harvest: [OE] The idea underlying the word harvest is of ‘plucking, gathering, cropping’ – it comes ultimately from Indo-European *karp-, which also produced Greek karpós ‘fruit, crop, harvest’ (whence English carpel [19]) and Latin carpere ‘pluck’ (source of English carpet, excerpt, and scarce) – but its original meaning in English was ‘time of gathering crops’ rather than ‘act of gathering crops’.
Indeed, until as recently as the 18th century it was used as the name for the season now known as autumn (as its German relative herbst still is), and it was not until the 16th century that the present-day senses ‘act of gathering crops’ and ‘crops gathered’ began to develop. => carpet, excerpt, scarce
harvest (n.)
Old English hærfest "autumn," as one of the four seasons, "period between August and November," from Proto-Germanic *harbitas (cognates: Old Saxon hervist, Old Frisian and Dutch herfst, German Herbst "autumn," Old Norse haust "harvest"), from PIE *kerp- "to gather, pluck, harvest" (cognates: Sanskrit krpana- "sword," krpani "shears;" Greek karpos "fruit," karpizomai "make harvest of;" Latin carpere "to cut, divide, pluck;" Lithuanian kerpu "cut;" Middle Irish cerbaim "cut").
In Old English with only implied reference to the gathering of crops. The borrowing of autumn and the use of fall (n.) in a seasonal sense gradually focused the meaning of harvest to "the time of gathering crops" (mid-13c.), also to the action itself and the product of the action (after c. 1300), which became its main senses from 14c. Figurative use by 1530s. As an adjective from late 14c. Harvest home (1570s) was a festive celebration of the bringing home the last of the harvest; harvest moon (1704) is that which is full within a fortnight of the autumnal equinox.
harvest (v.)
c. 1400, from harvest (n.). Of wild animals, by 1946; of cells, from 1946. Related: Harvested; harvesting.
双语例句
1. Comet also sired the champion foal out of Spinway Harvest.
“彗星”还跟“斯平威·哈维斯特”生下了这匹出类拔萃的小马驹。
来自柯林斯例句
2. He will offer the first harvest of rice to the sun goddess.
他将把收获的第一束稻子献给太阳女神。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Unfavourable weather has had damaging effects on this year's harvest.
恶劣天气使今年的收成受到了损失。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Rice farmers here still plant and harvest their crops by hand.
这里种植水稻的农场主仍是人工种植和收割庄稼。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The vegetable harvest is disastrously behind schedule.