英文词源
- supple (adj.)
- c. 1300, "soft, tender," from Old French souple, sople "pliant, flexible; humble, submissive" (12c.), from Gallo-Roman *supples, from Latin supplex "submissive, humbly begging, beseeching, kneeling in entreaty," literally "bending, kneeling down," perhaps an altered form of *supplacos "humbly pleading, appeasing," from sub "under" + placare "appease" (see placate). Meaning "pliant" is from late 14c.; figurative sense of "artfully obsequious, capable of adapting oneself to the wishes and opinions of others" is from c. 1600. Supple-chapped (c. 1600) was used of a flatterer. Related: Suppleness.
中文词源
supple:柔软的,灵活的,易弯曲的,顺从的
来自古法语 souple,柔软的,弯曲的,谦卑的,顺从的,来自拉丁语 supplex,谦卑的,顺从的, 恳求的,可能来自 sup-,在下,向下,-plex,弯,转,折叠,词源同 complex,complicate,supplicant. 后其原词义消失,引申比喻义柔软的,灵活的。
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版:supple 词源,supple 含义。