puny: [16] Etymologically, puny means ‘born later’. It was borrowed from Old French puisne, a compound adjective formed from puis ‘a(chǎn)fterwards’ and ne ‘born’ (a relative of English native, nature, etc). This signified ‘junior’, in which sense it was originally acquired by English as puisne. This spelling survives (albeit pronounced the same as puny) as a term denoting a judge of junior rank, and the anglicized orthography has since the 18th century been reserved to ‘feeble, small’. => nation, native, nature
puny (adj.)
1570s, "inferior in rank" (1540s as a noun, "junior pupil, freshman"), from Middle French puisné (Modern French pu?né), from Old French puisne "born later, younger, youngest" (12c., contrasted with aisné "first-born"), from puis nez, from puis "afterward" (from Vulgar Latin *postius, from Latin postea "after this, hereafter," from post "after," see post-, + ea "there") + Old French né "born," from Latin natus, past participle of nasci "be born" (Old Latin gnasci; see genus). Sense of "small, weak, insignificant" first recorded 1590s. Compare puisne. Related: Puniness.
雙語例句
1. The lamb was a puny little thing.
羊羔瘦小孱弱。
來自《權(quán)威詞典》
2. Have grandiose aims but puny abilities, great ambition but little talent.
眼高手低, 志大才疏.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
3. We did not meet again for ten years , by then , the rather puny boy had grown into a six - foot man, weighing 200 pounds.