awe

来自PIE *agh, 害怕。此处词义褒义化。词源同ail, ugly.

awe

awe: [13] Old English had the word ege, meaning ‘awe’, but modern English awe is a Scandinavian borrowing; the related Old Norse agi steadily infiltrated the language from the northeast southwards during the Middle Ages. Agi came, like ege, from a hypothetical Germanic form *agon, which in turn goes back to an Indo-European base *agh- (whence also Greek ákhos ‘pain’). The guttural g sound of the 13th-century English word (technically a voiced velar spirant) was changed to w during the Middle English period. This was a general change, but it is not always reflected in spelling – as in owe and ought, for instance, which were originally the same word.

awe (n.)

c. 1300, aue, "fear, terror, great reverence," earlier aghe, c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source, such as Old Norse agi "fright;" from Proto-Germanic *agiz- (cognates: Old English ege "fear," Old High German agiso "fright, terror," Gothic agis "fear, anguish"), from PIE *agh-es- (cognates: Greek akhos "pain, grief"), from root *agh- "to be depressed, be afraid" (see ail). Current sense of "dread mixed with admiration or veneration" is due to biblical use with reference to the Supreme Being. To stand in awe (early 15c.) originally was simply to stand awe. Awe-inspiring is recorded from 1814.

Al engelond of him stod awe.
["The Lay of Havelok the Dane," c. 1300]

awe (v.)

c. 1300, from awe (n.); Old English had egan (v.). Related: Awed; awing.

1. The higher we climbed, the more awe-inspiring the scenery became.

我们爬得越高，风景越是让人叹绝。

2. He was in awe of her; she held him spellbound.

他对她十分敬畏；她令他着迷。

3. She filled me with a sense of awe.

她让我心生敬畏。

4. She gazed in awe at the great stones.

她惊叹地盯着那些巨石。

5. He speaks of her with awe .

他谈到她时肃然起敬。