in a February 1972 issue of theGuardian, the government official who "lit up some lurid corners of the taxation jungle.”jungle 一词的词源不是非洲语，也不是来自仅仅意为“长满茂密的热带植物和树木的地带”的单词；知道这一点也许会让人吃惊。 Jungle 可追溯到梵语词 jangalam ， 其意为“荒漠，荒原”，也指“任何未开垦的地域，如茂密的森林”。梵语词jangala- 传入多种印度语中， 又从这其中的一种或多种语言再传入英语。在英语中jungle 用来指长满植物的地带， 指植物本身，也指印度以外的类似地带。该词也在多方面引申为比喻意义。例如，我们有柏油丛林、水泥丛林、黑板丛林、学术丛林、公司丛林，此外在1972年2月发行的一期卫报 上， 还出现了“揭露税收丛林中鲜为人知的龌龊勾当”的政府官员〔indeclinable〕Of, relating to, or being a word that lacks grammatical inflection though belonging to a form class whose members are usually inflected.无词形变化的：无语法形态变化的词或与其有关的，尽管通常该词所属类型的其他词都要发生语法形态的变化〔lethargy〕 Lethargy, a state of sluggishness and inactivity,may be caused by factors such as illness, fatigue, or overwork,but it manifests itself in drowsy dullness or apathy: Lethargy 意指无精打采及没有活力的状态，可能因诸如疾病、疲劳或过度劳作等方面的因素引起，但是该词表明自己是令人昏昏欲睡的单调乏味与呆滞： 〔kudos〕Kudos is one of those words like congeries that look like pluralsbut are etymologically singular:correctness requiresKudos is (not are ) due her for her brilliant work on the score. Some writers have tried to defend the use ofkudos with a plural verb, or even the introduction of a new singular form ofkudo, on the grounds that these innovations follow the pattern whereby the English words pea and cherry were re-formed from nouns ending in-s that were thought to be plural. Perhaps the singularkudo would have to be acknowledged as a legitimate formation if it came to be widely adopted in the popular language in the way that cherry and pea have. But at presentkudos is still regarded as a slightly pretentious variant for praise and can scarcely claim to be part of the linguistic folkways of the community.When writers reach for an unfamiliar Greek word for the sake of elegance,it is fair to ask that they get it right.Still, it is worth notingthat even people who are carefulto treat the word syntactically as a singularoften pronounce it as if it were a plural:etymology would require that the final consonant be pronounced as a voiceless (s),rather than as a voiced (z).Kudos 和 congeries 那些词一样， 看上去好象是复数，但从词源上看是单数：因此正确的用法应该是Kudos is （不是 are ） due her for her brilliant work on the score 。 许多作者为kudos 后跟动词复数形式的做法辩护， 他们甚至发明了一个新的词kudo 作为该词的单数形式，他们这样做是以英语单词 pea 和 cherry 的形成模式为依据的， 这些词都是从原先结尾带-s 的复数形式名词演化而来。 kudo 这种单数形式只有在象 cherry 和 pea 这样为大众语言所普遍接受之后才能被认可为一种正确的形式。 但是现在kudos 这个词仍被看作是 praise 这个词稍稍有些做作的变体， 还很难成为社群的习惯用语的一部份。当一个作家为了行文的优雅用一个生僻的希腊词的时候，他应该正确地使用它。但是值得注意的是，即使是那些非常仔细的人，他们在句子中把它用作单数，但在读的时候却读成复数的形式：根据词源来看，这个词最后一个辅音应该发成清辅音（s），而不是浊辅音（z）〔popcorn〕Popcorn is very much an American institution.Particularly enjoyed by people in the United States,it is grown as a native product and denoted by a word that is an Americanism,a word or expression that was first used in English in the United States.Popcorn, from the verb pop and the noun corn, fits these criteriabecause the first recorded use of the word is found inMemorable Days in America, an account written by the British traveler William Faux and published in London in 1823: "I crossed the Big Wabash . . . at La Valette's ferry,where is beautiful land . . . and two lonely families of naked-legged French settlersfrom whom I received two curious ears of poss corn.”Notice that either Faux misunderstood the termor the French settlers mispronounced it.This type of corn, introduced to the settlers by Native Americans,was long grown by them,little knowing that their benefaction would one day be consumed by countless moviegoers while watching Westerns.爆玉米是美洲人非常熟知的事物。尤其为美国人喜欢，这种作物被他们作为本地作物而大量种植并以一个美国单词来命名，这个词首先在美国被用于英语中。