promise

n. 许诺，允诺；希望

vt. 允诺，许诺；给人以…的指望或希望

vi. 许诺；有指望，有前途

中文词源

promise 承诺，保证

来自古法语promesse,承诺，保证，来自拉丁语promissum,承诺，来自pro-,向前，-miss,送出，词源同mission,emit.

promise: promise: [14] Latin prōmittere originally meant simply ‘send forth’ (it was a compound verb formed from the prefix prō- ‘forward’ and mittere ‘send’, source of English mission, missile, transmit, etc). But it soon evolved metaphorically via ‘say in advance, foretell’ to ‘cause to expect’ and hence ‘promise’ – the sense adopted into English via its past participle prōmissum.
=> admit, commit, missile, mission, submit, transmit
promise (n.): c. 1400, "a pledge, vow," from Old French promesse "promise, guarantee, assurance" (13c.) and directly from Latin promissum "a promise," noun use of neuter past participle of promittere "send forth; let go; foretell; assure beforehand, promise," from pro- "before" (see pro-) + mittere "to put, send" (see mission). The ground sense is "declaration made about the future, about some act to be done or not done."
promise (v.): c. 1400, from promise (n.). Related: Promised; promising. Promised land (1530s) is a reference to the land of Canaan promised to Abraham and his progeny (Hebrew xi:9, etc.; Greek ten ges tes epangelias).

1. The boy first showed promise as an athlete in grade school.: 这个男孩在上小学的时候就初次显示出成为运动员的潜力。

2. I'm hoping you'll keep your promise to come for a long visit.: 我希望你遵守诺言来这儿多呆几天。

3. President Kaunda fulfilled his promise of announcing a date for the referendum.: 卡翁达总统兑现了他的承诺，宣布了全民公决的日期。

4. This approach, more than any other, holds promise for true reform.: 这一方法比其他任何方法都更让人看到真正改革的希望。