spruce
英 [spru?s]
美 [spr?s]
- vi. 打扮整齊；使顯干凈
- adj. 整潔的
- vt. 打扮整齊
- n. 云杉
助記提示
1. 諧音“是普魯士”。
2. Prussia => *Pruce => spruce (denoting Prussia or something originating in Prussia).
3. 首字母s的贅入，無法確定，可能是連讀音變的結果，或者可以理解為加強之意。
中文詞源
spruce 云杉，云杉木，裝飾，打扮來自 Spruce,拼寫變體自 Pruce,普魯士，歐洲歷史地名，德意志境內最強大的邦國，后統一了 德意志。該樹因從普魯士進口到英國而得名，是制作家具的優質木材，也是奢華的代名詞。 因此，引申詞義裝飾，打扮。
英文詞源
- spruce
- spruce: Spruce ‘neat’ [16] and spruce the tree [17] are completely different words, of course, but they could have a common origin – in Spruce, the old English name for Prussia. Spruce the tree was originally the spruce fir, literally the ‘Prussian fir’. And it is thought that the adjective spruce may have come from the expression spruce leather ‘Prussian leather’, which denoted a particularly fine sort of leather, used for making jackets. The word itself is an unexplained alteration of Pruce ‘Prussia’, which was acquired via Old French from medieval Latin Prussia.
=> prussia - spruce (n.)
- 1660s, "evergreen tree, fir," from spruse (adj.) "made of spruce wood" (early 15c.), literally "from Prussia," from Spruce, Sprws (late 14c.), unexplained alterations of Pruce "Prussia," from an Old French form of Prussia.
Spruce seems to have been a generic term for commodities brought to England by Hanseatic merchants (especially beer, boards and wooden chests, and leather), and the tree thus was believed to be particular to Prussia, which for a time was figurative in England as a land of luxuries. Compare spruce (adj.).
As a distinct species of evergreen tree from 1731. Nearly all pines have long, soft needles growing in groups of two (Scotch) to five (white); spruce and fir needles grow singly. Spruce needles are squarish and sharp; fir needles are short and flat. Cones of the fir stand upright; cones of a spruce hang before falling. - spruce (v.)
- "to make trim or neat," 1590s, from spruce (adj.). Related: Spruced; sprucing.
- spruce (adj.)
- "neat, smart in dress and appearance, dapper, brisk," 1580s, from spruce leather (mid-15c.; see spruce (n.)), a type of leather imported from Prussia in the 1400s and 1500s which was used in England to make a popular style of jerkin that was considered smart-looking.
雙語例句
- 1. Early settlers built frames of spruce, maple and pine.
- 早期的定居者用云杉木、楓木和松木建造屋架。
來自柯林斯例句
- 2. It was made of soft lumber, spruce by the look of it.
- 其制作材料是軟木，看起來像是云杉。
來自柯林斯例句
- 3. He looked spruce in his best clothes.
- 他穿了最漂亮的衣裳,看來很神氣.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
- 4. Chris was looking spruce in his stiff-collared black shirt and new short hair cut.
- 克里斯穿著硬領黑衫，新理了短發，看起來整潔帥氣。
來自柯林斯例句
- 5. Following in his steps, I passed through damp spruce woods to an open cliff.
- 我跟在他的后面, 穿過一片潮濕的云杉樹林,來到一片開闊的峭壁前.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》