mid-14c., "legendary lizard-like creature that can live in fire," from Old French salamandre "legendary fiery beast," also "cricket" (12c.), from Latin salamandra, from Greek salamandra, probably of eastern origin.
The application in zoology to a tailed amphibian (known natively as an eft or newt) is first recorded 1610s. Aristotle, and especially Pliny, are responsible for the fiction of an animal that thrives in and extinguishes fires. The eft lives in damp logs and secretes a milky substance when threatened, but there is no obvious natural explanation its connection with the myth.
Also used 18c. for "a woman who lives chastely in the midst of temptations" (after Addison), and "a soldier who exposes himself to fire in battle." To rub someone a salamander was a 19c. form of German student drinking toast (einem einen salamander reiben). Related: Salamandrine; salamandroid.
雙語例句
1. European salamander having dark skin with usually yellow spots.
黑色皮膚上通常有黃色斑點的歐洲蠑螈.
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2. The giant salamander feeds largely on fish and shrimps.
食物主要以活魚活蝦為主.
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3. A maroon - and - orange salamander stalks across my path - a miniature dinosaur on a mission.