pretty

pretty 美丽的，漂亮的，相当好的，颇，相当

来自古英语praettig,狡猾的，精明的，有技巧的，来自Proto-Germanic*prattuz,夸夸其谈，吹牛，拟声词，词源同prate,prattle.后词义褒义化，引申词义相当好的，美丽的，漂亮的，后用于副词颇，相当。词义演变比较prestige.

pretty

pretty: [OE] In Old English pretty (or prættig, as it was then) meant ‘clever’ in a bad sense – ‘crafty, cunning’. Not until the 15th century had it passed via ‘clever’, ‘skilfully made’, and ‘fine’ to ‘beautiful’. It was a derivative of prætt ‘trick, wile’, which came from a prehistoric West Germanic *pratt- (source also of Dutch part ‘trick’).

pretty (adj.)

Old English prættig (West Saxon), pretti (Kentish), *prettig (Mercian) "cunning, skillful, artful, wily, astute," from prætt, *prett "a trick, wile, craft," from Proto-Germanic *pratt- (cognates: Old Norse prettr "a trick," prettugr "tricky;" Frisian pret, Middle Dutch perte, Dutch pret "trick, joke," Dutch prettig "sportive, funny," Flemish pertig "brisk, clever"), of unknown origin.

Connection between Old English and Middle English words is uncertain, but if they are the same, meaning had shifted by c. 1400 to "manly, gallant," and later moved via "attractive, skillfully made," to "fine," to "beautiful in a slight way" (mid-15c.). Ironical use from 1530s. For sense evolution, compare nice, silly. Also used of bees (c. 1400). "After the OE. period the word is unknown till the 15th c., when it becomes all at once frequent in various senses, none identical with the OE., though derivable from it" [OED].

Meaning "not a few, considerable" is from late 15c. With a sense of "moderately," qualifying adjectives and adverbs, since 1560s. Pretty please as an emphatic plea is attested from 1902. A pretty penny "lot of money" is first recorded 1768.

pretty (n.)

"a pretty person or thing," 1736, from pretty (adj.).

pretty (v.)

1916, usually with up, from pretty (adj.). Related: Prettied; prettying. Compare prettify.

1. The comparative of "pretty" is "prettier".

pretty的比较级形式是prettier。

2. She's going to be fine. She always was pretty strong.

她会好的。她一直都很强壮。

3. She was a shy, delicately pretty girl with enormous blue eyes.

她是一个害羞、娇美的女孩，长着一双大大的蓝眼睛。

4. His new government looks pretty much like the old one.

他的新政府看起来和旧政府没什么两样。

5. The policeman smiled at her. "Pretty dog."— "Oh well, thank you."

警察冲她笑了笑，“这狗真漂亮。”——“哦，谢谢。”

【quite, rather, pretty, fairly】
这组词都有“相当，颇”的意思，其区别是：
quite: 含义比fairly稍强，与不定冠词连用时，一般放在不定冠词之前。
rather: 语气比quite强，褒意贬意无可使用。可与too和比较级连用。
pretty: 用法与rather相似。常用于非正式文体。
fairly: 语意最弱，多用于褒义，表示适度地、尚可的意思。不可与too或比较级连用。

【beautiful, lovely, handsome, fine, pretty, fair】
这组词都有“美丽的，漂亮的”的意思，其区别是：
beautiful: 普通用词，含义广泛，语气最强，指优美和谐，是一种几乎接近完美的美。指人时通常形容女人或小孩，很少用于描写男子。
lovely: 普通用词，描写人时，主要指女人和小孩的相貌，语气不如beautiful强。
handsome: 多用于描写男性的英俊潇洒。有时也形容女人，指其五官端正，体态秀丽。
fine: 指在容貌、身材或风度等方面令人感到可爱。用于事物时，强调形式或内容的优美。
pretty: 普通用词，语气比beautiful弱，多用于描写妇女、儿童以及小巧玲珑，精美可爱之物。
fair: 正式用词，多用于文学中，形容女子和儿童，侧重外表的美。

【beautiful, handsome, pretty, good-looking】
beautiful: 貌美动人，气质高雅；
handsome: 体态健美端庄；
pretty: 活泼可爱；
good-looking: 一般性“好看”