nutshell
中文来自 ECDICT
- n.
- 坚果壳，极小的东西
构词拆分
演变路径（由近及远）
- 英语
- 继承自 ←中古英语 notschelle
- 继承自 ←古英语 hnutsċiell
- 继承自 ←原始西日耳曼语 *hnutskallju
词源说明
From Middle English notschelle, from Old English hnutsċiell, from Proto-West Germanic *hnutskallju, equivalent to nut + shell. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Nuteskele, Nuteskil (“nutshell”), Dutch notenschaal (“nutshell”), German Nussschale (“nutshell”).
The verb, as well as the legal book sense, is in reference to the phrase in a nutshell (“summarized”).