bizarre: [17] Bizarre can probably be traced back to Italian bizzarro, of unknown origin, which meant ‘angry’. It passed into Spanish as bizarro, meaning ‘brave’, and then found its way into French, where its meaning gradually mutated from ‘brave’ to ‘odd’ – which is where English got it from. It used to be thought that the French word might have come from Basque bizarra ‘beard’ (the reasoning being that a man with a beard must be a brave, dashing fellow), which would have made bizarre almost unique as a word of Basque origin in English (the only genuine one in everyday use now is the acronymic name ETA, standing for Euzkadi ta Azkatasuna ‘Basque Homeland and Liberty’), but this is now not thought likely.
bizarre (adj.)
1640s, from French bizarre "odd, fantastic" (16c.), originally "handsome, brave," perhaps from Basque bizar "a beard" (the notion being of bearded Spanish soldiers making a strange impression on the French); alternative etymology traces it to Italian bizarro "angry, fierce, irascible," from bizza "fit of anger."
双语例句
1. The allegations ranged from the banal to the bizarre.
从平淡无奇到离奇百怪的各种说法都有。
来自柯林斯例句
2. His fast-paced novels are full of bizarre situations and madcap antics.
他那些快节奏的小说里充满了怪诞的场景和荒唐的行为。
来自柯林斯例句
3. It was a bizarre scene.
那是怪诞的一幕。
来自柯林斯例句
4. The album is a bizarre agglomeration of styles.
