silver: [OE] The word silver probably originated in Asia Minor. Its unidentified source word was borrowed into prehistoric Germanic as *silubr-, which has evolved into German silber, Dutch zilver, Danish sølf, and English and Swedish silver. Borrowing of the same ancestral form into the Balto-Slavic languages produced Russian serebro, Polish and Serbo-Croat srebro, Lithuanian sidabras, and Latvian sidrabs.
silver (n.)
Old English seolfor, Mercian sylfur "silver; money," from Proto-Germanic *silubra- (cognates: Old Saxon silvbar, Old Frisian selover, Old Norse silfr, Middle Dutch silver, Dutch zilver, Old High German silabar, German silber "silver; money," Gothic silubr "silver"), from a common Germanic/Balto-Slavic term (cognates: Old Church Slavonic s(u)rebo, Russian serebro, Polish srebro, Lithuanian sidabras "silver") of uncertain relationship and origin. According to Klein's sources, possibly from a language of Asia Minor, perhaps from Akkadian sarpu "silver," literally "refined silver," related to sarapu "to refine, smelt."
As an adjective from late Old English (cognates: silvern). As a color name from late 15c. Of voices, words, etc., from 1520s in reference to the metal's pleasing resonance; silver-tongued is from 1590s. The silver age (1560s) was a phrase used by Greek and Roman poets. Chemical abbreviation Ag is from Latin argentum "silver," from the usual PIE word for the metal (see argent), which is missing in Germanic.
silver (v.)
"to cover or plate with silver," mid-15c., from silver (n.). Meaning "to tinge with gray" (of hair) is from c. 1600. Related: Silvered; silvering.
双语例句
1. You have to do everything you can. You have to work your hardest. And if you do, if you stay positive, then you have a shot at a silver lining.
你必须全力以赴，最大限度地去努力。如果你这么做，并且保持乐观，你就会看见乌云背后的幸福线。
来自电影《乌云背后的幸福线》
2. He and Helen celebrated their silver wedding last year.
他和海伦去年庆祝了他们的银婚。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Jane Pollock Antiques deals in silver and small collectables.
简·波洛克古董店经营银器和小收藏品。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Using silver tape, they taped all the doors and windows shut.
他们用银色的胶带将所有的门窗都封起来了。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The fall in inflation is the silver lining of the prolonged recession.