Popcorn 源于动词 pop 和名词 corn， 并且它适应这些标准，因为有关这个词的最早记录见于由英国旅行者威廉·福克斯所著的、1823年在伦敦出版的游记在美国的难忘日子 中，福克斯在其中写道： “我在瓦莱特码头渡过大沃巴什河，那儿有美丽的田地…及两个孤零零的法国家庭，他们都是赤脚的法国拓荒者，从他们那儿我得到了两根奇怪的玉米棒。”请注意，要么也许是福克斯误解了该词，要么也许是法国拓荒者发错了音。这种类型的玉米是美洲印第安人介绍给这些拓荒者的，且已被这些印第安人种植很久了，但他们几乎无法料到他们的施惠有一天会被无数电影观众一边嚼着一边看西部片。〔mill〕Tomill, in Western U.S. English, means "to halt a cattle stampede by turning the lead animals.”In theOxford English Dictionary we find this 19th-century example of the verb: "At last the cattle ran with less energy, and it was presently easy to ‘mill’ them into a circle and to turn them where it seemed most desirable" (Munsey's Magazine).This usage ofmill comes from the resemblance of the cattle's circular motion to the action of millstones. A related intransitive sense of the verb is better known in Standard English: A crowd milled around in the street. Originally this sense ofmill also meant "circular motion"; now it means "to move around in churning confusion"with no pattern in particular.Mill 这个词在美国西部所说的英语中， 意为“通过让领头牲畜绕圈子跑来制止牛群的惊跑”。在牛津英语词典 中， 我们可以找到该动词19世纪用法的例子： “最后牛群终于跑得快没劲儿了，这时候可以容易地驱赶头牛，把其它牛绕进圈子里，然后把它们赶到最合适的地方去” （芒西杂志）。Mill 的这种用法来自牛群绕圈跑与磨石运作的相似之处。 该词作不及物动词时所具有的与此相关的意义在标准英语中更为常见： 一群人在大街上兜圈子。 Mill 的这一含义本来亦指“旋转运动”； 现在它指“在旋涡般的混乱中到处移动”，不再有其它特指〔marshal〕Hard-riding marshals of the Wild West in pursuit of criminalsreemphasize the relationship of the wordmarshal with horses. The Germanic ancestor of our wordmarshal is a compound made up of .marhaz, "horse" (related to the source of our word mare ), and .skalkaz, "servant,” meaning as a whole literally "horse servant,”hence "groom.”The Frankish descendant of this Germanic word,.marahskalk, starting from these humble beginnings, came to designate a high royal official and also a high military commander, not surprisingly so, given the importance of the horse in medieval warfare.The word passed into the period (beginning in 800) in which we speak of Old French, after the Franks and their Germanic language had been fused with the surrounding culture descended from Roman Gaul.When the Normans established a French-speaking official class in England,the Old French word came with them.The Middle English source of our word is first recorded as a surname in 1218 (and the surname Marshal, now spelled Marshall, has been held by some famous people),but it is first recorded as a common noun with the sense "high officer of the royal court" in the first English language proclamation (1258) by an English king, Henry III, after the Norman Conquest.Marshal was applied to this high royal official's deputies, who were officers of courts of law,and the word continued to designate various officials involved with courts of law and law enforcement,including the horseback-riding marshals we are familiar with in the United States.西部荒野骑着马对罪犯紧追不舍的警长形象，再次强调了marshal 这个词与马之间的联系。 我们这个单词marshal 的日耳曼语原形是一个由 marhaz “马”（与 mare 的语源相关）和 skalkaz “仆人，佣人”组成的合成词， 字面意思是“马的仆人”，也就是后来的“马夫”。这个日耳曼词的法兰克语的演变marahskalk 从最初卑微的含义演变到特指高级王室官员及高级军事将领， 不仅如此，在中世纪的战场上马也被提升到了重要地位。在法兰克人和他们所说的日耳曼语一起融入周围的罗马高卢人文化之后，这个词进入了我们讲古法语的时代（开始于800年）。当诺曼底人在英格兰建立了一个讲法语的官员阶层之后，古法语里的这个词便随之而来。该词在中世纪英语中最早于1218年作为一个姓氏被记录下来（一些著名人士的姓马歇尔，现在的拼写法为Marshall)，但作为指“王室的高级官员”的普通名词，它最早出现于英国王亨利三世在诺曼征服之后做的一篇英文公告(1258年）。在此文中Marshal 用于指高级王室官员的代表， 也就是司法官员。