| 释义 |
turk, n.2
[ad. F. turc; origin and history uncertain. As early as 1688 associated in French with the national name turc Turk; but Littré and Hatz.-Darm. treat it as a distinct word.
Boyceau de la Baraudière Tr. du Jardin 58 (1688) has ‘Les poiriers de bon chrestien en sont sur tous autres endommagez, et c'est pourquoy on a nommé ce ver Turc.’ But the American Little Turk is said to be named from the crescent-shaped punctures made in the fruit by the female.]
The larva of an insect (perh. of the fruit-bark beetle, Scolytus rugulosus) dreaded for the destruction it does to pear-trees by mining under the bark; also, the larva of the cockchafer (Littré). According to Century Dict., the plum-weevil or plum-curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar, which is very destructive to fruit-trees generally, is known as the Turk or Little Turk.
1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 173 The great Enemies to Trees, are..Snails, Tons, Turks, and abundance of Worms. Ibid. 176 Turks are certain white Worms that get into Trees and eat Holes in them, running betwixt the Bark and the Stem. 1815Kirby & Sp. Entomol. vi. (1818) I. 213 Their ravages have long been known in Germany under the name of Wurm trökniss (decay caused by worms); and in the old liturgies of that country the animal itself is formally mentioned under its vulgar appellation, ‘The Turk’. |