| 词汇 | first water |
| 词源 | first water. Arab diamond traders graded gems as first water, second water, and third water—diamonds of the first water be- ing perfect, flawless ones. (“Water” here signified the transpar- ency of a diamond and may be the translation of an Arabic word for luster.) Europeans used the Arab grading system for more than 300 years, and even when it was discarded in the mid-19th century the expression of the first water remained in English as a synonym for unsurpassed perfection in anything. |
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