该词涉及法律和法律实施的不同官员的含义延续了下来，其中就包括我们所熟悉的美国西部骑在马背上的警长〔kludge〕The wordkludge is not "etymologist-friendly,” having many possible origins,none of which can be definitively established.This term, found frequently in the jargon of the engineering and computer professions,denotes a usually workable but makeshift system, modification, solution, or repair.Kludge has had a relatively short life (first recorded in 1962 although it is said to have been used as early as 1944 or 1945) for a word with so many possible origins. The proposed sources of the word, Germanklug, kluge, "intelligent, clever,” or a blend ofklutz and nudge or klutz and refudge, do not contain all the necessary sounds to give us the word,correctly pronounced at least.The notions thatkludge may have been coined by a computer technician or that it might be the last name of a designer of graphics hardware seem belied by the possibility that it is older than such origins would allow.It seems most likely that the wordkludge originally was formed during the course of a specific situation in which such a device was called for.The makers of the word,if still alive,are no doubt unaware that etymologists need informationso they can stop trying to "kludge" an etymology together.单词kludge 不是“词源学家的朋友”， 有很多可能的来源，每一个都不能准确成立。这个词，经常在工程和电脑业的行话中找到，表示一个通常能工作但是临时凑合的系统、修改、解答或修理。作为一个有这么多可能的来源的词，kludge 却有一个相对小的年纪（1962年第一次有记载，尽管据说早到1944年或1945年就已经使用）。 该词被推荐的来源是德文klug, kluge “聪明的，灵巧的”， 或者klutz 和 nudge 的混合或 klutz 和 refudge 的混合， 没有包含能向我们给出这个词的所有必需的声音，至少是正确的发音。kludge 可能是由电脑技术人员杜撰的或者它可能是图形显示硬件的一名设计者的姓， 这些看法由于它比这些来源能允许的时间要早的可能性而被误解。看起来最可能的是单词kludge ， 最早是在需要这样的设备的特定环境中形成的。这一单词的制造者，如果还健在的话，毫无疑问意识不到词源学家需要此类信息，这样他们才能终止“临时搭配”成一个词源的努力〔cabal〕The history ofcabal reveals how a word can be transferred from one sphere of activity to another while retaining only a tenuous connection with its past. Ultimately from Hebrewbut transmitted to English probably by way of Medieval Latin and French,cabal is first recorded in English in 1616 in the sense "cabala.” Cabala was the name for the Hebrew oral tradition transmitted by Moses and also the name for a Jewish religious philosophy based on an esoteric interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures.The notion "esoteric" is central to the development of this word in English,forcabal, probably following the sense development in French, came to mean "a tradition, special interpretation, or secret,” "a private intrigue" (first recorded in 1646-1647),and "a small body of intriguers" (first recorded in 1660).It is probably not coincidental thatcabal is found with these latter meanings during the mid-17th century, that time of plots and counterplots by Royalists and Parliamentarians.The word gained a false etymology when it was noticed that the five most influential ministers of Charles II were named Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale.单词cable 的历史表现出一个单词在与其过去的含义仅保持微弱联系的情况下，如何能够从一个使用范围转向另一个范围。 最起始是源于希伯来语，但可能是通过中世纪的拉丁语和法语转化为英语，cabal 以“秘教”的含义在英语中最早载于1616年。 Cabala 是对摩西所传的希伯来口头传说的称谓， 也是对基于希伯来圣经神秘解说的犹太宗教哲学的称谓。“深奥的”这个概念对于这个英文单词的发展是很重要的，因为cabal 可能是沿用法语里发展起来的含义， 意为“传统，特殊的理解或秘密的，“个人阴谋”（最早记载于1646至1647年），以及“较小的阴谋者的联合体”（最早记载于1660年）。它可能与cabal 的17世纪中叶的后来含义并不一致， 在这一时期内充斥着保皇党人和议员们的阴谋和对策。由于注意到查理二世时期五位最有影响的大臣姓名分别为克利福德，阿灵顿，白金汉，阿什利和劳德戴尔（其姓名首字母合起来为CABAL），该词由此得来一错误的语源说明〔guillotine〕"At half past 12 the guillotine severed her head from her body.”So reads the statementcontaining the first recorded use ofguillotine in English, found in theAnnual Register of 1793. The word occurs in a context clearly illustrating the function of theguillotine, "a machine with a heavy blade that falls freely between upright guides to behead a condemned person.” Ironically, the guillotine, which became the most notable symbol of the excesses of the French Revolution,was named for a humanitarian physician, Joseph