sequin: [17] When English first adopted sequin, it was the name of a coin. Its ultimate ancestor was Arabic sikkah, which denoted a die from which coins were minted (in Anglo-Indian English from the 17th to the 19th century, a sicca was a newly minted rupee). Italian took the word over as zecca, and created a diminutive form zecchino, referring to a gold coin.
The original application was specifically to a Venetian coin, but this subsequently broadened out, and the term was also used for a Turkish coin (alternatively known as a sultanin). In French, zecchino became sequin, which is the form in which English acquired it. The word might well have followed the coin into oblivion, but in the late 19th century it managed to get itself applied to the small round shiny pieces of metal applied to clothing, and its continued existence was guaranteed.
sequin (n.)
1610s, name of a former Italian and Turkish gold coin, from French sequin (17c.), from Italian zecchino, name of a Venetian coin, from zecca "a mint," from Arabic sikkah "a minting die." Meaning "ornamental disc or spangle" is first recorded 1882, from resemblance to a gold coin. Related: Sequined (1890).
实用例句
1. Her dress is covered in sequin which twinkles as she moves.
她的连衣裙上镶著小光片,身体一动就闪闪发光.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. This was the only sequin we found on the bed, right ?
