hornbook的词源

英文词源

crisscross (v.): 1818, from Middle English crist(s)-crosse "Christ's cross" (late 15c.), earlier cros-kryst (late 14c.), "referring to the mark of a cross formerly written before the alphabet in hornbooks. The mark itself stood for the phrase Christ-cross me speed ('May Christ's cross give me success'), a formula said before reciting the alphabet" [Barnhart]. Used today without awareness of origin. As an adjective, 1846; as a noun, 1848.
criss-cross: "A pattern of intersecting straight lines or paths", Early 17th century (denoting a figure of a cross preceding the alphabet in a hornbook): from Christ-cross (in the same sense in late Middle English), from Christ's cross. The form was later treated as a reduplication of cross.

中世纪时期，欧洲人将字母、数字等内容印在纸上或其他材料商，上面盖有透明角片加以保护，裱在有柄的木板上，，供儿童认识字母及数字用，类似于现在的识字卡。这种儿童教育材料被称为hornbook（角帖书），由horn（角）+book（书）构成。后来，hornbook被用来比喻各种基础读物、入门书。

hornbook： ['hɔːnbʊk] n.入门书，角帖书，识字板

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