Ignace Guillotin.Guillotin, a member of the French Constituent Assembly,recommended in a speech to that body on October 10, 1789,that executions be performed by a beheading device rather than by hanging, the method used for commoners, or by the sword, reserved for the nobility.He argued that beheading by machine was quicker and less painful than the work of the rope and the sword.In 1791 the Assembly did indeed adopt beheading by machine as the state's preferred method of execution.A beheading device designed by Dr. Antoine Louis, secretary of the College of Surgeons, was first used on April 25, 1792, to execute a highwayman named Pelletier or Peletier.The device was called alouisette or louison after its inventor's name,but because of Guillotin's famous speech,his name became irrevocably associated with the machine. After Guillotin's death in 1814,his children tried unsuccessfully to get the device's name changed.When their efforts failed,they were allowed to change their name instead.“十二点半，断头台斩落了他的头颅。”这句话如此写道。这是英语文章中第一次使用guillotine 这个词， 它出现在1793年的年度文摘 中。 该文中，该词清楚地体现了guillotine 的功用——“利用垂直向下砍落的重斧斩落犯人头颅的机器。” 令人啼笑皆非的是，这一成为法国大革命中恐怖暴行最显著标志的断头台，竟是因一个人文主义医生，约瑟夫·英格纳斯·吉约坦命名的。吉约坦是法国国民代表大会的成员，在1789年10月的一次发言中向大会提出，在处决犯人时以一种砍头的机器来代替处决普通犯人时所用的绞刑或是处决贵族时使用的宝剑。他认为用机器砍头比用绳子或宝剑快而且痛苦小。1791年，国民大会确实将用机器砍头定为国家处决犯人的方法。由外科医生院秘书长安东尼·路易医生设计的砍头装置在1792年4月25日处决拦路强盗佩尔蒂或佩尔捷时第一次使用。这个装置被称为路易塞特 或 路易森 ， 因由其发明者而得名。但是由于吉约坦那次著名的发言，他的名字不可避免地与这种机器联系在一起。1814年吉约坦死后，他的子孙试图为这种机器换个名字,但没有成功。当他们的努力失败后，他们得到允许，改换了自己的名字〔distort〕floorboards that had warped over the years). It also can imply the bending or turning of something from a true course or direction: 年久变形的地板)。 该词也可指某事物正确路线或方向的歪曲或转变： 〔poke〕Apig in a poke is concealed in a sack from the buyer. The nounpoke —meaning a bag or sack—dates from the 14th century in English. In many parts of Scotlandpoke means a little paper bag for carrying purchases or a cone-shaped piece of paper for an ice-cream cone. TheOxford English Dictionary gives similar forms in other languages: Icelandicpoki, Gaelic poc or poca, and French poche. Pouchand pocket are undoubtedly cognates. 一只袋子里的猪 被藏于一只麻袋中而不让买主看到。 poke 这个名词——意为一个包或袋子——在英语中可追溯到14世纪。 在苏格兰的许多地方，poke 指用来携带商品的一个小纸包或用来包冰淇淋卷的一张锥形纸片。 牛津英语词典 给出了该词在其它语言中的近似形式： 冰岛语中的poki ，盖耳语中的 poc 或 poca 和法语中的 poche。 Pouch和 pocket 无疑是同源词 〔ornate〕 Baroque applies to a European artistic style marked by ornate scrolls and curves.It often connotes rich, sometimes bizarre or incongruous ornamentation: Baroque 应用于欧洲一种以装饰漩涡形或雕刻为特色的艺术风格。该词经常暗含着丰富的、有时稀奇古怪的或不恰当的装饰： 〔save〕"The foundations of the capital were gradually reclaimed from the watery element" (William Hickling Prescott).Toredeem is to free someone from captivity or the consequences of sin or error or to save something from pawn or from deterioration or destruction;the term can imply the expenditure of money or effort: “首都的地基逐渐从含水物质中露出来” （威廉·希克林·普雷斯科特）。Redeem 是将某人从关押、犯罪恶果或谬误中解放出来， 或将某物从当铺或变坏的状况和毁灭状态中赎回或挽救回来；该词也暗指花费金钱和努力： 〔penthouse〕The wordpenthouse and the structure it denotes have both come a long way. The word goes back to Latinappendere, "to cause to be suspended.”In Medieval Latinappendere developed the sense "to belong, depend,” a sense that passed intoapendre, the Old French development ofappendere. Fromapent, the past participle of apendre, came the derivative apentiz, "low building behind or beside a house,” and the Anglo-Norman plural form pentiz. The form without thea- was then borrowed into Middle English, giving uspentis (first recorded about 1300), which was applied to sheds or lean-tos added on to buildings.Because these structures often had sloping roofs,the word was connected with the French wordpente, "slope,” and the second part of the word changed tohouse, which could mean simply "a building for human use.”The use of the term with reference to fancy penthouse apartments developed from the application of the word to a structure built on the roof to cover such things as a stairway or an elevator shaft.Penthouse then came to mean an apartment built on a rooftop and finally the top floor of an apartment building.