pay: [12] Etymologically, to pay someone is to ‘quieten them down by giving them the money they are owed’. For the word is closely related to English peace. It comes via Old French payer from Latin pācāre ‘pacify’, a derivative of pāx ‘peace’. The notion of the irate creditor needing to be appeased by payment led to the verb being used in medieval Latin for ‘pay’. The original sense ‘pacify, please’ actually survived into English (‘Well he weened with this tiding for to pay David the king’, Cursor Mundi 1300), but by the beginning of the 16th century it had virtually died out, leaving ‘give money’ in sole possession. => pact, peace
pay (v.)
c. 1200, "to appease, pacify, satisfy," from Old French paier "to pay, pay up" (12c., Modern French payer), from Latin pacare "to please, pacify, satisfy" (in Medieval Latin especially "satisfy a creditor"), literally "make peaceful," from pax (genitive pacis) "peace" (see peace). Meaning "to give what is due for goods or services" arose in Medieval Latin and was attested in English by early 13c.; sense of "please, pacify" died out in English by 1500. Sense of "suffer, endure" (a punishment, etc.) is first recorded late 14c. Related: Paid; paying.
pay (n.)
c. 1300, "satisfaction, liking, reward," from pay (v.), or else from Old French paie "payment, recompense," from paier. Meaning "money given for labor or services, wages" is from late 14c.
双语例句
1. You have to pay your outstanding bill before joining the scheme.
在参加该项目之前必须结清余账。
来自柯林斯例句
2. If they value these data, let them pay for them.
他们要是看重这些数据，就让他们出钱买。
来自柯林斯例句
3. You can pay to be upgraded to a business class seat.
你可以付费升级到商务舱。
来自柯林斯例句
4. I'll go home and pay an overdue visit to my mother.
我将回家看望母亲，其实我早该回去了。
来自柯林斯例句
5. There is no provision for funding performance-related pay rises.
