gossamer英语原文释义、词形变化、词源和词汇关系

英文释义

名词 n.

A fine film made up of cobwebs, seen floating in the air or caught on bushes, etc. countable,uncountable

— A lover may bestride the gossamer / That idles in the wanton summer air, / And yet not fall; so light is vanity.
A soft, sheer fabric. countable,uncountable

— Madame wiped the picture with her gossamer handkerchief and impulsively pressed a tender kiss upon the painted canvas.
Anything delicate, light and flimsy. countable,figuratively,uncountable

形容词 adj.

Tenuous, light, filmy or delicate.

— There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man.

词形变化

gossamers plural more gossamer comparative most gossamer superlative

词汇关系

衍生词

gossamered gossamerlike gossamer spider gossamer-thin gossamer-winged butterfly gossamery

词源

词源 1

From Middle English gossomer, gosesomer, gossummer (attested since around 1300, and only in reference to webs or other light things), usually thought to derive from gos (“goose”) + somer (“summer”) and to have initially referred to a period of warm weather in late autumn when geese were eaten — compare Middle Scots goesomer, goe-summer (“summery weather in late autumn; St Martin's summer”) and dialectal English go-harvest, both later connected in folk-etymology to go — and to have been transferred to cobwebs because they were frequent then or because they were likened to goose-down. Skeat says that in Craven the webs were called summer-goose, and compares Scots and dialectal English use of summer-colt in reference to "exhalations seen rising from the ground in hot weather". Weekley notes that both the webs and the weather have fantastical names in most European languages: compare German Altweibersommer (“Indian summer; cobwebs, gossamer”, literally “old wives' summer”) and other terms listed there.

词源 2

From Middle English gossomer, gosesomer, gossummer (attested since around 1300, and only in reference to webs or other light things), usually thought to derive from gos (“goose”) + somer (“summer”) and to have initially referred to a period of warm weather in late autumn when geese were eaten — compare Middle Scots goesomer, goe-summer (“summery weather in late autumn; St Martin's summer”) and dialectal English go-harvest, both later connected in folk-etymology to go — and to have been transferred to cobwebs because they were frequent then or because they were likened to goose-down. Skeat says that in Craven the webs were called summer-goose, and compares Scots and dialectal English use of summer-colt in reference to "exhalations seen rising from the ground in hot weather". Weekley notes that both the webs and the weather have fantastical names in most European languages: compare German Altweibersommer (“Indian summer; cobwebs, gossamer”, literally “old wives' summer”) and other terms listed there.