| 词源 |
sheer adj.c. 1200, "exempt, free from guilt" (as in Sheer Thursday, the Thursday of Holy Week, the day before the Crucifixion); later schiere "thin, sparse" (c. 1400), a variant of skere, from late Old English scir "bright, clear, gleaming; translucent; pure, unmixed." The Middle English word might also be from or influenced by the Old Norse cognate scær "bright, clean, pure." Both of these are from Proto-Germanic *skeran (source also of Old Saxon skiri, Old Frisian skire, German schier, Gothic skeirs "clean, pure"), from PIE root *sker- (1) "to cut." The sense of "absolute, utter" (sheer nonsense) developed by 1580s, probably from the notion of "unmixed, uncombined with anything else;" that of "very steep, straight up and down" (a sheer cliff) is recorded from 1800, probably from notion of "continued without halting." Especially of textile fabrics, "diaphanous, very thin and delicate," from 1560s. As an adverb from c. 1600; also sheerly. sheer v. 1620s, of a ship, "deviate from a line or course," a nautical word of obscure origin, perhaps from Dutch scheren "to move aside, withdraw, depart," originally "to separate" (see shear (v.)). In the general sense of "change one's course" by 1704. Related: Sheered; sheering. As a noun from 1660s. updated on August 14, 2022 |