asphalt: [14] The ultimate source of asphalt is Greek ásphalton, but when it first came into English it was with the p that had developed in late Latin aspaltus: aspalte. The ph of the original Greek form began to be reintroduced in the 18th century.
asphalt (n.)
early 14c., "hard, resinous mineral pitch found originally in Biblical lands," from Late Latin asphaltum, from Greek asphaltos "asphalt, bitumen," probably from a non-Greek source, possibly Semitic [Klein, citing Lewy, 1895]. Another theory holds it to be from Greek a- "not" + *sphaltos "able to be thrown down," taken as verbal adjective of sphallein "to throw down," in reference to a use of the material in building.
Meaning "paving composition" dates from 1847 and its popular use in this sense established the modern form of the English word, displacing in most senses asphaltum, asphaltos. As a verb meaning "to cover with asphalt," from 1872. Related: Asphaltic.
实用例句
1. The asphalt playgrounds have been grassed over or sown with flowers.
