magnet: [15] Greek Mágnēs líthos meant ‘stone from Magnesia’ – Magnesia being a region of Thessaly, Greece where much metal was obtained. It had two specific applications: to ore with magnetic properties, and to stone with a metallic sheen. And it was the first of these that has come down to English via Latin magnēta as magnet. English magnesia [14] comes from the same source, but it is not clear how it came to be applied (in the 18th century) to ‘magnesium oxide’, for it originally denoted, in the rather vague terminology of the alchemists, a ‘constituent of the philosopher’s stone’.
In the 17th century it was used for ‘manganese’ (and manganese [17] itself comes via French from Italian manganese, an alteration of medieval Latin magnēsia). And when the term magnesium [19] was introduced (at the suggestion of the chemist Sir Humphry Davy), it too at first denoted ‘manganese’. => magnesium, manganese
magnet (n.)
mid-15c. (earlier magnes, late 14c.), from Old French magnete "magnetite, magnet, lodestone," and directly from Latin magnetum (nominative magnes) "lodestone," from Greek ho Magnes lithos "the Magnesian stone," from Magnesia, region in Thessaly where magnetized ore was obtained. Figurative use from 1650s. It has spread from Latin to most Western European languages (German and Danish magnet, Dutch magneet, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese magnete), but it was superseded in French by aimant. Also see magnesia. Chick magnet attested from 1989.
实用例句
1. Open wounds act like a magnet to flies.
裸露的伤口很招苍蝇。
来自柯林斯例句
2. In the 1990s the area became a magnet for new investment.
这个地区在20世纪90年代成了新的投资热点。
来自《权威词典》
3. He picked all the pins up with a magnet.
他用磁铁捡起了所有的大头针.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. The actress was the magnet that drew great audiences.
那位女演员曾吸引过许多观众.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. The earth may be thought of as a gigantic magnet.
