staple的词源

英文词源

staple

staple: English has two distinct words staple, but they come from a common ancestor – prehistoric Germanic *stapulaz ‘pillar’. This evolved into English staple [OE], which at first retained its ancestral meaning ‘post, pillar’. The modern sense ‘U-shaped metal bar’ did not emerge until the end of the 13th century, and the details of its development from ‘pillar’ are obscure.

The Middle Low German and Middle Dutch descendant of *stapulaz was stapel, which had the additional meaning ‘market, shop’ (presumably from the notion of a stall situated behind the ‘pillars’ of an arcade). This was borrowed into Old French as estaple, which in turn gave English staple ‘market’ [15], hence ‘principal commercial commodity’.

staple (n.1)

"bent piece of metal with pointed ends," late 13c., from Old English stapol "post, pillar, trunk of a tree, steps to a house," from Proto-Germanic *stapulaz "pillar" (cognates: Old Saxon stapal "candle, small tub," Old Frisian stapul "stem of a tooth," Dutch stapel "a prop, foot-rest, seat," Middle Low German stapel "block for executions," German Stapel "stake, beam"), from *stap-, from PIE stebh- (see staff (n.)).

A general Germanic word that apparently evolved a specialized meaning in English, though OED finds the connection unclear and suggests the later sense in English might not be the same word. Meaning "piece of thin wire driven through papers to hold them together" is attested from 1895.

staple (n.2)

"principal article grown or made in a country or district," early 15c., "official market for some class of merchandise," from Anglo-French estaple (14c.), Old French estaple "counter, stall; regulated market, depot," from a Germanic source akin to Middle Low German stapol, Middle Dutch stapel "market," literally "pillar, foundation," from the same source as staple (n.1), the notion perhaps being of market stalls behind pillars of an arcade, or else of a raised platform where the king's deputies administered judgment.

The sense of "principle article grown or made in a place" is 1610s, short for staple ware "wares and goods from a market" (early 15c.). Meaning "principle element or ingredient in anything" is from 1826. Meaning "fiber of any material used for spinning" is late 15c., of uncertain origin, and perhaps an unrelated word.

staple (v.)

late 14c., "to fix with a (large) staple," from staple (n.1). In the wire paper fastener sense, by 1898. Related: Stapled; stapling.

中文词源

staple：订书针，主要产品，主要成分，主食

英语单词staple通常表示“订书针”，但还可以表示“主要产品、主要成分、主食”等含义。这两种看似毫不相干的含义怎么存在于同一个单词呢？原来，staple来自古英语，本意就是事物的“支柱或主干”，与staff同源。订书针的两个针脚形如两根柱子，所以被称为staple。而古代的市场或仓库通常都立有柱子，所以staple又衍生出“市场、仓库”之意，后来又进一步用来表示市场中销售或仓库中存放的主要物品。

staple：['stepl] n.订书针，主要产品，主要成分，主食adj.主要的，大宗生产的，常用的vt.钉住

stapler：['steplɚ] n.订书机，主要商品批发商

该词的英语词源请访问找单词词源英文版：staple 词源，staple 含义。

staple：主要商品，主要产品，主食，主要的，基本的

来自盎格鲁法语 estaple 市场，特指官方指定的销售某些特定商品的市场，来自古法语 estaple,