bivouac: [18] Bivouac appears to be of Swiss- German origin. The early 19th-century writer Stalder noted that the term beiwacht (bei ‘a(chǎn)dditional’ + wacht ‘guard’ – a relative of English watch and wake) was used in Aargau and Zürich for a sort of band of vigilantes who assisted the regular town guard. Beiwacht was borrowed into French as bivac, and came to English in a later form bivouac.
Its original application in English was to an army remaining on the alert during the night, to guard against surprise attack; in so doing, of course, the soldiers did not go to sleep in their tents, and from this the term bivouac spread to ‘improvised, temporary camp’, without the luxury of regular tents. => wake, watch
bivouac (n.)
1702, from French bivouac (17c.), ultimately from Swiss/Alsatian biwacht "night guard," from bei- "double, additional" + wacht "guard" (see wait (v.)). Original meaning was an army that stayed up on night watch; sense of "outdoor camp" is 1853. Not a common word in English before the Napoleonic Wars. Italian bivacco is from French. As a verb, 1809, "to post troops in the night;" meaning "camp out of doors" is from 1814.
雙語例句
1. The company was supposed to bivouac overnight and then return to the post the next day.
預(yù)期這個連當天在野外露營,次日返回駐地.
來自辭典例句
2. While in bivouac, we spent the night in our sleeping bags under the stars.
在臨時宿營地, 我們就頭頂星星,躺在睡袋里過夜.
來自辭典例句
3. In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life.
在這人生的宿營地, 在這遼闊的世界戰(zhàn)場.
來自互聯(lián)網(wǎng)
4. There is a semi - circular bivouac tent on the grass.