mosaic: [16] Mosaic work is etymologically work ‘of the muses’. The word comes ultimately from Greek mouseion, which originally meant literally ‘place of the muses’, and has also given English museum. Somehow in medieval Latin it became altered to mūsaicus or mōsaicus, and passed via early modern Italian mosaico and French mosaïque into English as mosaic. It has no etymological connection, incidentally, with Mosaic ‘of Moses’ [17]. => muse, museum
mosaic (n.)
c. 1400, from Old French mosaicq "mosaic work," from Italian mosaico, from Medieval Latin musaicum "mosaic work, work of the Muses," noun use of neuter of musaicus "of the Muses," from Latin Musa (see muse). Medieval mosaics were often dedicated to the Muses. The word formed in Medieval Latin as though from Greek, but the (late) Greek word for "mosaic work" was mouseion (Klein says this sense was borrowed from Latin). Figurative use is from 1640s. As an adjective in English from 1580s. Related: Mosaicist.
Mosaic (adj.)
"pertaining to Moses," 1660s (earlier Mosaical, 1560s), from Modern Latin Mosaicus, from Moses.
双语例句
1. a design in mosaic
马赛克图案
来自《权威词典》
2. The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.
今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.
我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. Archaeologists have worked for years to piece together the huge mosaic.
考古学家经年累月拼组这幅巨大的马赛克.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. Major works of painting, sculpture, mosaic and architecture were examined in situ in Venice.
