quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- tinsel
- tinsel: [16] Tinsel is etymologically something that ‘sparkles’. Its ultimate source is Latin scintilla ‘spark’, which has also given English scintillate [17]. This was altered in the postclassical period to *stincilla, which passed into Old French as estincele ‘spark’. From this was derived the adjective estincelé ‘sparkling’, which was applied particularly to fabric with metallic thread woven into it. English took this over as tinselle, originally an adjective but soon used as a noun. Its derogatory connotations of ‘gaudiness’ or ‘cheap glamour’ began to emerge in the 17th century.
=> scintillate, stencil - sparkler (n.)
- 1713, "what sparkles" (often of gems, wits, or women), agent noun from sparkle (v.). In the modern hand-held fireworks sense, from 1905.
The New York Board of Fire Underwriters has issued a warning against the storage, sale and use of a new form of fireworks now on the market. These are known as "electric sparklers," are made in Germany, and come to this country in metal lined cases each containing 120 dozen of pasteboard boxes with 12 sparklers in each box. The Board's warning says that while the sparklers appear harmless, the solid incandescent mass is intensely hot and readily communicates fire to any inflammable substance it may touch. ["The Standard" (weekly insurance newspaper), Boston, May 4, 1907]
- stencil (n.)
- 1707, not recorded again until 1848, probably from Middle English stencellen "decorate with bright colors," from Middle French estenceler "cover with sparkles or stars, powder with color," from estencele "spark, spangle" (Modern French étincelle), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, metathesis of Latin scintilla "spark" (see scintilla).