quaint
英 [kweɪnt]
美 [kwent]
- adj. 古雅的；奇怪的；離奇有趣的；做得很精巧的
助記提示
1. It comes from cognitus 'known'. The word's meaning evolved via the notion of someone who 'knows' about something ("get or come to know well"), and hence is an expert at it or is skilful in doing it;
2. and came to mean 'skilled, expert, clever, finely or skilfully made'; this led later to the notion of being skilfully made or elegant, which eventually degenerated into 'agreeably curious, pleasantly curious'.
3. => elaborate, skillfully made; strange and clever; old-fashioned but charming.
4. q -> g, => quai => guai => 怪的拚音 => 古怪啊，古怪的。
中文詞源
quaint 古色古香的來自古法語cointe,優雅的，精致的，來自拉丁語cognitus,知道，知曉，詞源同know,cognizance.引申詞義古色古香的，有古味的。
英文詞源
- quaint
- quaint: [13] Quaint was once a more wholehearted term of approval than it is now. In Middle English it meant ‘clever’ or ‘finely or skilfully made’. Its current sense ‘pleasantly curious’ did not emerge until the 18th century. It comes via Old French coint from Latin cognitus ‘known’, the past participle of cognōscere ‘know’ (source of English recognize). The word’s meaning evolved in Old French via the notion of someone who ‘knows’ about something, and hence is an expert at it or is skilful in doing it.
=> cognition, recognize - quaint (adj.)
- c. 1200, cointe, "cunning, ingenious; proud," from Old French cointe "knowledgeable, well-informed; clever; arrogant, proud; elegant, gracious," from Latin cognitus "known, approved," past participle of cognoscere "get or come to know well" (see cognizance). Modern spelling is from early 14c.
Later in English, "elaborate, skillfully made" (c. 1300); "strange and clever" (mid-14c.). Sense of "old-fashioned but charming" is first attested 1795, and could describe the word itself, which had become rare after c. 1700 (though it soon recovered popularity in this secondary sense). Related: Quaintly; quaintness.
雙語例句
- 1. Boppard is a small, quaint town with narrow streets.
- 博帕德是一個有著許多深巷窄道、古香古色的小鎮。
來自柯林斯例句
- 2. a quaint seaside village
- 古樸典雅的海濱村莊
來自《權威詞典》
- 3. There were many small lanes in the quaint village.
- 在這古香古色的村莊裏,有很多小巷.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
- 4. The piano has a quaint old - world tone about it.
- 這架鋼琴的音色具有一種古雅的 老式 風味.
來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》
- 5. They still keep some quaint old customs.
- 他們仍然保留著一些稀奇古怪的舊風俗.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》