英语词汇mastic的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

mastic; masticate. Mastic, the chewing gum discovered by Columbus in Santo Domingo, is an exudation obtained from the lentisk, or mastic shrub (Pistacia lenticus), cultivated mainly on the Mediterranean island of Chios. The resin, found in the lentisk’s bark, speedily exudes when the bark is cut, hardening into oval tears the size of peas that are transparent and of a pale yellow or faint greenish tinge that darkens slowly with age. Mastic’s primary use since ancient times has been as a mastica- tory to sweeten the breath and preserve the teeth and gums. People throughout southeastern Europe and the Near East have used it for this purpose, and Dioscorides, the great Greek phy- sician and botanist of the first century, refers to mastic’s cura- tive powers in his De Materia Medica. In fact, mastic goes so far back in history that it may have constituted the Greek word mastichon, “to chew,” which is the root of the English word masticate. Today a chewing gum made with mastic and beeswax is still enjoyed by many Greeks and Middle Easterners.

词汇	mastic
词源	mastic; masticate. Mastic, the chewing gum discovered by Columbus in Santo Domingo, is an exudation obtained from the lentisk, or mastic shrub (Pistacia lenticus), cultivated mainly on the Mediterranean island of Chios. The resin, found in the lentisk’s bark, speedily exudes when the bark is cut, hardening into oval tears the size of peas that are transparent and of a pale yellow or faint greenish tinge that darkens slowly with age. Mastic’s primary use since ancient times has been as a mastica- tory to sweeten the breath and preserve the teeth and gums. People throughout southeastern Europe and the Near East have used it for this purpose, and Dioscorides, the great Greek phy- sician and botanist of the first century, refers to mastic’s cura- tive powers in his De Materia Medica. In fact, mastic goes so far back in history that it may have constituted the Greek word mastichon, “to chew,” which is the root of the English word masticate. Today a chewing gum made with mastic and beeswax is still enjoyed by many Greeks and Middle Easterners.
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