quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- tiger
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[tiger 词源字典] - tiger: [13] English got tiger via Old French tigre and Latin tigris from Greek tígris, a word presumably of oriental origin. It was originally taken over directly from Latin in the Old English period as tigras, but this did not survive.
[tiger etymology, tiger origin, 英语词源] - tiger (n.)
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- Old English tigras (plural), also in part from Old French tigre "tiger" (mid-12c.), both from Latin tigris "tiger," from Greek tigris, possibly from an Iranian source akin to Old Persian tigra- "sharp, pointed," Avestan tighri- "arrow," in reference to its springing on its prey, "but no application of either word, or any derivative, to the tiger is known in Zend." [OED]. Of tiger-like persons from c. 1500. The meaning "shriek or howl at the end of a cheer" is recorded from 1845, American English, and is variously explained. Tiger's-eye "yellowish-brown quartz" is recorded from 1886.