stinging plant, Old English netele, from Proto-Germanic *natilon (cognates: Old Saxon netila, Middle Dutch netele, Dutch netel, German Nessel, M.Da. n?dl? "nettle"), diminutive of *naton, perhaps from PIE root *ned- "to twist, knot" (see net (n.)). "[N]ettles or plants of closely related genera such as hemp were used as a source of fiber" [Watkins].
nettle (v.)
c. 1400, "to beat with nettles," from nettle (n.). Figurative sense of "irritate, provoke" is from 1560s. Related: Nettled; nettling.
Nettled. Teized, provoked, out of temper. He or she has pissed on a nettle; said of one who is pevish or out of temper. [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785]
例文
1. The stinging nettle has a square stem and little hairs.
イラクサには四角い茎と細い茸の毛が生えている。
2. Nettle grows plentifully on any rich waste ground.
イラクサは肥沃な荒れ地でも茂ることができます。
3.Falsehood like a nettle stings those who medddle with it.
嘘はじんましんのようで、いじると手が刺さる。
4.They are all heroes grasping the nettle .
彼らはいずれも困難な危機に立ち向かう英雄だ。
5.And that is what Mr Pollet and Dr Nettle have done.