bronze

词源不确定，可能同brass, 黄铜。

bronze

bronze: [18] Until the 18th century, copper alloys were lumped together under the general term brass. Bronze seems originally to have been introduced as a specialist term for ancient artefacts made from the metal, but the modern distinction tends to be between brass (alloy of copper and zinc) and bronze (cooper and tin). The word comes via French from Italian bronzo, but its ultimate source is not clear.

Perhaps the likeliest candidate is Persian birinj, pirinj ‘copper’, but it has also been speculated that it comes via medieval Greek brontésion from medieval Latin aes brundisium, literally ‘brass of Brindisi’, a port on the Adriatic coast of Italy where in antiquity bronze mirrors were made.

bronze (n.)

1721, "alloy of copper and tin," from French bronze, from Italian bronzo, from Medieval Latin bronzium. Perhaps cognate (via notion of color) with Venetian bronza "glowing coals," or German brunst "fire." Perhaps influenced by Latin Brundisium the Italian town of Brindisi (Pliny writes of aes Brundusinum). Perhaps ultimately from Persian birinj "copper."

In Middle English, the distinction between bronze (copper-tin alloy) and brass (copper-zinc alloy) was not clear, and both were called bras. A bronze medal was given to a third-place finisher since at least 1852. The archaeological Bronze Age (1865) falls between the Stone and Iron ages, and is a reference to the principal material for making weapons and ornaments.

bronze (v.)

1640s, literally, 1726 figuratively, from French bronzer (16c.) or else from bronze (n.). Related: Bronzed; bronzing. Meaning "to make to be bronze in color" is from 1792.

1. On the mantelpiece are a pair of bronze Ming vases.

壁炉台上是一对明代的青铜花瓶。

2. She won bronze for Great Britain in the European Championships.

她在欧洲锦标赛上为英国队赢得铜牌。

3. Her hair shone bronze and gold.

她的头发泛着黄褐色的金光。

4. In the reproduced bronze she is completely nude.

她全身赤裸，皮肤是日晒后的古铜色。

5. a figure cast in bronze

一尊青铜铸像