deaf: [OE] Ultimately, deaf and dumb come from the same source, and moreover they are related to a Greek word for ‘blind’. The common denominator ‘sensory or mental impairment’ goes back to an Indo-European base *dheubh-, which denoted ‘confusion, stupefaction, dizziness’. It produced Greek tuphlós ‘blind’; English dumb; and a prehistoric Germanic adjective *daubaz ‘dull, stupefied, slow’.
Many of the modern descendants of *daubaz retain this general sense – Danish doven means ‘lazy’ – but English has specialized it to ‘dull in hearing’. Duffer may ultimately be derived from Old Norse daufr ‘deaf’ in which the sense ‘dull, stupid’ is preserved. => duffer, dumb
deaf (adj.)
Old English deaf "deaf," also "empty, barren," specialized from Proto-Germanic *daubaz (cognates: Old Saxon dof, Old Norse daufr, Old Frisian daf, Dutch doof "deaf," German taub, Gothic daufs "deaf, insensate"), from PIE dheubh-, which was used to form words meaning "confusion, stupefaction, dizziness" (cognates: Greek typhlos "blind," typhein "to make smoke;" Old English dumb "unable to speak;" Old High German tumb).
The word was pronounced to rhyme with reef until 18c. Deaf-mute is from 1837, after French sourd-muet. Deaf-mutes were sought after in 18c.-19c. Britain as fortune-tellers. Deaf as an adder (Old English) is from Psalms lviii:5.
中文解释
deaf...........呆 夫（发呆，没听见）....聋的;装聋的
实用例句
1. I hope that our appeals will not fall on deaf ears.
我希望我们的呼吁不会没人理睬。来自柯林斯例句
2. He has turned a resolutely deaf ear to American demands for action.
他对美国提出的行动要求完全不理不睬。来自柯林斯例句
3. I'm quite deaf — you'll have to speak up.
我耳背——你得大声说。来自柯林斯例句
4. The provincial assembly were deaf to all pleas for financial help.
省议会对所有的经济救助请求都充耳不闻。来自柯林斯例句
5. Many deaf people have feelings of isolation and loneliness.
