eat: [OE] Eat is a very ancient and basic verb. It goes back to Indo-European *ed- ‘eat’ (distant ancestor of English tooth), which produced the basic word for ‘eat’ in most European languages, apart from French, Italian, Romanian, and the Celtic languages: Greek édein, for example, Latin edere (source of English comestible [15], from Latin comedere ‘eat up’, and of obese [17]), and Russian jest’. Its Germanic descendant was *etan (ultimate source of English etch), which produced German essen, Dutch eten, Swedish öta, and English eat (and also lies behind English fret). => comestible, etch, fret, obese, tooth
eat (v.)
Old English etan (class V strong verb; past tense æt, past participle eten) "to consume food, devour, consume," from Proto-Germanic *etan (cognates: Old Frisian ita, Old Saxon etan, Middle Dutch eten, Dutch eten, Old High German ezzan, German essen, Old Norse eta, Gothic itan), from PIE root *ed- "to eat" (see edible).
Transferred sense of "corrode, wear away, consume, waste" is from 1550s. Meaning "to preoccupy, engross" (as in what's eating you?) first recorded 1893. Slang sexual sense of "do cunnilingus on" is first recorded 1927. The slang phrase eat one's words "retract, take back what one has uttered" is from 1570s; to eat one's heart out is from 1590s; for eat one's hat, see hat. Eat-in (adj.) in reference to kitchens is from 1955. To eat out "dine away from home" is from 1930.
实用例句
1. It makes sense to eat a reasonably balanced diet when slimming.
在减肥过程中保持饮食的营养相对均衡是明智的。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Jovial ladies chivvy you into ordering more than you can eat!
热情的女招待会一再推荐，最后点的餐多到吃不下!
来自柯林斯例句
3. Because you're not burning calories, everything you eat turns to fat.
由于没有消耗卡路里，你吃的所有东西都会变成脂肪。
来自柯林斯例句
4. "What would you like to eat?" — "Anything'll do me, Eva."
“你想吃什么？”——“我吃什么都行，伊娃。”
来自柯林斯例句
5. Try to eat at least four slices of bread a day.
