One way to hold this word: a blade sliding into a case that was made to fit it exactly. Nothing sticks out, nothing can cut, and the case follows the shape of the thing inside it. Two ideas sit in that picture — fitting closely, and covering completely — and every use of the word leans on one or both of them.
From the word’s history
The verb grows straight out of the noun. It goes back to Old English sċēaþ, a sheath, so the word has always meant to put a thing into its sheath. The covering uses came later, by treating any close outer layer as a sheath.
這個動詞是從名詞長出來的。它上溯到古英語的 sċēaþ，也就是刀鞘。所以字面上就是「讓它進到鞘裡」。後來把任何一層貼身的外皮都當成鞘來看，就有了「包覆」那些用法。
Wiktionary entry for sheathe (packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:524164628), etymology_text: from Late Middle English shethen, probably from Old English *scēaþian, or from Middle English sheth (sheath) + -en; sheth from Old English sċēaþ.
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
sheatheverb/ʃiːð/
- 1
To put (something such as a knife or sword) into a sheath.
- Sheath your Dagger: / Be angry when you will, it ſhall haue ſcope: […]
- Thy Chamber vvith Ambroſiall odors breatheth, / Nevv loues and true loues vnto them that entreateth, / And furious Mars made milde his Faulcheon ſheatheth / At thy delicious aſpect: […]
- 2
To encase (something) with a protective covering.
- A chearful heart does good like a medicine, but envy corrodes like a poiſon; it is ſo ſharp, that it cuts the body which ſheathes it.
- When thou sheathest thy glances in thy eyelids, they inflict deadly wounds: what must they be when thou drawest them from their scabbards!
- 3
Of an animal: to draw back or retract (a body part) into the body, such as claws into a paw.
- So when the gen'rous Lyon has in ſight / His equal match, he rouſes for the fight; / But when his foe lyes proſtrate on the plain, / He ſheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane; / And, plea'd with bloudleſs honours of the day, / Walks over, and diſdains th' inglorious Prey, […]
- We are told, that Dews and the Juices of Flowers are their [hummingbirds'] Food, which they extract with their little Tongue, whoſe Length exceeds that of their Bill, and ſerves them inſtead of a Trunk, which they contract and ſheathe in their Bill.
- 4
datedliteraryTo thrust (a sharp object like a sword, a claw, or a tusk) into something.
- And nuzzling in his flank, the loving swine / Sheathed unaware the tusk in his soft groin.
- Nay, neuer beare me hence, diſpatch me heere: / Here ſheath thy Sword, Ile pardon thee my death: […]
- 5
obsoleterareTo abandon or cease (animosity, etc.)
- Let him die, but firſt ſheth your impatience, throw cold water on your collor, […]
- 6
obsoleteTo provide (a sword, etc.) with a sheath.
- Nathaniels coate ſir was not fully made, / And Gabrels pumpes were all vnpinkt i'th heele: / There was no Linke to colour Peters hat, / And Walters dagger was not come from ſheathing: […]
- 7
obsoletemedicinesciencesTo relieve the harsh or painful effect of (a drug, a poison, etc.).
- [page 540] Theſe ſmooth and oily Med'cines act by ſheathing acrimonious Salts in the Blood, and preventing Inconveniences from 'em; and by relaxing the Fibres, and hence widening 'em. […] [page 541] [They] are convenient in Coughs, from thin and ſharp Rheums, becauſe they ſheathe the Salts that gall the Lungs.
- He concludes this Diſſertation, by endeavouring to explain the Manner of its [olive oil's] operating, which he attributes to its fat inviſcating Nature, whereby it ſheathes the Spicula of the Poiſon.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。