harpy

英 ['hɑ?p?] 美['hɑrpi]

暢通詞匯

復數:?harpies;

harpy 鳥身女妖

一種希臘神話中的人頭鳥身女妖，字面意思為掠食者，劫掠者，來自PIE*rep,抓住，撕開，詞源同rip,rob,rupture.拼寫比較其同源詞usurp.

harpy (n.): winged monster of ancient mythology, late 14c., from Old French harpie (14c.), from Latin harpyia, from Greek Harpyia (plural), literally "snatchers," which is probably related to harpazein "to snatch" (see rapid (adj.)). Metaphoric extension to "repulsively greedy person" is c. 1400.
In Homer they are merely personified storm winds, who were believed to have carried off any person that had suddenly disappeared. In Hesiod they are fair-haired and winged maidens who surpass the winds in swiftness, and are called Aello and Ocypete; but in later writers they are represented as disgusting monsters, with heads like maidens, faces pale with hunger, and claws like those of birds. The harpies ministered to the gods as the executors of vengeance. ["American Cyclop?dia," 1874]

1. To their utter amazement, this seeming harpy spoke to them.: 叫他們大吃一驚的是, 這個看來象個鳥身女妖的東西竟跟他們說起話來.

2. The Harpy is a unique weapon system with features of both UAV and cruise missile.: “哈比”是一種具有UAV和巡航導彈特征的一種獨特的武器系統.

3. A moustached man unwittingly saves a harpy from being drowned in a fountain.: 一個留著八字胡的男人無意間在噴泉里救了一個鳥身女妖.