英语词汇hint的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

词汇	hint
词源	hint n. c. 1600 (Shakespeare), "an indirect suggestion intended to be caught by the knowing," apparently from obsolete hent, from Middle English hinten "to tell, inform" (c. 1400), from Old English hentan "to seize," from Proto-Germanic hantijan (source also of Gothic hinþan "to seize"), related to hunt (v.). OED dates the sense "small piece of practical information" to 1777. hint v. 1640s, "suggest in an indirect manner," from hint (n.). Related: Hinted; hinting. Entries linking to hint* hunt v. Old English huntian "chase game" (transitive and intransitive), perhaps developed from hunta "hunter," and related to hentan "to seize," from Proto-Germanic huntojan (source also of Gothic hinþan "to seize, capture," Old High German hunda "booty"), which is of uncertain origin. Not the usual Germanic word for this, which is represented by Dutch jagen, German jagen (see yacht (n.)). General sense of "search diligently" (for anything) is recorded from c. 1200. Related: Hunted; hunting. To hunt (something) up* "search for until found" is from 1791. Parlor game hunt the slipper is attested from 1766. updated on July 17, 2015
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英语词源词典收录了45867条英语词源词条，基本涵盖了全部常用英语词汇的起源、历史，是研究英语词汇或通过词源学英语的必备工具。

hint n.