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.
双语例句
1. Blend a little milk with two tablespoons of treacle.
将少许牛奶和两大汤匙糖浆混合.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. We found the English treacle pudding too good to resist. Sure enough, it was delicious.
我们觉得英国糖蜜布丁太好吃了，令人无法抗拒。的确非常美味。
来自柯林斯例句
3. What a mess we were in at the end of this caper — hair, eyes, cheeks and neck covered in treacle.
胡闹了一通后，我们浑身脏得一塌糊涂——头发、眼睛、脸颊、脖子上，全是糖浆。
来自柯林斯例句
4. As it opens further, nuances of treacle, aniseed and graphite slowly emerge.
随醒酒时间的推移, 糖蜜, 茴香和石墨的芬芳逐渐散发出来.
来自互联网
5. The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweet.
