dainty: [13] In origin, dainty is the same word as dignity. The direct descendant of Latin dignitās in Old French was daintie or deintie, but Old French later reborrowed the word as dignete. It was the latter that became English dignity, but daintie took a route via Anglo-Norman dainte to give English dainty. At first it meant ‘honour, esteem’, but before a century was up it had passed through ‘pleasure, joy’ to ‘something choice, luxury’. The first record of its adjectival use comes in the 14th century, when it meant ‘choice, excellent, delightful’; this soon developed to ‘delicately pretty’. => dignity
dainty (n.)
c. 1300, "excellence, elegance; a luxury," from Old French deintie (12c.) "price, value," also "delicacy, pleasure," from Latin dignitatem (nominative dignitas) "greatness, rank, worthiness, worth, beauty," from dignus "worthy" (see dignity).
dainty (adj.)
c. 1300, deinte, "delightful, pleasing," from dainty (n.). Meaning evolved in Middle English to "choice, excellent" (late 14c.) to "delicately pretty." Related: Daintiness.
实用例句
1. a dainty porcelain cup
小巧玲珑的瓷杯
来自《权威词典》
2. The little girl wore a dainty dress.
小姑娘穿着一件漂亮的连衣裙.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. The violet is a dainty spring flower.
紫罗兰是娇艳的春花.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4. She is dainty about her eating.
她讲究饮食.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
5. It featured a solo dance in which a woman in a short overall mimed a lot of dainty housework.
