- inflexible (adj.)
[inflexible 词源字典] - late 14c., "incapable of being bent, physically rigid," also figuratively, "unbending in temper or purpose," from Middle French inflexible and directly from Latin inflexibilis, from inflexus, past participle of inflectere (see inflect). In early 15c. an identical word had an opposite sense, "capable of being swayed or moved," from in- "in, on." Related: Inflexibly.[inflexible etymology, inflexible origin, 英语词源]
- unbend (v.)
- mid-13c., "relax a bow by unstringing it," from un- (2) "reverse, opposite of" + bend (v.). Intransitive sense from 1746. Figurative meaning "to become genial, relax" (1748) has a sense opposite to that of unbending "inflexible, obstinate" (1680s), which does not derive from the bow-stringing image.
