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A trinket is a small ornament or piece of jewellery that is pretty but not worth much money — a cheap ring, a little charm, a painted wooden cat, the sort of thing sold at a night market or brought home from a holiday. Two things are always true of a trinket: it is small, and it costs little.
A trinket小飾品 is a small ornament or piece of jewellery是一種小巧的裝飾品或飾品, that is pretty but not worth much money好看但不值多少錢 — a cheap ring, a little charm, a painted wooden cat像便宜的戒指、小吊飾、彩繪木貓, the sort of thing sold at a night market or brought home from a holiday夜市會賣的、或旅行帶回來的那種東西. Two things兩件事 are always true of a trinket對trinket來說永遠成立: it is small它很小, and it costs little而且很便宜.
Whether that is an insult depends on the speaker. Said , it means a sweet little ; said ('just a trinket'), it means the thing is worthless and someone was foolish to want it — and this second use turns up often in stories, where a king offers trinkets in exchange for something valuable.
Whether that is an insult這算不算貶意 depends on the speaker要看說話的人. Said warmly如果語氣溫暖, it means它指的是 a sweet little keepsake一個可愛的小紀念品; said coldly如果語氣冷淡 ('just a trinket'像「just a trinket」, it means它是指 the thing is worthless and someone was foolish to want it這東西不值錢,想要它的人很傻 — and this second use而這第二種用法 turns up often in stories常常出現在故事裡, where a king offers trinkets in exchange for something valuable像國王用trinkets換取貴重的東西.
The word feels slightly old-fashioned and storybook; a young person in describing what they bought would more likely say 'a little accessory' or just name the thing. You will meet 'trinket' most in novels, museum labels, and fantasy games.
The word這個詞 feels slightly old-fashioned and storybook感覺有點過時、像故事書裡的用語; a young person in Taipei一個台北的年輕人 describing what they bought描述自己買的東西時 would more likely say比較可能會說 'a little accessory' or just name the thing「a little accessory」或直接講東西的名字. You will meet 'trinket' most你最常會在 in novels, museum labels, and fantasy games小說、博物館標籤,和奇幻遊戲裡遇到trinket.
組成Honestly, nobody knows where this word came from. Dictionaries list guesses — an old French word for a piece of jewellery, an old English word for a shoemaker's small knife — but the Oxford English Dictionary says none of them has enough evidence. So the best answer is: origin unknown.
原始詞典資料10 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
trinketnoun詞源 1/ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/
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A small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery.
- That little trinket around her neck must have cost a bundle.
- [H]e's an old man, / A good old man, they ſay too: I dare ſvveare / Full many a yeare ago, he left theſe gambols: / Here, take your trinkets.
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A thing of little practical and/or monetary value; a toy, a trifle.
- It’s only a little trinket, but it reminds her of him.
- There is no art about the Eiffel Tower. In no way can it be said to have contributed to the real beauty of the Exhibition. Men flocked to see it and ascended it as it was a novelty and of unique dimensions. It was the toy of the Exhibition. So long as we are children we are attracted by toys, and the Tower was a good demonstration of the fact that we are all children attracted by trinkets. That may be claimed to be the purpose served by the Eiffel Tower.
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obsoleteA small item of food; a small dainty.
- [L]et Tim send the ale and the sack, and the nipperkin of double-distilled, with a bit of diet-loaf, or some such trinket, and score it to the new comer.
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obsoleteA small item forming part of a set of equipment; an accessory, an accoutrement.
- Good huſbandes that laye, to ſaue all thing vpright: / for Tumbrels and cartes, haue a ſhed redy dight. / A ſtore houſe for trinkets, kept cloſe as a iayle: / that nothing be wanting, the worthe of a nayle.
- [T]he poorer ſort of common ſouldiers haue euery man his leather bag or ſachell well ſowen together, wherin he packs vp all his trinkets, and ſtrongly truſſing it vp hangs it at his horſes tayle, and ſo paſſeth ouer, in manner aforeſaid.
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derogatoryobsoletelifestylereligionAn item used in a religious rite (also, a religious rite, belief, etc.) regarded as superfluous or trivial.
- [T]he ſame teachers with Chriſts doctrine mingled Jewiſhnes and ſuperſticious Philoſophie, obſeruing and keping certain poyntes of the lawe, ſuperſticiously alſo honouring the Sunne, the Moone, and ſtarres, with ſuch other trinkettes of this world, hearing the Coloſſiãs [Colossians] in hand that thei were alſo bound to do the ſame.
- The Duke of Somerſet vvas religious himſelf, a lover of all ſuch as vvere ſo, and a great Promoter of Reformation. Valiant, fortunate, vvitneſſe his victory in Muſleborrough field, vvhen the Scots filled many carts vvith emptineſſe, and loaded them vvith vvhat vvas lighter than vanity it ſelf, Popiſh Images, and other Trinkets, vvherein they placed the confidence of their Conqueſt.
trinketverb詞源 1/ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/
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rareOften followed by out: to adorn (someone or something) with trinkets (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1).
- Oh! those were good Dame Nature’s times! / How memories sweet o’er-swarm us, / Ere wasp-like forms were girt around / With ‘bustles’ so enormous; / When modest arms were never bared / And trinketed for show, / Nor ever left their hiding-place, / Save to be hid in dough!
- The Girls for sale are apparelled in a sumptuous manner, bathed, perfumed, and trinketed out for their [rich persons'] Private View; and their Captors seek to render 'em docile by giving 'em plenty of Sweetmeats. As if the intolerable pangs of Slavery were to be allayed by Lollipops!
trinketnoun詞源 2/ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/
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A narrow or small watercourse.
- It must have been about the same moment that a smack drew through the fine mist in the Firth [of Forth], and, sailing up the trinket, landed Provost Trail on the east pier-head.
trinketnoun詞源 3/ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/
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obsoletedialectalA small vessel for drinking from; a cup, a mug, a porringer.
- Mrs. Bargrave asked her, vvhether ſhe vvould not drink ſome Tea. Says Mrs. Veal, I do not care if I do: But I'le VVarrant this Mad Fellovv (meaning Mrs. Bargraves Husband,) has broke all your Trinckets.
trinketnoun詞源 4/ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/
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obsoletenauticaltransportA small sail, specifically, a three-cornered sail formerly carried on a ship's foremast, probably on a lateen yard.
- [H]ee ſet up the trinkets or ſmall ſailes, meaning to make vvay into the deepe, commanding them that follovved ſtill, to make head, and direct their provvs againſt the right vving neere the land.
- And the farther we went, the more the winds increaſed, ſo that they put vs to great diſtreſſe, ſayling alwayes with the ſheates of maineſaile and trinket warily in our hands, and with great diligence we looſed the ties of all the ſailes, to ſaue them the better, that the wind might not charge them too vehemently.
trinketverb詞源 5/ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/
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obsoleteTo act in a secret, and often dishonest, way; to have secret, and often dishonest, dealings; to intrigue, to scheme.
- And if any one aſkes me, hovv? and if I be of their Cabinet Council? I ſhall onely ſmile, perceiving they doe not knovv me. I am far from that, or having ever to doe vvith Kings or States in that kind, or pragmatically trinketing vvith State affaires, it being a Rule vvhich I live by, never to aſke great men mercy.
- [T]he Pharisees were men of business, and that in a very eminent manner, as appears by their behaviour both in the court of Queen [Salome] Alexandra, and afterwards in the court of Herod [the Great]; where by their tricks and trinketing between party and party, and their intriguing it with courtiers and court-ladies, they had upon the matter set the whole court together by the ears; […]
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。