calibre的词源

英文词源

calibre: calibre: [16] Calibre, and the related calliper, are of Arabic origin. They come ultimately from Arabic qālib ‘shoemaker’s last, mould’ (there is some dispute over the source of this: some etymologists simply derive it from the Arabic verb qalaba ‘turn, convert’, while others trace it back to Greek kalapoús, literally ‘wooden foot’, a compound formed from kalon ‘wood’, originally ‘firewood’, a derivative of kaiein ‘burn’, and poús ‘foot’).

English acquired the Arabic word via Italian calibro and French calibre. The original Western meaning, ‘diameter of a bullet, cannon-ball, etc’, derives from the Arabic sense ‘mould for casting metal’. Calliper [16], which originally meant ‘instrument for measuring diameters’, is generally taken to be an alteration of calibre.
=> calliper
calibre (n.): chiefly British English spelling of caliber (q.v.); for spelling, see -re.

单词calibre一词最早来自阿拉伯语 qalib，原意是指鞋楦的尺寸，后来用来指各种铸造模具的尺寸。火炮问世后，这个单词用来表示火炮的炮管及炮弹的口径。小型的火枪问世后，用来表示枪管及子弹的口径。后来这个单词的词义发生泛化，可以泛指各种度量衡。

阿拉伯语 qalib到了法语中变成了calibre，在英语中的拼写也一样。但在美式英语中，拼写变成了caliber。

caliber： ['kæləbɚ] n.口径，才干，水准，器量

calibre：['kælɪbə]n.=caliber

calibrate：['kælɪbreɪt]vt.校正，调整，测量口径

calibration：[kælɪ'breɪʃ(ə)n] n.校正，刻度，标度

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