travesty

英 ['tr?v?st?] 美['tr?v?sti]

GRE暢通詞匯

復數:?travesties;

travesty 嘲弄，歪曲

tra-,轉變，-vest,衣服，詞源同 vest,transvestite.字面意思即換衣服，改頭換面，引申詞義偽裝，嘲弄，歪曲等。

travesty: travesty: [17] Travesty and transvestite [20] are first cousins. Both are compounded of the Latin elements trāns- ‘across’ and vestīre ‘clothe’ (source of English vest, vestment, etc), but they are separate formations. Travesty comes ultimately from Italian travestire ‘change clothes so as to disguise’, formed from the Italian descendants of the Latin elements.

This was borrowed into French as travestir ‘ridicule’, and its past participle travesti gave English travesty. Transvestite is a new formation, coined in German in the first decade of the 20th century (although there are a couple of isolated instances of a verb transvest ‘cross-dress’ from the 1650s).
=> invest, transvestite, vest, vestment
travesty (n.): 1670s, "literary burlesque of a serious work," from adjective meaning "dressed so as to be made ridiculous, parodied, burlesqued" (1660s), from French travesti "dressed in disguise," past participle of travestir "to disguise" (1590s), from Italian travestire "to disguise," from Latin trans- "over" (see trans-) + vestire "to clothe" (see wear (v.)).

2. Her research suggests that Smith's reputation today is a travesty of what he really stood for.: 她的研究表明史密斯今天的名聲是對他過去真正主張的一種嘲弄。

3. If he couldn't prepare his case properly, the trial would be a travesty.: 如果他不能好好準備他的訴訟，審判將會成為一場拙劣的鬧劇。

5. If he were convinced executed for this alleged crime it would be a travesty on justice.: 要是他為了人家所說的這件罪行被判處死刑,那是在把法律當作兒戲.