putty

来自pot,罐子，-y,小词后缀。字面意思即小罐子，后代指罐子里面的油灰。词义演变比较potash.

putty

putty: [17] Etymologically, putty is something that comes from a pot. It was borrowed from French potée ‘contents of a pot’, a derivative of pot ‘pot’. By the time English acquired it, it had come to be applied to a powder made from heated tin, used by jewellers for polishing, and for a cement made from lime and water, used as a top coating on plaster – both substances made in pots. The latter led on in English in the 18th century to the now familiar application to the window-pane sealant.
=> pot

putty (n.)

1630s, "type of plasterer's cement," from French potée "polishing powder" (12c.), originally "pot-full, contents of a pot," from Old French pot "container" (see pot (n.1)). Meaning "soft mixture for sealing window panes" first recorded 1706. Figurative use in reference to one easily influenced is from 1924. Putty knife attested from 1834.

putty (v.)

1734, from putty (n.). Related: Puttied; puttying.

1. When the clay feels like putty, it is ready to use.

黏土摸起来像油灰时，就可以用了。

2. As soon as she starts crying, I'm putty in her hands.

只要她一哭, 我就对她百依百顺.

3. The hole has been stopped up with putty.

窟窿已用泥子堵住了.

4. The putty gives a good seal round the window.

窗户四周泥的油灰密封效果很好.

5. He was like putty in her hands.

他听命于她.