asbestos的词源

英文词源

asbestos

asbestos: [14] Originally, the word we now know as asbestos was applied in the Middle Ages to a mythical stone which, once set alight, could never be put out; it came from the Greek compound ásbestos, literally ‘inextinguishable’, which was formed from the prefix a- ‘not’ and sbestós, a derivative of the verb sbennúnai ‘extinguish’. However, by the time it first came into English, its form was not quite what it is today.

To begin with, it was the Greek accusative form, ásbeston, that was borrowed, and in its passage from Latin through Old French it developed several variants, including asbeston and albeston, most of which turned up in English. Then, in the early 17th century, the word was reborrowed from the original Greek source, ásbestos, and applied to a noncombustible silicate mineral.

asbestos (n.)

1650s, earlier albeston, abestus (c. 1100), name of a fabulous stone, which, set afire, could not be extinguished; from Old French abeste, abestos, from Latin asbestos "quicklime" (which "burns" when cold water is poured on it), from Greek asbestos, literally "inextinguishable," from a- "not" (see a- (3)) + sbestos, verbal adjective from sbennynai "to quench," from PIE root *(s)gwes- "to quench, extinguish" (cognates: Lithuanian gestu "to go out," Old Church Slavonic gaso, Hittite kishtari "is being put out").

The Greek word was used by Dioscorides as a noun meaning "quicklime." "Erroneously applied by Pliny to an incombustible fibre, which he believed to be vegetable, but which was really the amiantos of the Greeks" [OED]. Meaning "mineral capable of being woven into incombustible fabric" is from c. 1600 in English; earlier this was called amiant (early 15c.), from Latin amiantus, from Greek amiantos, literally "undefiled" (so called because it showed no mark or stain when thrown into fire). Supposed in the Middle Ages to be salamanders' wool. Prester John, the Emperor of India, and Pope Alexander III were said to have had robes or tunics made of it.

中文词源

asbestos（石棉）：烧不尽的纤维材料

石棉（asbestos）是一种天然的纤维状硅酸盐类矿物质，具有高度耐火性、电绝缘性和绝热性，是重要的防火、绝缘和保温材料。石棉呈纤维状，可以从中获得细长的纤维。古代希腊人和罗马人很早就认识到了石棉的这种特性，并用它来制造各种器具。他们用石棉纤维来制造毛巾、餐巾、衣物、建筑材料等。由于石棉耐火，当用石棉编织而成的物品脏了后，只需要将其投入火中，烧一会儿后再取出来又洁白如新了。由于石棉无法被火烧尽，因此古希腊人将其称为asbestos，由a（not）+sbestos（灭绝）构成，字面意思就是“不可灭绝，烧不尽”。

asbestos：[æs'bɛstəs] n.石棉adj.石棉的

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：asbestos 词源，asbestos 含义。

asbestos：石棉

来自希腊语。前缀a-, 不能，没有。sbestos, 抑制。古义指生石灰。后植物学家Pliny错误的用来指石棉，而实际上石棉是一种高度不可燃物质，如广泛应用于空气净化电除尘器的外保温材料等。

asbestos：石棉

古希腊和古罗马人用asbestos（石棉）制作餐巾，脏了不洗，直接扔进火里，再拿出时，餐巾又变得洁白无瑕。他们还用asbestos作灯芯，这种耐火的灯芯永远也点不完，罗马皇帝兴建的雅典娜神殿里的长明灯就是用asbestos制作的灯芯。

Asbestos，在希腊语中原写作amiantos lithos，（纯洁之石），意思是“弄不脏的石头”。后来，罗马自然学家Pliny把它命名为asbestos，a即not；sbestos是“可熄灭的”，合起来指这种石头是“不可熄灭的”、“烧不完的”。