optimism: [18] Etymologically as well as semantically, optimism means hoping for ‘the best’. It was coined in French (as optimisme) in 1737 as a term for the doctrine of the German philosopher Leibnitz (1646–1716) that the world is as good as it could possibly be. It was based on Latin optimum (source also of English optimum [19]), the neuter case of optimus ‘best’. This may have been formed from the preposition ob ‘in front of’ and a superlative suffix.
optimism (n.)
1759 (in translations of Voltaire), from French optimisme (1737), from Modern Latin optimum, used by Gottfried Leibniz (in "Théodicée," 1710) to mean "the greatest good," from Latin optimus "the best" (see optimum). The doctrine holds that the actual world is the "best of all possible worlds," in which the creator accomplishes the most good at the cost of the least evil.
En termes de l'art, il l'appelle la raison du meilleur ou plus savamment encore, et Theologiquement autant que Géométriquement, le systême de l'Optimum, ou l'Optimisme. [Mémoires de Trévoux, Feb. 1737]
Launched out of philosophical jargon and into currency by Voltaire's satire on it in "Candide." General sense of "belief that good ultimately will prevail in the world" first attested 1841 in Emerson; meaning "tendency to take a hopeful view of things" first recorded 1819 in Shelley.
实用例句
1. They have maintained their optimism in the face of desolating subjugation.
面对遭征服的悲惨命运，他们保持了乐观的态度。
来自柯林斯例句
2. In the interview he gave some grounds for optimism.
他接受采访时阐述了持乐观态度的理由。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Every day of sunshine strengthens the feelings of optimism.
每天晒太阳让人心情更加开朗。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Only time will tell whether Broughton's optimism is justified.
只有时间会验证布劳顿的乐观是否合理。
来自柯林斯例句
5. As she spoke she felt a bubble of optimism rising inside her.
