size: [13] The etymological notion underlying size is of ‘settling’ something, of fixing an amount. The word is a curtailed version of assize, which went back ultimately to Latin assidēre, literally ‘sit beside someone’. By the time it reached English, via Old French, it had acquired connotations of ‘sitting down to make a judgment on something’, such as a law case (hence the meaning of English assize).
Other matters decided on in this way included the standardization of amounts (of taxes, for example, or food), and this led to the word size being used for ‘dimension’. Size ‘gum’ [15] may be the same word, but the nature of the relationship between the two is unclear. => assize, sit
size (n.)
c. 1300, "an ordinance to fix the amount of a payment or tax," from Old French sise, shortened form of assise "session, assessment, regulation, manner" (see assize), probably a misdivision of l'assise as la sise. The sense of "extent, amount, volume, magnitude" (c. 1300) is from the notion of regulating something by fixing the amount of it (weights, food portions, etc.). Specific sense of "set of dimensions of a manufactured article for sale" is attested from 1590s.
size (v.)
c. 1400, "to regulate," from size (n.). Meaning "to make of a certain size" is from c. 1600; that of "to classify according to size" is first attested 1630s. Verbal phrase size up "estimate, assess" is from 1847 and retains the root sense of size (n.). Related: Sized; sizing.
实用例句
1. Each brick also varies slightly in tone, texture and size.
每块砖在色调、质地与大小上也都略有不同。
来自柯林斯例句
2. In 1970 the average size of a French farm was 19 hectares.
1970年，法国农场的平均规模为19公顷。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Use your mouse to drag the pictures to their new size.
用鼠标拖动图片，将其调整为新的尺寸。
来自柯林斯例句
4. An artist sculpted a full-size replica of her head.
一位艺术家按实际大小雕刻了一个她的头部模型。
来自柯林斯例句
5. He suggested a link between class size and test results of seven-year-olds.
