1650s, "cold, icy," from French glacial or directly from Latin glacialis "icy, frozen, full of ice," from glacies "ice," probably from a suffixed form of PIE root *gel- (2) "cold, to freeze" (cognates: Latin gelu "frost;" see cold (adj.)). Geological sense "pertaining to glaciers" apparently was coined in 1846 by British naturalist Edward Forbes (1815-1854). Hence figurative sense "at an extremely slow rate," as of the advance of glaciers. Related: Glacially.
双语例句
1. The Duchess's glare was glacial.
公爵夫人冷漠地看着。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Her glacial beauty is magnetic.
她冷若冰霜的美令人倾倒。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Change occurs at a glacial pace.
变化极其缓慢。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Her expression was glacial.
她表情冷淡。
来自《权威词典》
5. Two main glacial epochs affected both areas during the last 100 million years of Precambrian times.
