摸得到的一小綹
這一支就是原始畫面本身：從一堆細絲裡鬆出來的一小綹，看得見也拿得起來。
noun · C1
A wisp of hair, grass, hay etc. is a thin piece of it that has come away from the rest, so that you see it on its own.
一縷；一小撮
核心畫面
Start with a handful of hay. Pull at it and one thin strand comes away, small enough to sit on your sleeve without falling off. That loose thin strand is a wisp. English then keeps the shape and changes the material: the same thin, small, separated line made of smoke, of steam, of mist. And once the shape can be made of smoke, it can also move — smoke wisping from a chimney is that same thin line, drawn upward.
可以先想成一把乾草。你一拉，鬆出細細的一綹，小到黏在袖子上也不會掉。那一綹就是 wisp。接下來英文把形狀留著，換掉…更多收起
可以先想成一把乾草。你一拉，鬆出細細的一綹，小到黏在袖子上也不會掉。那一綹就是 wisp。接下來英文把形狀留著，換掉材料：一樣細、一樣少、一樣是跟本體分開的一條，只是改成煙、蒸氣、霧做的。形狀一旦可以用煙做，它就會動了——煙從煙囪裊裊升上去，畫的還是同一條線。From the word’s history
The source entry traces wisp to Middle English wispe, with Dutch wisp and Scandinavian visp meaning a bundle or handful of hay or straw.
來源資料把 wisp 追到中古英文 wispe，並指出荷蘭文 wisp、北歐的 visp 都指「一把乾草」。這條線索正好對上核心畫面：這個字最早講的是手裡抓得起來的一小把草，今天的「一縷頭髮」「一縷煙」都還留著那個大小和鬆散感。
Wiktionary extract supplied in packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:626726277:18875)
Two branches
飄在空中的一縷
形狀不變，材料換成抓不住的東西；因為煙和霧本來就在動，這一支也長出了動詞用法。
noun · C1
A wisp of smoke, cloud, mist or steam is a small thin line of it, usually one that rises or drifts upwards.
一縷（煙、雲、霧）