sap: English has three distinct words sap. The oldest, ‘plant-juice’ [OE], goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *sappam, which also produced German saft ‘juice’. This in turn was a descendant of Indo-European *sapon-, from which came Latin sapa ‘new wine’. Sap ‘undermine’ [16] was borrowed via French saper from Italian zappare, which may have been ultimately of Arabic origin.
Its original literal sense ‘dig a trench or tunnel underneath in order to attack’ has now been largely superseded by the metaphorical ‘weaken’, which has been heavily influenced by sap ‘plant-juice’ (from the notion of ‘draining sap from a plant’). The colloquial sap ‘fool’ [19] may be short for an earlier sapskull, a compound formed from sap in the now seldom heard sense ‘sapwood’ – hence ‘wooden head’.
sap (n.1)
"liquid in a plant," Old English sæpm from Proto-Germanic *sapam (cognates: Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch sap, Old High German saf, German Saft "juice"), from PIE root *sab- "juice, fluid" (cognates: Sanskrit sabar- "sap, milk, nectar," Latin sapere "to taste," Irish sug, Russian soku "sap," Lithuanian sakas "tree-gum"). As a verb meaning "To drain the sap from," 1725.
sap (n.2)
"simpleton," 1815, originally especially in Scottish and English schoolboy slang, probably from earlier sapskull (1735), saphead (1798), from sap as a shortened form of sapwood "soft wood between the inner bark and the heartwood" (late 14c.), from sap (n.1) + wood (n.); so called because it conducts the sap; compare sappy.
sap (v.1)
"dig a trench toward the enemy's position," 1590s, from Middle French saper, from sappe "spade," from Late Latin sappa "spade" (source also of Italian zappa, Spanish zapa "spade"). Extended sense "weaken or destroy insidiously" is from 1755, probably influenced by the verb form of sap (n.1), on the notion of "draining the vital sap from." Related: Sapped; sapping.
sap (v.2)
"hit with a sap," 1926, from sap (n.3). Related: Sapped; sapping.
sap (n.3)
"club, stick for hitting," 1899, from shortening of sapwood (see sap (n.2)) or sapling.
雙語例句
1. The sap of this plant blisters the skin.
這種植物的汁液會使皮膚起水皰。
來自柯林斯例句
2. Maple syrup is made from sap extracted from the sugar maple tree.
槭糖漿是用糖槭樹中提取的樹液製成的。
來自《權威詞典》
3. Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.
楓糖是由楓樹的樹液製成的.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
4. Didn't you know I was joking, you sap?
你難道不知道我是在開玩笑 嗎 ?傻瓜.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
5. Work out material requirement plan in SAP based on rolling production plan.