每日单词：serenity

serenity

英 [sə'renəti] 美 [sə'renəti]

n.宁静；沉着

◉词源

“Serenity”源自拉丁语“serenitas”，意为“平静、清朗”，由“serenus”（平静、晴朗）衍生。15世纪进入英语，最初指天气的晴朗或平静，后引申为内心或环境的宁静、平和，常用于描述安宁的状态。

◉外刊例句

·《The New Yorker》 (2025年6月10日)

The lake’s serenity calmed her nerves.

湖面的宁静安抚了她的紧张情绪。

·《The Guardian》 (2024年11月15日)

He spoke with a serenity that inspired trust.

他以一种令人信服的平静语气说话。

◉经典名著

·《简·爱》（Jane Eyre） by Charlotte Brontë (1847)

Her serenity softened his anger.

她的平静缓和了他的愤怒。

·《瓦尔登湖》（Walden） by Henry David Thoreau (1854)

The forest’s serenity restored my soul.

森林的宁静修复了我的灵魂。

◉Usage Examples

(1) They did not know which was most worthy of admiration, his pallor or his serenity.

(2) I enjoyed the serenity and the peacefulness when I was in the church.

(1) 我们不知道究竟哪一样最使人肃然起敬，是他面色的惨白呢，还是他神宇的宁静。

(2) 当我身处大教堂时赶到平和与宁静。

◉Usage Notes

The goal of meditation is to reach a state of serenity, when your mind is still and perfectly calm. Use serenity to mean the quality or state of being calm and peaceful.

It is hard to believe that the ocean, whipped by winds during a storm, can ever return to a state of serenity, where its surface looks like glass. Serenity is from Latin serenus "calm, peaceful" plus the suffix -itas. The first part of the word is the English adjective serene, which means calm and peaceful. The Latin suffix corresponds to our English suffix -ity and has the meaning "quality or state."