Patent, Lace, Traitor
这三个个最近看到的词,都很有意思。
Patent 应该很熟悉,是专利的意思。其实也有新颖的意思,比如 my patent leather shoes。
Lace,是花边的意思。它就是 蕾丝 的英文原型!
Traitor 是叛徒,然而 trait 是特征的意思。有特征的人会就做叛徒吗?其实这两个词没有关系。
Traitor 是:
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French traitour, from Latin traditor, from tradere ‘hand over.’
trait:
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from French, from Latin tractus ‘drawing, pulling’ (see tract1). An early sense was ‘stroke of the pen or pencil in a picture,’ giving rise to the sense ‘a particular feature of mind or character’ (mid 18th cent).