scourge: [13] Scourge comes ultimately from a Latin word for a ‘long strip of leather’, corrigio, which itself was borrowed from Celtic. It had a number of specific applications, including ‘shoelace’, ‘rein’, and ‘whip’, and it was the last that formed the basis of the Vulgar Latin verb *excorrigiāre ‘whip’, which passed into English via Old French escorgier and its derived noun escorge.
scourge (n.)
c. 1200, "a whip, lash," from Anglo-French escorge, back-formation from Old French escorgier "to whip," from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiare, from Latin ex- "out, off" (see ex-) + corrigia "thong, shoelace," in this case "whip," probably from a Gaulish word related to Old Irish cuimrech "fetter," from PIE root *reig- "to bind" (see rig (v.)). Figurative use from late 14c. Scourge of God, title given by later generations to Attila the Hun (406-453 C.E.), is attested from late 14c., from Latin flagellum Dei.
scourge (v.)
c. 1300, "to whip," from Old French escorgier and from scourge (n.). Figurative meaning "to afflict" (often for the sake of punishment or purification) is from late 14c. Related: Scourged; scourging.
实用例句
1. Drugs are a scourge that is devastating our society.
毒品是破坏我们社会的一大祸害。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The cruel captain used a scourge on his disobedient sailor.
那残忍的船长鞭打不服从命令的水手.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
3. After the scourge of war came the scourge of disease.
战乱之后瘟疫接踵而来.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4. The scourge of racial tyranny should never again be allowed to raise its ugly head.
永远不能让种族主义暴政的祸患重新抬头。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Farmers don't need much prompting to tell you that "flaming dog owners" are the scourge of their lives.