每日一词：henchman（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接

原文链接


Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for November 19, 2018 is:

henchman • \HENCH-mun\  • noun

1 : a trusted follower : right-hand man

2 : a political follower whose support is chiefly for personal advantage

3 : a member of a gang

Examples:

“The story follows the lives to two very different characters—Frank Guidry, a henchman for one of New Orleans’ most powerful and vicious gangsters, and Charlotte, a woman struggling to raise her two daughters while dealing with a feckless, drunken husband.” — James D. Watts Jr., The Tulsa (Oklahoma) World, 11 Oct. 2018

“Since Mr. Mugabe’s ouster, Mr. Mnangagwa has tried to remake Zimbabwe’s image by portraying the government as business-friendly. He has appeared often at investors’ conferences, wearing warm, colorful scarves to offset his fearsome reputation as Mr. Mugabe’s former henchman.” — Norimitsu Onishi, The New York Times, 30 July 2018

Did you know?

The earliest known examples of today’s word in written English show it being used as a term for a squire or a page, but the word may have seen earlier use with the meaning “groom.” It first appeared in Middle English in the 14th century and is a combination of Old English hengest (“a male horse”) and man. In the mid-1700s, henchman began to be used for the personal attendant of a Scottish Highland chief. This sense, made familiar to many English readers by Sir Walter Scott, led to the word’s use in the broader sense of “right-hand man,” which in turn evolved into the other meanings.

Lake桑

November 19, 2018 at 01:00PM


评论

发表评论

此博客中的热门博文

每日一词：farrago（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接 原文链接 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for July 1, 2020 is: farrago • \fuh-RAH-goh\  • noun : a confused mixture : hodgepodge Examples: “Combining these plots is a terrible idea for multiple reasons. One is simply logistical; the fusion turns two improbable but engaging stories into a ludicrous farrago .” — Laura Miller, Slate , 8 Nov. 2019 “Although it’s hard to know anything for sure about North Korea, the fertilizer-plant photo suggests the reporting about Kim over the past few weeks was a farrago of misinformation, non-information, half speculation and outright guessing.” — Paul Farhi, The Washington Post , 5 May 2020 Did you know? Farrago might seem an unlikely relative of farina (the name for the mealy breakfast cereal), but the two terms have their roots in the same Latin noun. Both derive from far , the Latin name for spelt (a type of grain). In Latin, farrago meant “mixed fodder”—cattle feed, that is. It was also used more generally to mean “mixture....
阅读全文

每日一词：olfactory（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接 原文链接 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for September 9, 2019 is: olfactory • \ahl-FAK-tuh-ree\  • adjective : of or relating to the sense of smell Examples: “The glands located between the cat’s toes secrete a scent whenever he scratches on objects such as a tree or a scratching post. This activity provides an olfactory territory mark in addition to the visual.” — Pam Johnson-Bennett, Think Like a Cat , 2011 “Young male anglerfish face the challenge of finding a mate in the ocean’s vastness. They have large olfactory organs, which suggests that suitors follow a trail of pheromones .” — William J. Broad, The New York Times , 29 July 2019 Did you know? Olfactory derives from the past participle of the Latin olfacere (“to smell”), which was formed from the verb olēre (“to give off a smell”) and facere (“to do”). Olfactory is a word that often appears in scientific contexts (as in “olfactory nerves,” the nerves that pass from the nose to the brain and contain t...
阅读全文

每日一词：pamphleteer（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接 原文链接 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for October 27, 2018 is: pamphleteer • \pam-fluh-TEER\  • verb 1 : to write and publish pamphlets 2 : to engage in partisan arguments indirectly in writings Examples: Though he is remembered today for his novels and essays, George Orwell was also known to pamphleteer for causes important to him. “After the pamphlet wars between supporters of Louis XIII and Marie de Medicis, in 1618-19, several pamphleteers were sentenced to death, and the attempt to arrest unlicensed booksellers led many to flee the country. More broadly, the political chaos brought about by pamphleteering in France contributed to the absolutism of Louis XIV, who used the printing press as a tool of state control.” — Stephen Marche, The New Yorker , 23 Apr. 2018 Did you know? Pamphlets—unbound printed publications with no covers or with paper covers—are published about all kinds of subjects, but our word pamphlet traces back to one particular document. I...
阅读全文