zoo

英 [zu?] 美[zu]

CET4TEM4考研CET6中低頻詞核心詞匯

復數:?zoos;

zoo 動物園

來自zoological gardens的縮寫。

zoo: zoo: [19] Greek zóion meant ‘animal’ (it came from the Indo-European base *gwei-, which also lies behind English biology, quick, and vital). From it was formed modern Latin zōologia ‘study of animals’, which English adapted as zoology [17]. Zoological was derived from this in the 19th century, and when the Zoological Society of London opened their exhibition of live wild animals in Regent’s Park in 1829, they called it the Zoological Gardens. This was soon abbreviated to ‘the Zoological’, and by the mid 1840s it had shrunk further to zoo.
=> biology, quick, vital
zoo (n.): c. 1847, short for Zoological Gardens of the London Zoological Society, established 1828 in Regent's Park to house the society's collection of wild animals. The first three letters taken as one syllable. "From a mere vulgarism, this corruption has passed into wide colloquial use" [Century Dictionary]. Slang meaning "crowded and chaotic place" first recorded 1935.

1. There's a zoo round here? That's dandy for my kids.: 這附近有個動物園？我的孩子們一定會很高興的。

2. The zoo was budgeting for 850,000 visitors this year.: 動物園在編制預算時預計今年游客會達85萬。

4. To me the only justification for a zoo is educational.: 對我來說，動物園存在的唯一正當理由是其教育作用。

5. I agree that the demise of London zoo would be terrible.: 我也認為如果倫敦動物園不復存在的話那真是太糟糕了。