Where does the word aloof come from? The earliest known use of the word aloof is in the mid 1500s. OED's earliest evidence for aloof is from before 1535, in the writing of Thomas More, lord chancellor, humanist, and martyr. aloof is formed within English, by …

2022年9月18日 · "to refuse to use or participate in; stand aloof from; shun; avoid," mid-14c., from Old French eschiver "shun, eschew, avoid... The modern accepted explanation is that prominent politicians in ancient Greece held aloof from such inflammatory gestures... That of "aloof, reserved, distant; like a stranger" is by mid-14c.

这源自原始日耳曼语 *lofo （也是古诺尔斯语 lofi，哥特语 lofa “手掌”，丹麦语 lab，瑞典语 labb “爪子”），源自 PIE *lep- （2）“扁平”（参见 glove （名词））。 作为动词，“使帆船船首更靠近风”，始于14世纪末，源自名词。 前缀或不可分割的粒子，由各种日耳曼语和拉丁语元素组成。 在源自古英语的单词中，它通常代表古英语 an “在、进入”（见 on （prep.）），如 alive 、 above 、 asleep 、 aback 、 abroad 、 afoot 、 ashore 、 ahead 、 abed 、 aside 、过时的 arank “排 …

2015年1月8日 · Aloof, meaning distant physically or emotionally, was originally a nautical word. When a captain wanted to "keep the ship's head to the wind," therefore staying "clear of a lee-shore or some...

2020年4月8日 · Aloof is traceable to on loof, corresponding to Dutch te loef “to windward”; the phrase loef houden means “to keep to the windward,” which is close to Engl. keep aloof, that is, “to keep away” (originally, from the leeward shore or rock; lee means “shelter”).

The word "aloof" originated in the Old English period, around the 8th century. It comes from the word "ālof," which meant "on high" or "elevated." This word was originally used to describe something that was located above ground level, such as a mountain or a tree.

2013年5月8日 · Aloof may have come not from Dutch but from Danish, because the phrase had international currency (for example, it was also used by French sailors), but the Dutch source is more likely. Some dictionaries keep saying that aloof is a word of unknown origin.

While aloof is indeed formed from a prefix a-and a word loof, the prefix is not the negating one found in amoral, but is instead the prefix a-found in abed, aloud, and afire. Loof is a variant of luff, which in Middle English referred to the side of a ship that faces the wind; the earliest meaning of aloof was “to windward.” Soon after the ...

To be aloof is to distance oneself from something and dates from the early 16th century. Its origin is a Dutch sailing term from at least a century earlier. A Dutch sea captain would order his helmsman, “Te loef”, which meant to head into the wind or to take the wind gauge.

2024年5月4日 · The word "aloof" comes from the Middle English word "aloof" and the Old French word "aloef," both of which mean "away or at a distance." Its earliest documented use in English dates...