treacle: [14] Treacle is etymologically an ‘antidote to the bite of wild animals’. The word comes via Old French triacle and Latin thēriaca from Greek thēriaké. This was short for antídotos thēriaké ‘antidote to poisonous animals’, thēriaké being a derivative of thēríon ‘wild animal, poisonous animal’, which in turn came from thér ‘wild savage’. It retained its original meaning into English, but it then gradually broadened out into ‘medicine’, and the practice of disguising the unpleasant taste of medicine with sugar syrup led in the 17th century to its application to ‘syrup’.
treacle (n.)
mid-14c., "medicinal compound, antidote for poison," from Old French triacle "antidote, cure for snake-bite" (c. 1200), from Vulgar Latin *triacula, from Latin theriaca, from Greek theriake (antidotos) "antidote for poisonous wild animals," from fem. of theriakos "of a wild animal," from therion "wild animal," diminutive of ther (genitive theros) "wild animal," from PIE root *ghwer- "wild" (see fierce).
Sense of "molasses" is first recorded 1690s (the connection may be from the use of molasses as a laxative, or its use to disguise the bad taste of medicine); that of "anything too sweet or sentimental" is from 1771. Related: Treacly.
雙語例句
1. Blend a little milk with two tablespoons of treacle.
將少許牛奶和兩大湯匙糖漿混合.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
2. We found the English treacle pudding too good to resist. Sure enough, it was delicious.
我們覺得英國糖蜜布丁太好吃了，令人無法抗拒。的確非常美味。
來自柯林斯例句
3. What a mess we were in at the end of this caper — hair, eyes, cheeks and neck covered in treacle.
胡鬧了一通后，我們渾身臟得一塌糊涂——頭發、眼睛、臉頰、脖子上，全是糖漿。
來自柯林斯例句
4. As it opens further, nuances of treacle, aniseed and graphite slowly emerge.
隨醒酒時間的推移, 糖蜜, 茴香和石墨的芬芳逐漸散發出來.
來自互聯網
5. The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweet.