- sift (v.)
[sift 词源字典]
- Old English siftan "pass (something) through a sieve," from Proto-Germanic *sib- (cognates: Dutch ziften, Middle Low German sichten, German sichten "to sift;" see sieve (n.)). Intransitive sense "to pass loosely or fall scatteredly" is from 1590s. Metaphoric sense of "look carefully through" first recorded 1530s. Related: Sifted; sifting. [sift etymology, sift origin, 英语词源]