shelf: [14] Shelf appears to have been borrowed from Middle Low German schelf ‘shelf’. This may have come from the Germanic base *skelf- ‘split’, which also produced Old English scylfe ‘partition’, the word’s underlying meaning therefore being a ‘piece of split wood used for standing things on’. The derivative shelve dates from the 16th century.
shelf (n.)
late 14c., from Middle Low German schelf "shelf, set of shelves," or from Old English cognate scylfe, which perhaps meant "shelf, ledge, floor," and scylf "peak, pinnacle," from Proto-Germanic *skelf- "split," possibly from the notion of a split piece of wood (compare Old Norse skjölf "bench"), from PIE root *(s)kel- (1) "to cut, cleave" (see scale (n.1)).
Shelf life first recorded 1927. Phrase on the shelf "out of the way, inactive" is attested from 1570s; of unmarried women with no prospects from 1839. Off the shelf "ready-made" is from 1936. Meaning "ledge of rock" is from 1809, perhaps from or influenced by shelf (n.2). Related: Shelves.
shelf (n.2)
"sandbank," 1540s, of unknown origin. Related: Shelfy "abounding in sandbanks."
双语例句
1. The house stands on a shelf of rock among pines.
房子矗立在松树丛中一块突出的岩石上。
来自柯林斯例句
2. She accidentally knocked the tea tin off the shelf.
她不小心把架子上的茶叶罐碰了下来。
来自柯林斯例句
3. He's useless at DIY. He won'teven put up a shelf.
他自己动手能力太差，甚至连搭个架子都不会。
来自柯林斯例句
4. I was afraid of getting left on the shelf.
我害怕嫁不出去。
来自柯林斯例句
5. He reached for a tin of tobacco on the shelf behind him.
