brass

• n. 黃銅；黃銅製品；銅管樂器；厚臉皮
• n. (Brass)人名；(英、法、德)布拉斯

詞源同burn, 燃燒。由銅和錫冶煉而成。

brass

brass: [OE] Related forms occur in one or two other Germanic languages (such as Middle Low German bras, which meant simply ‘metal’), but essentially brass is a mystery word, of unknown ancestry. Its association with ‘effrontery’ begins in the late 16th century, prefigured by Shakespeare’s ‘face of brass’ in Love’s Labours Lost 1580, and by the first instances of the use of the derived adjective brazen to mean ‘shameless’ (the underlying notion is probably of a face as hard as brass, and therefore unable to show shame). Brass ‘high-ranking people’, as in top brass, comes from brass hat [19], a derogatory slang term for a senior military officer with golden insignia on his cap.

brass (n.)

Old English bræs "brass, bronze," originally in reference to an alloy of copper and tin (now bronze), later and in modern use an alloy of two parts copper, one part zinc. A mystery word, with no known cognates beyond English. Perhaps akin to French brasser "to brew," because it is an alloy. It also has been compared to Old Swedish brasa "fire," but no sure connection can be made. Yet another theory connects it with Latin ferrum "iron," itself of obscure origin.

As brass was unknown in antiquity, use of the word in Bible translations, etc., likely means "bronze." The Romans were the first to deliberately make it. Words for "brass" in other languages (such as German Messing, Old English mæsling, French laiton, Italian ottone) also tend to be difficult to explain.

The meaning "effrontery, impudence" is from 1620s. Slang sense of "high officials" is first recorded 1899. The brass tacks that you get down to (1897) probably are the ones used to measure cloth on the counter of a dry goods store, suggesting precision. Slang brass balls "toughness, courage" (emphatically combining two metaphors for the same thing) attested by 1960s.

1. " Brass " is slang for " money ".

“ brass ” 是 “ money ” 一詞的俚語.

來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》

2. He once again raised his baton and brought in the brass.

他再次舉起指揮棒，讓銅管樂部加入進來。

來自柯林斯例句

3. They are available in polished brass, antique brass or silver-plate.

它們有啞銅的，古銅的和鍍銀的。

來自柯林斯例句

4. Copper, brass and aluminium are separated and remelted for reuse.

銅、黃銅和鋁被分門別類重新熔化以進行再利用。

來自柯林斯例句

5. I felt loath to sully the gleaming brass knocker by handling it.

我不願意伸手去抓那閃亮的黃銅門環，怕把它弄髒。

來自柯林斯例句