• n. 細節，詳情
• vt. 詳述；選派
• vi. 畫詳圖

de-, 向下，強調。-tail, 切，詞源同retail, tailor. 即完全切開的，引申義細節。

detail

detail: [17] Etymologically, a detail is a ‘little piece cut off’. It comes from French détail, a derivative of détailler ‘cut up’. This was a compound verb formed from the intensive prefix dé- and tailler ‘cut’ (a relative of English tailor and tally). English acquired the word via the French phrase en détail ‘piece by piece, item by item’, source of the central modern meaning ‘individual item, particular’.
=> tailor, tally

detail (n.)

c. 1600, from French détail, from Old French detail "small piece or quantity," literally "a cutting in pieces," from detaillier "cut in pieces," from de- "entirely" (see de-) + taillier "to cut in pieces" (see tailor).

Modern sense is from French en détail "piece by piece, item by item" (as opposed to en gros), a commercial term used where we would today use retail. Military sense is 1708, from notion of "distribution in detail of the daily orders first given in general," including assignment of specific duties.

detail (v.)

1630s, from French détailler "cut up in pieces; narrate in particulars," from Old French detaillier, from detail (see detail (n.)). Related: Detailed; detailing.

1. No detail was too small to escape her attention.

再小的細節都逃不過她的眼睛。

來自柯林斯例句

2. Though off-puttingly complicated in detail, local taxes are in essence simple.

雖然地稅在細節上復雜得要命，但在本質上卻很簡單。

來自柯林斯例句

3. The painting had been executed with meticulous attention to detail.

畫這幅畫的時候，畫家非常注意細節。

來自柯林斯例句

4. Service was outstandingly friendly and efficient, falling down on only one detail.

服務態度極佳，效率也蠻高，僅在一個小地方不盡人意。

來自柯林斯例句

5. It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. We discussed it in detail beforehand.

這可不是頭腦一熱作出的決定。我們事先仔細地討論過。

來自柯林斯例句