effete的词源

英文词源

effete: effete: [17] Latin effētus meant literally ‘that has given birth’. It was a compound adjective, based on the prefix ex- ‘out’ and fētus ‘childbearing, offspring’ (source of English foetus). Its use spread metaphorically first to ‘worn out by giving birth’ and finally to simply ‘exhausted’, the senses in which English originally acquired it. The word’s modern connotations of ‘overrefinement’ and ‘decadence’ did not develop until the 19th century.
effete (adj.): 1620s, "functionless as a result of age or exhaustion," from Latin effetus (usually in fem. effeta) "exhausted, unproductive, worn out (with bearing offspring), past bearing," literally "that has given birth," from a lost verb, *efferi, from ex- "out" (see ex-) + fetus "childbearing, offspring" (see fetus). Figurative use is earliest in English; literal use is rare. Sense of "intellectually or morally exhausted" (1790) led to that of "decadent, effeminate" (by 1850s).

ef-, 向外。-fet, 婴儿，词源同fetus, female. 原义为刚生完孩子的，引申义虚弱的，软弱的。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：effete 词源，effete 含义。