| 词源 |
several adj.early 15c., "existing apart, independent, not together," a sense now obsolete, also "a small number of; particular, special;" from Anglo-French several, from Old French seperalis "separate," from Medieval Latin separalis "separable," from Latin separ "separate, different," a back-formation from separare "to pull apart," from se- "apart" (see secret (n.)) + parare "make ready, prepare" (from PIE root *pere- (1) "to produce, procure"). Compare Anglo-Latin severalis, a variant of separalis. The meaning "various, diverse, different" (as in went their several ways) is attested from c. 1500; that of "more than one" is from 1530s, growing out of legal meanings of the word, "belonging or assigned distributively to certain individuals" (mid-15c.), etc. Also used by mid-17c. as "a vague numeral" (OED), in which any notion of "different" appears to have been lost. Related: Severalty; severality; severalfold. Jocular ordinal form severalth is attested from 1902 in colloquial American English (see -th (2)). HERE we are all, by day : By night w'are hurl'd By dreames, each one, into a sev'rall world. [Herrick, 1648] updated on January 03, 2023 |