shark

• n. 鯊魚；騙子
• vi. 詐騙
• vt. 敲詐

詞源不詳，可能來自加勒比某土著語言 xok,由 16 世紀英國海軍將軍 Sir John Hawkins 引入 英語，並引申比喻義詐騙者，騙子。也有觀點認為該詞本來詞義就是詐騙者，騙子，後用於 指這種凶猛的魚。

在16世紀之前，英國水手們將鯊魚稱為“sea dog”，因為它們會像狗一樣咬人。直到現在，英語中依然使用dogfish來稱呼很多種小型鯊魚。16世紀50年代，英國著名的航海探險家、商人及海盜約翰•霍金斯（John Hawkins）在一次前往新大陸的遠航中，在加勒比海域捕獲了一條巨大的鯊魚，將其製成標本帶回了英國倫敦並展出。在對外介紹這條鯊魚時，霍金斯的水手們將其稱為sharke，該詞很有可能來自美洲土著人對鯊魚的稱呼。現代英語單詞shark就來源於此。

shark：[ʃɑːk] n.鯊魚，騙子v.敲詐，詐騙

shark

shark: [16] The origins of the word shark are obscure. It appears to have been introduced to English in the late 1560s by members of Sir John Hawkins’ expedition (a ballad of 1569 recorded ‘There is no proper name for [the fish] that I know, but that certain men of Captain Hawkins’s doth call it a shark’), but it is not known where they got it from. A resemblance to Austrian dialect schirk ‘sturgeon’ has been noted. Also not clear is whether shark ‘swindler’ (first recorded in the 18th century) is the same word; an alternative possibility is that it came from German schurke ‘scoundrel’.

shark (n.)

1560s, of uncertain origin; apparently the word and the first specimen were brought to London by Capt. John Hawkins's second expedition (landed 1565; see Hakluyt).

There is no proper name for it that I knowe, but that sertayne men of Captayne Haukinses doth call it a 'sharke' [handbill advertising an exhibition of the specimen, 1569]

The meaning "dishonest person who preys on others," though attested only from 1599 (sharker "artful swindler" in this sense is from 1594), may be the original sense, later transferred to the large, voracious marine fish. If so, it is possibly from German Schorck, a variant of Schurke "scoundrel, villain," agent noun of Middle High German schürgen (German schüren) "to poke, stir."

But on another theory, the English word is from a Mayan word, xoc, which might have meant "shark." Northern Europeans seem not to have been familiar with sharks before voyages to the tropics began. A slightly earlier name for it in English was tiburon, via Spanish (where it is attested by 1520s), from the Carib name for the fish.

The English word was applied (or re-applied) to voracious or predatory persons, on the image of the fish, from 1707 (originally of pick-pockets); loan shark is attested from 1905. Sharkskin (1851) was used for binding books, etc. As the name of a type of fabric held to resemble it, it is recorded from 1932.

There is the ordinary Brown Shark, or sea attorney, so called by sailors; a grasping, rapacious varlet, that in spite of the hard knocks received from it, often snapped viciously at our steering oar. [Herman Melville, "Mardi"]

shark (v.)

c. 1600, "to live by one's wits," of uncertain origin (see shark (n.)); according to OED, at least partly a variant of shirk. Meaning "obtain by sharking" is from 1610s. Related: Sharked; sharking.

1. The shark was writhing around wildly, trying to get free.

鯊魚拚命掙紮，試圖逃脫。

來自柯林斯例句

2. The shark dived down and swam under the boat.

鯊魚急速潛入水中，在船下遊動。

來自柯林斯例句

3. a shark's dorsal fin

鯊魚的背鰭

來自《權威詞典》

4. Panic swept through the swimmers as they saw the shark approaching.

遊泳的人看見鯊魚靠近時一片驚慌.

來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》

5. They were killed by a man - eating shark.

他們被一條吃人的鯊魚所害.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》