sap: English has three distinct words sap. The oldest, ‘plant-juice’ [OE], goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *sappam, which also produced German saft ‘juice’. This in turn was a descendant of Indo-European *sapon-, from which came Latin sapa ‘new wine’. Sap ‘undermine’ [16] was borrowed via French saper from Italian zappare, which may have been ultimately of Arabic origin.
Its original literal sense ‘dig a trench or tunnel underneath in order to attack’ has now been largely superseded by the metaphorical ‘weaken’, which has been heavily influenced by sap ‘plant-juice’ (from the notion of ‘draining sap from a plant’). The colloquial sap ‘fool’ [19] may be short for an earlier sapskull, a compound formed from sap in the now seldom heard sense ‘sapwood’ – hence ‘wooden head’.
sap (n.1)
"liquid in a plant," Old English sæpm from Proto-Germanic *sapam (cognates: Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch sap, Old High German saf, German Saft "juice"), from PIE root *sab- "juice, fluid" (cognates: Sanskrit sabar- "sap, milk, nectar," Latin sapere "to taste," Irish sug, Russian soku "sap," Lithuanian sakas "tree-gum"). As a verb meaning "To drain the sap from," 1725.
sap (n.2)
"simpleton," 1815, originally especially in Scottish and English schoolboy slang, probably from earlier sapskull (1735), saphead (1798), from sap as a shortened form of sapwood "soft wood between the inner bark and the heartwood" (late 14c.), from sap (n.1) + wood (n.); so called because it conducts the sap; compare sappy.
sap (v.1)
"dig a trench toward the enemy's position," 1590s, from Middle French saper, from sappe "spade," from Late Latin sappa "spade" (source also of Italian zappa, Spanish zapa "spade"). Extended sense "weaken or destroy insidiously" is from 1755, probably influenced by the verb form of sap (n.1), on the notion of "draining the vital sap from." Related: Sapped; sapping.
sap (v.2)
"hit with a sap," 1926, from sap (n.3). Related: Sapped; sapping.
sap (n.3)
"club, stick for hitting," 1899, from shortening of sapwood (see sap (n.2)) or sapling.
实用例句
1. The sap of this plant blisters the skin.
这种植物的汁液会使皮肤起水疱。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Maple syrup is made from sap extracted from the sugar maple tree.
槭糖浆是用糖槭树中提取的树液制成的。
来自《权威词典》
3. Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.
枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. Didn't you know I was joking, you sap?
你难道不知道我是在开玩笑 吗 ?傻瓜.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. Work out material requirement plan in SAP based on rolling production plan.
