chintz

英 [t??n(t)s] 美[t??nts]

暢通詞匯

復(fù)數(shù):?chintzes;

chintz 軋光印花棉布

來自梵語，進一步來自PIE*skai, 照耀，發(fā)光，詞源同shine, cheetah. 因這種布料的花哨而得名。

chintz: chintz: [17] Chintz is originally an Indian word. English borrowed it from Hindi chīnt, and at first used it unaltered: Samuel Pepys, for instance, writing in his diary for 5 September 1663, notes ‘Bought my wife a chint, that is, a painted Indian calico, for to line her new study’. However, since in commercial use the plural form, chints, was so much commoner than the singular, it eventually came to be regarded as a singular itself, and the s-less form dropped out of the language.

In the 18th century, for some unexplained reason (perhaps on the analogy of such words as quartz) chints began to be spelled chintz. The Hindi word itself was originally an adjective, which came from Sanskrit chitra ‘many-coloured, bright’ (ultimate source of English chit ‘small piece of paper containing some sort of official notification’ [18]).
=> chit
chintz (n.): 1719, plural of chint (1610s), from Hindi chint, from Sanskrit chitra-s "clear, bright" (compare cheetah). The plural (the more common form of the word in commercial use) became regarded as singular by late 18c., and for unknown reason shifted -s to -z; perhaps after quartz. Disparaging sense, from the commonness of the fabric, is first recorded 1851 in George Eliot (in chintzy).

1. We shall cover the seat of this old chair with chintz.: 我們將用印花布罩住這舊椅子的椅面.

2. The door gave access to a tidily furnished sitting - room where chintz and oak predominated.: 打開這扇門后便進入一個被印花棉布和橡木裝飾得非常整潔的起居室.