| 单词 | 小精灵 |
| 释义 | 〔elf〕A small, often mischievous creature considered to have magical powers.小精灵：一种被认为具有魔力的，经常恶作剧的小动物〔elfin〕Made, done, or produced by an elf.小精灵所做、所为或所产的〔fey〕The history of the wordsfey and fay illustrates a rather fey coincidence. Our wordfay, "fairy, elf,” the descendant of Middle Englishfaie, "a person or place possessed of magical properties,” and first recorded around 1390,goes back to Old Frenchfae, "fairy,” the same word that has given usfairy. Fae in turn comes from Vulgar LatinFāta, "the goddess of fate,” from Latin fātum, "fate.” Iffay goes back to fate, so doesfey in a manner of speaking, for its Old English ancestorfǣge meant "fated to die.” The sense we are more familiar with, "magical or fairylike in quality,”seems to have arisen partly because of the resemblance in sound betweenfay and fey. fey 和 fay 两词的历史展示了一个十分奇特的巧合。 我们现在所使用的词fay, “神仙，小精灵，” 是中古英语faie, “具有魔力的人或地方”的派生词， 它首次记载于约1390年左右，回溯到古法语fae “神仙”， 这一词产生了我们现在的fairy。 Fae 依次产生于俗拉丁语Fata, “命运女神，”和拉丁语 fatum， “命运。” 如果fay 回到命运的意思， 可以说fey 也是如此， 因为其古英语原形f?ge 的意思即为“注定死亡。” 我们现在更熟悉的意思“性质上具有魔力的或似神仙的”，似乎部分是由于fay 和 fey 在读音上的相似而产生的 〔kobold〕An often mischievous household elf in German folklore.家神：在德国民间传说中，经常淘气的家庭小精灵〔brownie〕A small sprite thought to do helpful work at night.棕仙：传说中夜间帮人干活的小精灵〔leprechaun〕One of a race of elves in Irish folklore who can reveal hidden treasure to someone who catches him.矮妖精：爱尔兰民间传说中一种小精灵，可以向抓住它的人指示隐藏的宝藏〔pixy〕A fairylike or elfin creature, especially one that is mischievous; a playful sprite.小精灵，小淘气：神话中的小精灵，尤指那种很淘气的；小调皮〔brownie〕[Sense 3, from the notion of the sprite as a tiny brown man] [释义3，源于认为小精灵是微小的棕色人的看法] 〔gremlin〕Elves, goblins, and trolls seem to be the timeless creations of the distant past,but gremlins were born in the 20th century.In fact,gremlin is first recorded only in the 1920's, as a Royal Air Force term for a low-ranking officer or enlisted man saddled with oppressive assignments. Said to have been invented by members of the Royal Naval Air Service in World War I,gremlin is used in works written in the 1940's for "an imaginary gnomelike creature who causes difficulties in aircraft.”The word seems likely to have been influenced bygoblin, but accounts of its origin are various and none are certain.One source calls in Fremlin beer bottles to explain the word;another, the Irish Gaelic wordgruaimín, "ill-humored little fellow.” Whatever the word's origin,it is certain that gremlins have taken on a life of their own.小精灵、小妖怪和侏儒似乎很久以前就被创造出来而且流传至今，而小妖精一词则是20世纪的产物。事实上，gremlin 在20世纪20年代首次被记录下来时为皇家空军对一个承受严酷任务的低级军官或征召者的称呼。 据说这是在第一次世界大战中由皇家空军的成员创造出来的。1904年，gremlin 被用在书面的作品中， 意为“一种想象中的在飞机上制造麻烦的小生物。”这个词看起来很有可能受了goblin 一词的影响， 但对其词源说法不一，莫衷一是。一种说法用弗来姆林啤酒瓶来解释这一词；而另一种认为爱尔兰凯尔特语词汇gruaimin 意为“坏脾气的小家伙”为其词源。 不管源自何处，有一点是肯定的，小妖精自身有其生命力〔elfin〕Relating to or suggestive of an elf.小精灵的：小精灵的或暗指小精灵的〔elfish〕Of or relating to elves.小精灵的：小精灵的或与小精灵有关的〔elfin〕Probably from Middle English elvene [pl. of] elve [elf] 可能源自 中古英语 elvene elve的复数 [小精灵] 〔elflock〕A lock of hair tangled as if by elves. Often used in the plural.鬈结的头发：似被小精灵所卷结的头发。常用于复数中 |
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