dun: English has two words dun. The colour adjective, ‘greyish brown’ [OE], comes ultimately from Indo-European *donnos, *dusnos, which is also the source of English dusk. The now rather dated noun, ‘debtcollector’ [17], is an abbreviation of dunkirk, a 17th-century term for a ‘privateer’, a privately owned vessel officially allowed to attack enemy shipping during wartime.
It was originally applied from such privateers that sailed from the port of Dunkirk, on the northern coast of France, to attack British ships, and its connotations of unwarranted piracy soon spread metaphorically to one who was constantly importuning for the repayment of his loan. => donkey, dusk, obfuscate
dun (v.)
"to insist on payment of debt," 1620s, perhaps related to dunnen "to sound, resound, make a din" (c. 1200, dialectal variant of din), or shortened from dunkirk (c. 1600) "privateer," a private vessel licensed to attack enemy ships during wartime, from Dunkirk, French port from which they sailed. The oldest theory traces it to a Joe Dun, supposedly a London bailiff famous for catching defaulters. Related: Dunned; dunning. As a noun from 1620s.
dun (adj.)
Old English dunn "dingy brown, dark-colored," perhaps from Celtic (compare Old Irish donn "dark;" Gaelic donn "brown, dark;" Welsh dwnn "brownish"), from PIE *donnos, *dusnos "dark."
雙語例句
1. WEN SI DUN 4 lookings at the outside of the gauze curtain absent - mindedly .
溫斯頓 心不在焉 地看著薄紗窗簾的外面.
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2. Mummy angry with papa, dun want to buy him birthday cake today.
今天是爸爸的生日?媽咪買蛋糕啦!
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3. Praise of White Poplar is a famous essay of Mao Dun.
《白楊禮贊》是茅盾先生的散文名篇.
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4. Internationally acclaimed composer, Tan Dun conducts his composition , 2000 Passion.
主持人:有請(qǐng)作曲家譚盾指揮演奏《天地與我為一》.
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5. Dun & amp ; Bradstreet is the largest mercantile agency in the United States.