alabaster的词源
英文词源
- alabaster




- alabaster: [14] Chaucer was the first English author to use the word alabaster: in the Knight’s Tale (1386) he writes of ‘alabaster white and red coral’. It comes, via Old French and Latin, from Greek alábast(r)os, which may be of Egyptian origin. Scottish English used the variant from alabast until the 16th century (indeed, this may predate alabaster by a few years); and from the 16th to the 17th century the word was usually spelled alablaster, apparently owing to confusion with arblaster ‘crossbowman’.
The use of alabaster for making marbles (of the sort used in children’s games) gave rise to the abbreviation alley, ally ‘marble’ in the early 18th century.
- alabaster (n.)




- translucent whitish kind of gypsum used for vases, ornaments, and busts, late 14c., from Old French alabastre (12c., Modern French albâtre), from Latin alabaster "colored rock used to make boxes and vessels for unguents," from Greek alabastros (earlier albatos) "vase for perfumes," perhaps from Egyptian 'a-labaste "vessel of the goddess Bast." Used figuratively for whiteness and smoothness from 1570s. "The spelling in 16-17th c. is almost always alablaster ..." [OED].
中文词源
巴斯特(Bast)是古埃及的女神,是太阳神拉(RA)的女儿,常化身母狮或猫,或 猫头人身的女人,是埃及的保护神之一,专门执掌月亮、生育和果实丰收。古埃及人常常使用一种光洁雪白的石材来制作献祭给巴斯特女神的器皿,如罐子,因此将 其命名为ala-baste,后来演变为英语单词alabaster,用来表示这种光洁雪白的石材,即雪花石膏。
alabaster:['æləbæstɚ] n.雪花石膏
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版:alabaster 词源,alabaster 含义。
发音释义:['æləbæstɚ] adj. 雪花石膏制的;光洁雪白的n. 雪花石膏
结构分析:alabaster = ala(罐子)+baster(Bast女神)→用(雪花石膏制作的)Bast女神的罐子→雪花石膏
词源解释:alabaster←埃及语ala-baste(Bast女神的罐子)
背景知识:巴斯特(Bast)是古埃及的女神,是太阳神拉(RA)的女儿,常化身母狮或猫,或猫头人身的女人,是埃及的保护神之一,专门执掌月亮、生育和果实丰收。古埃及人常常使用一种光洁雪白的石材来制作献祭给巴斯特女神的器皿,如罐子,因此将其命名为a-labaste,后来演变为英语单词alabaster。
同源词:alabastrine(雪花石膏做的,光滑的)
趣味记忆:alabaster→(谐音)“阿拉巴斯特” →阿拉伯人的女神巴斯特→给巴斯特女神献祭的光洁雪白的罐子→雪花石膏
可能来自埃及语。
据认为alabaster得名于古埃及底比斯(Thebais)地区的一个城镇Albastron。古罗马作家普林尼(Pliny the Elder,23 - 79)在其所著《博物志》(Natumal History)中说,这可能是因为该地盛产雪花石膏的缘故。alabaster 一词源自希腊语alabastros,取道拉丁语(alabaster)和古法语(alabastre)进入英语的。乔生是使用该词的第一位英国作家。他在《武士的故事》(Knight`s Tale)中写有“alabaster white and redcoral”(雪白和橘红的珊瑚)这样的字句。该词除了指“雪花石膏”,还可作形容词用,表示“光洁雪白的”。