asbestos: [14] Originally, the word we now know as asbestos was applied in the Middle Ages to a mythical stone which, once set alight, could never be put out; it came from the Greek compound ásbestos, literally ‘inextinguishable’, which was formed from the prefix a- ‘not’ and sbestós, a derivative of the verb sbennúnai ‘extinguish’. However, by the time it first came into English, its form was not quite what it is today.
To begin with, it was the Greek accusative form, ásbeston, that was borrowed, and in its passage from Latin through Old French it developed several variants, including asbeston and albeston, most of which turned up in English. Then, in the early 17th century, the word was reborrowed from the original Greek source, ásbestos, and applied to a noncombustible silicate mineral.
asbestos (n.)
1650s, earlier albeston, abestus (c. 1100), name of a fabulous stone, which, set afire, could not be extinguished; from Old French abeste, abestos, from Latin asbestos "quicklime" (which "burns" when cold water is poured on it), from Greek asbestos, literally "inextinguishable," from a- "not" (see a- (3)) + sbestos, verbal adjective from sbennynai "to quench," from PIE root *(s)gwes- "to quench, extinguish" (cognates: Lithuanian gestu "to go out," Old Church Slavonic gaso, Hittite kishtari "is being put out").
The Greek word was used by Dioscorides as a noun meaning "quicklime." "Erroneously applied by Pliny to an incombustible fibre, which he believed to be vegetable, but which was really the amiantos of the Greeks" [OED]. Meaning "mineral capable of being woven into incombustible fabric" is from c. 1600 in English; earlier this was called amiant (early 15c.), from Latin amiantus, from Greek amiantos, literally "undefiled" (so called because it showed no mark or stain when thrown into fire). Supposed in the Middle Ages to be salamanders' wool. Prester John, the Emperor of India, and Pope Alexander III were said to have had robes or tunics made of it.
双语例句
1. The prospectors have discovered such minerals as calcite, quartz and asbestos here.
探矿人员在这里发现了方解石 、 石英、石棉等矿藏.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. Asbestos can be used to insulate a cooking stove.
石棉能用来使烹调用的炉灶绝热.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. Breathing asbestos - laden air may be hazardous to health.
呼吸充满了石棉的空气可能对健康有害.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. They claim the council has prejudiced their health by failing to deal with asbestos.
他们声称，理事会没有处理好石棉的问题，从而损害了他们的健康。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Blue asbestos is far less common in buildings, which is just as well because it's more dangerous than white asbestos.
