chalice: [13] Latin calix ‘cup’ and its relative, Greek kálux ‘pod’, perhaps hold the record for the words most often borrowed into English. Calix first made its appearance as part of the original West Germanic stratum of English, into which it had been borrowed from Latin; this was as Old English cælc. Then came cælic, which Old English independently acquired from Latin after the conversion of the English to Christianity.
Next was calice, whose source was an Old French dialectal form descended from Latin calix. And finally, at the end of the 13th century, the main Old French form chalice was adopted. The final twist in the story is that in the 17th century Latin calyx (a descendant of the related Greek kálux) was borrowed into English as a botanical term, ‘outer covering of a flower’.
chalice (n.)
early 14c., from Anglo-French chalice, from Old French chalice, collateral form of calice (Modern French calice), from Latin calicem (nominative calix) "cup," cognate with Greek kylix "cup, drinking cup, cup of a flower," from PIE root *kal- (1) "cup." Ousted Old English cognate cælic, an ecclesiastical borrowing of the Latin word, and earlier Middle English caliz, from Old North French.
双语例句
1. He does not regard his new job as a poisoned chalice.
他并不认为自己的新工作是金杯毒酒。
来自柯林斯例句
2. He inherited a poisoned chalice when he took over the job as union leader.
他接手工会领导职务,看似风光,实则会给他带来很多麻烦.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. Some people even claimed that he appointed his political rival only in the belief that he was giving him a poisoned chalice and that he would not last more than a year.
