| 释义 |
▪ I. ‖ bom1, boma
Also bomma, aboma.
The native name in Congo, W. Africa, of ‘a huge non-poisonous snake swallowing deer, etc.’ (see Merolla, Vocab.; Proyart; Cavazzi Congo, Matamba, & Angola; Magyar Süd-Afrika). Apparently carried by the Portuguese from Congo to Brazil (Roquete has bom bôma ‘serpent d'Angola et du Brésil’), and there applied to the largest boas, in which sense it appears in some English works. (The history has been traced for us by Dr. E. B. Tylor.)
1864in Webster and in other recent Dicts.
▪ II. bom2|bɒm|
[Of imitative origin.]
The sound caused by the discharge of a gun, less deep and sonorous than a ‘boom’. Also, the sound of a heavy object falling.
1906Westm. Gaz. 11 June 8/2 A faint distant Bom! and everybody murmurs with one accord, ‘First Gun!’ 1922Joyce Ulysses 97 Bom! Upset. A coffin bumped out on to the road.
▪ III. bom, bomarang
obs. ff. bum, boomerang n. |