Mysteries of vernacular: Bewilder - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

字源探秘：Bewilder - Jessica Oreck 與 Rachael Teel

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

譯者: XIN YUE 審譯者: Bighead Ge

Mysteries of vernacular:

字源探秘：

Bewilder, to confuse or puzzle completely.

Bewilder，是指使人困惑，或意指使人極度度迷惑

The root of the word bewilder

Bewilder 的字根

can be traced back to the Old English word wilde,

可以追溯到古英語單詞 wilde

which was used to refer to something

它曾用於來指

that was in a natural state,

某事物在原始天然的狀態

uncultivated,

未開化

or undomesticated.

或未馴化之物

Over time, the word wild was often linked

隨著時間推移，Wild 一詞常常與

to the Old English word deor.

古英語 Deor 聯繫在一塊兒

Deor, which was derived

Deor 這個詞是從早期

from an early Indo-European root

印歐詞根衍生來的

that meant breathe,

它意指呼吸

was initially used to describe

最初是用來描述

any untamed animal or beast.

野性難馴的動物或獸類

This eventually morphed into the modern word deer,

最終它演變為現代單詞 Deer

meaning a ruminant of the family Cervidae.

意指鹿科反芻動物

The two Old English words,

當這兩個古英語單詞

when mashed together,

揉和在一起時

became wilderness,

就成了 Wilderness

meaning a tract of uncultivated land,

意指一大片未開墾的土地

primarily inhabited by undomesticated beasts.

未馴化的野獸賴以生存的地方

From the word wilderness,

先有了 Wilderness

the word wilder was born.

就有了後來的 Wilder

To wilder someone was to lead him astray

Wilder 這動詞意指引人步入歧途

or lure him into the woods.

或「引誘他到樹林裡」

In the 1600's, the prefix be,

在十七世紀 ，前綴 be

meaning thoroughly,

的意思是徹底完全地

was compounded with wilder

它和 Wilder 被合在一塊兒

as a way of tacking on a little extra punch.

作為一種些微強調之意

Someone who was bewildered

如果說某人是 Bewildered

was thoroughly lost in the wild.

意指這人在野外完全迷失方向了

From this winding background,

從這迂迴的背景中

bewilder eventually evolved into our current definition,

Bewilder 最終演變為我們的當前定義：

to be completely confused.

即「極為困惑，徹底迷惘」之意