| 释义 |
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024e•nig•ma /əˈnɪgmə/USA pronunciation n. [countable], pl. -mas. - a puzzling event, situation, or person.
- a riddle.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024e•nig•ma (ə nig′mə),USA pronunciation n., pl. -mas, -ma•ta (-mə tə).USA pronunciation - a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation:His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.
- a person of puzzling or contradictory character:To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.
- a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning;
riddle. - Military, Cryptography(cap.) a German-built enciphering machine developed for commercial use in the early 1920s and later adapted and appropriated by German and other Axis powers for military use through World War II.
- Greek aínigma, equivalent. to ainik- (stem of ainíssesthai to speak in riddles, derivative of aînos fable) + -ma noun, nominal suffix of result
- Latin aenigma
- 1530–40
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged problem. See puzzle.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: enigma /ɪˈnɪɡmə/ n - a person, thing, or situation that is mysterious, puzzling, or ambiguous
Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigma, from ainissesthai to speak in riddles, from ainos fable, storyenigmatic /ˌɛnɪɡˈmætɪk/, ˌenigˈmatical adj ˌenigˈmatically adv |