ground: [OE] Ground is part of a widespread family of Germanic words, which include also German, Swedish, and Danish grund and Dutch grond. A common meaning element of all these is ‘bottom’, particularly of the sea (preserved in English ‘run aground’), and it seems that their prehistoric Germanic ancestor *grunduz may originally have denoted something like ‘deep place’.
ground (v.)
mid-13c., "to put on the ground, to strike down to the ground;" late 14c., "lay the foundation of," also, figuratively, "to base" (an argument, sermon, etc.), from ground (n.). Meaning "instruct thoroughly in the basics" is from late 14c. Of ships, "to run into the ground," from mid-15c. (intransitive), transitive sense from 1650s. Of arms, from 1711. Electrical sense from 1881. Meaning "deny privileges" is 1940s, originally a punishment meted out to pilots (in which sense it is attested from 1930). In the sense "establish firmly" Old English had grundweallian, grundstaðelian; also gryndan "descend," gegryndan "to found."
ground (n.)
Old English grund "bottom; foundation; surface of the earth," also "abyss, Hell," and "bottom of the sea" (a sense preserved in run aground), from Proto-Germanic *grundus, which seems to have meant "deep place" (cognates: Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish grund, Dutch grond, Old High German grunt, German Grund "ground, soil, bottom;" Old Norse grunn "a shallow place," grund "field, plain," grunnr "bottom"). No known cognates outside Germanic.
Sense of "reason, motive" first attested c. 1200. Meaning "source, origin, cause" is from c. 1400. Electrical sense "connection with the earth" is from 1870 (in telegraphy). Meaning "place where one takes position" is from 1610s; hence stand (one's) ground (1707). To run to ground in fox-hunting is from 1779. Ground rule (1890) originally was a rule designed for a specific playing field (ground or grounds in this sense attested by 1718); by 1953 it had come to mean "a basic rule."
ground (adj.)
"reduced to fine particles by grinding," 1765, past participle adjective from grind (v.).
实用例句
1. They found a labyrinth of tunnels under the ground.
他们发现了一处迷宫似的地道。
来自柯林斯例句
2. A violent explosion seemed to jolt the whole ground.
剧烈的爆炸好像要把整个地面都掀起来。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The armed forces have launched offensives to recapture lost ground.
这支武装部队已发动进攻要夺回失去的阵地。
来自柯林斯例句
4. On her own ground she knows exactly what she's doing.
她在自己熟悉的领域里对自己的行为有十足的把握。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.
