nice
- adj. 精密的;美好的;細(xì)微的;和藹的
- n. (Nice)人名;(英)尼斯
詞態(tài)變化
中文詞源
來自法語nice,笨的,傻的,來自拉丁語nescius,無知的,ne-,無,沒有,-sci,知識(shí),知道,詞源同science.后來詞義反轉(zhuǎn)的賦予了諸多褒義色彩。比較silly.
英文詞源
- nice
- nice: [13] Nice is one of the more celebrated examples in English of a word changing its meaning out of all recognition over the centuries – in this case, from ‘stupid’ to ‘pleasant’. Its ultimate source was Latin nescius ‘ignorant’, a compound adjective formed from the negative particle ne- and the base of the verb scīre ‘know’ (source of English science).
This passed into English via Old French nice with minimal change of meaning, but from then on a slow but sure semantic transformation took place, from ‘foolish’ via ‘shy’, ‘fastidious’, and ‘refined’ to on the one hand ‘minutely accurate or discriminating’ (as in a ‘nice distinction’) and on the other ‘pleasant, agreeable’ (first recorded in the second half of the 18th century).
=> science - nice (adj.)
- late 13c., "foolish, stupid, senseless," from Old French nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (see un-) + stem of scire "to know" (see science). "The sense development has been extraordinary, even for an adj." [Weekley] -- from "timid" (pre-1300); to "fussy, fastidious" (late 14c.); to "dainty, delicate" (c. 1400); to "precise, careful" (1500s, preserved in such terms as a nice distinction and nice and early); to "agreeable, delightful" (1769); to "kind, thoughtful" (1830).
In many examples from the 16th and 17th centuries it is difficult to say in what particular sense the writer intended it to be taken. [OED]
By 1926, it was pronounced "too great a favorite with the ladies, who have charmed out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere diffuser of vague and mild agreeableness." [Fowler]"I am sure," cried Catherine, "I did not mean to say anything wrong; but it is a nice book, and why should I not call it so?"
"Very true," said Henry, "and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk; and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! It does for everything." [Jane Austen, "Northanger Abbey," 1803]
雙語例句
- 1. "Ah, Captain Fox," Martin McGuinness said affably. "Nice to see you again."
- “啊,??怂股衔?,”馬丁·麥吉尼斯親切地說,“很高興再次見到您。”
來自柯林斯例句
- 2. She met Mr and Mrs Ricciardi, who were very nice to her.
- 她見到了里恰爾迪夫婦,他們對(duì)她非常友好。
來自柯林斯例句
- 3. We had a nice meal with a bottle of champagne.
- 我們美餐了一頓,還喝了一瓶香檳。
來自柯林斯例句
- 4. All the nice areas in Florida are becoming more and more urbanized.
- 佛羅里達(dá)所有的那些好去處都在變得越來越都市化。
來自柯林斯例句
- 5. T-shirts are a nice little earner and it's better than the dole.
- 賣T恤衫來錢容易,比領(lǐng)救濟(jì)金好。
來自柯林斯例句