单词penthouse 及其所代表的结构都经过了长期的演变。 此词可追溯至拉丁语appendere ， 意为“使悬浮”。在中世纪拉丁语中，appendere 的意思演变为“附属，依靠”， 是词形变为apendre 的意义， 由古法语appendere 发展而来。 从apendre 的过去分词 apent 产生出意为“房屋旁边或后面低矮的建筑”的派生词 apentiz 及盎格鲁-诺尔曼复数形式 pentiz 。 没有a- 的形式被借用到中世纪英语， 变成pentis （首次记载于1300年）， 用作加在建筑上的小棚或单倾斜面的小屋。因为这些结构常有斜屋顶，因此该词与法语词pente “斜面”有关， 且此词的第二部分变成house ， 只简单地意为“住人的建筑”。该词与使人想象楼顶房屋有关的使用源自需要用一个词来表示建在屋顶上用来遮挡楼梯或电梯通道的建筑。Penthouse 于是逐渐意为建在屋顶上的房间， 最终意为一个公寓楼的顶层〔prude〕Being a prude has never been widely considered a good thing,but if we dig further into the history of the wordprude, we will find that it had a noble past.The change for the worse took place in French.Frenchprude first had a good sense, "wise woman,” but apparentlya woman could be too wise or, in the eyes of some,too observant of decorum and propriety,and soprude took on the sense in French that was brought into English along with the word, first recorded in 1704.The French word first meant "wise woman"becauseprude was a shortened form of prude femme (earlier in Old Frenchprode femme ), a word that was modeled on earlierpreudomme, "a man of experience and integrity.” The second part of this word is, of course,homme, "man.” Old Frenchprod, meaning "wise, prudent,” is from Vulgar Latin prōdis with the same sense. Prōdis in turn comes from Late Latin prōde, "advantageous,” derived from the verbprodesse, "to be good.” We can see that the history ofprude is filled with usefulness, profit, wisdom, and integrity, but in spite of all this,things did not turn out that well.人们从来没有普遍地认为做一个拘守礼仪的人是一件好事，但是如果我们深挖prude 这个词的历史， 我们会发现这个词有一个体面的过去。这个词变成贬义是在法语中发生的。法语词prude 开始时是褒义的，意为“明智或聪明的女人，” 但是很显然，女人可能会过于聪明或者在某些人的眼里，对仪表和行为的得体过分注重，这样法语词prude 就有了这个和词一起被引入英语的意思， 并最早记载于1704年。这个法语词开始时的意思之所以是“聪明的女人”，因为prude 是 prudefemme 的缩写形式 （更早的时候在古法语中为prodefemme )， 这个词模仿更早的一个词preudomme “一个富有经验而又正直的男人”而来。 这个词的第二部分当然是意为“男人”的homme。 意思是“聪明，谨慎”的古法语prod 由一个相同意思的俗拉丁词 prodis 而来。 Prodis 从后期拉丁语 prode 演变而来，意为“有利的”， 该词又从意思为“从善”的动词prudesse 衍生而来。 我们现在明白prude 的历史充满了有利、利益、智慧或忠诚的意思， 但尽管如此，事情并没有变得那么好〔dervish〕The worddervish calls to mind the phrases howling dervish and whirling dervish. Certainly there are dervisheswhose religious exercises include making loud howling noises or whirling rapidly so as to bring about a dizzy, mystical state.But a dervish is really the Moslem equivalent of a monk or friar,the Persian worddarvēsh, the ultimate source of dervish, meaning "religious mendicant.”The word is first recorded in English in 1585.Dervish 一词让人想起 howling dervish 以及 whirling dervish 这些词组。 当然，有这样的托钵僧，他们的宗教活动包括大声号叫、快速旋转以令人进入昏眩、神秘的状态。但托钵僧事实上是穆斯林僧侣或行乞道士，波斯词darvesh 是 dervish 的起源， 其意思是“宗教行乞者”。该词于1585年第一次记载于英语中〔forgetful〕As I grow older I become increasingly forgetful. Less often the word is used as the equivalent ofunmindful, which applies principally to failure to keep in mind what should be remembered, as through deliberate oversight, heedlessness, or inattentiveness: 随着年龄的增长，我变得越来越健忘了。 偶尔这些词可用来代替unmindful， 该词主要用于指有意的疏忽、心不在焉或漫不经心等，而将应该记住的事忘了： |
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