uncouth
英 [ʌn'kuːθ]
美 [ʌn'kʊθ]
助記提示
1. 以後由於人性中存在的一種對陌生人和外國人的厭惡的傾向使它的詞義逐漸引申為如今的含義。
2. couth 的原始含義也已廢棄不用，而如今的含義是由 uncouth 逆構而成。
3. couth 是古英語中 can 的過去分詞，其本義為：known, have learned, be acquainted with. 後受到 uncouth 的那種對熟人與陌生人之間的偏見，而引申為：有教養的，文明的，文雅的，溫文爾雅的。因為人都傾向於認為自己的人都是開化的、文明的、有教養的人，而外人、外邦、陌生人都是未開化的、不文明的、粗野的人。
4. un- "not" + couth. 本義為：unknown, unfamiliar. 引申為：不文明的，粗魯的，無教養的，不雅的。
中文詞源
uncouth 粗魯的un-, 不，非，couth, 有禮貌的，詞源同can, could.
英文詞源
- uncouth
- uncouth: [OE] Uncouth originally meant ‘unknown’ or ‘unfamiliar’ – a sense which survived into the 17th century (‘Now the whole superficies of the earth as well uncouth as discovered, is but a little point’, John Boys, Works 1616). ‘Crude, awkward’ is a secondary development, first recorded in the 16th century. The word was formed in the prehistoric Germanic period from the prefix un- ‘not’ and the past participle of *kunnan ‘know’ (whose closest living English relative is could).
=> could - uncouth (adj.)
- Old English uncuð "unknown, strange, unusual; uncertain, unfamiliar; unfriendly, unkind, rough," from un- (1) "not" + cuð "known, well-known," past participle of cunnan "to know" (see can (v.1)). Meaning "strange, crude, clumsy" is first recorded 1510s. The compound (and the thing it describes) widespread in IE languages, such as Latin ignorantem, Old Norse ukuðr, Gothic unkunþs, Sanskrit ajnatah, Armenian ancanaut', Greek agnotos, Old Irish ingnad "unknown."
雙語例句
- 1. an uncouth young man
- 一個無教養的年輕人
來自《權威詞典》
- 2. She may embarrass you with her uncouth behavior.
- 她的粗野行為可能會讓你尷尬.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
- 3. To a Japanese, spilling anything is uncouth.
- 對日本人來說, 潑濺任何東西都是不文明的.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
- 4. People turned to look after him , so uncouth was his shambling figure.
- “有什麽用呢?"他想, "我已經全完了.我要擺脫這一切了.
來自英漢文學 - 嘉莉妹妹
- 5. He made the most uncouth and clumsy gestures of delight.
- 他做出的表示快樂的動作也是極笨拙、極難看的.
來自辭典例句