underling

簡明英漢詞典

underling

[5QndEliN]

n.

部下, 下僚, 下屬, 走卒

美國傳統(tǒng)詞典[雙解]

underling

un.der.ling

AHD:[?n“d…r-l1ng]

D.J.[6(nd*li0]

K.K.[6(nd+l!0]

n.（名詞）

One of lesser rank or authority than another; a subordinate.

下屬，屬下：等級(jí)或權(quán)力小于他者的人；下屬

注釋

People trying to build their vocabulary often study affixes, a not unreasonable way to proceed. But studying a group of words that share an affix can be fascinating in its own right in the way that studying common features in a photograph of an extended family can be fascinating. The suffix -ling is Germanic in origin and had several uses already in Old English. For example, it could be added to a noun to make a second noun that referred to something connected with or similar to the first noun; thus, adding the suffix to the Old English word yrth, “ploughland,” produced the Old English word yrthling, “plowman.” The suffix could also be added to an adjective to make a noun that referred to something having the quality denoted by the adjective: from Old English d?, “dear, beloved,” was derived d?g (Modern English darling ). Adding -ling to an adverb produced a noun referring to something having the position or condition denoted by the adverb: from Old English under came underling. The last use of the -ling family to be described here was actually borrowed from another Germanic source, Old Norse. The Old Norse version of the -ling suffix was used to form diminutives; thus, our word gosling was a borrowing in Middle English of an Old Norse word, g?slingr, “gosling.”

想要擴(kuò)大詞匯量的人常常去研究詞綴，這不失為一種明智的方式。就象研究一個(gè)擴(kuò)大了的家庭的照片中家人的共同特征一樣吸引人，研究一組詞綴相同的單詞本身可能也會(huì)令人意醉神迷。-ling 這一后綴源于日耳曼語， 在中古英語中便已有已幾種用法。例如，它可以和一個(gè)名詞相連形成另一個(gè)與之關(guān)聯(lián)或相似的名詞；這樣，把這個(gè)后綴加到古英語單詞yrth “耕地”后邊便形成了另一古英語單詞 yrthling “農(nóng)夫”。 這個(gè)后綴還可以加在一個(gè)形容詞后邊形成具有該形容詞所示特征的名詞：從古英語單詞deore, “親愛的，被愛的”中派生出 deorling （現(xiàn)代英語中的 darling )。 把-ling 加在一副詞后邊可以產(chǎn)生具有該副詞所示情況或狀態(tài)的名詞： 從中古英語的under 形成 underling 。 這里所要描述的-ling 家族的最后一個(gè)用法事實(shí)上是來源于另一支日耳曼語言，古挪威語。 在古挪威語中-ling 這一后綴被用作小后綴； 這樣，我們的單詞gosling 便是中世紀(jì)英語中的一個(gè)外來詞，來源于古挪威語單詞 goeslingr, “小鵝”

現(xiàn)代英漢詞典

underling

[5QndElIN]

n.

手下，下屬

現(xiàn)代英漢綜合大辭典

underling

[5QndEliN]

n.

[蔑]下手, 下屬, 地[職]位低的人

美國傳統(tǒng)詞典

underling

un.der.ling

AHD:[?n“d…r-l1ng]

D.J.[6(nd*li0]

K.K.[6(nd+l!0]

n.

One of lesser rank or authority than another; a subordinate.

注釋

People trying to build their vocabulary often study affixes, a not unreasonable way to proceed. But studying a group of words that share an affix can be fascinating in its own right in the way that studying common features in a photograph of an extended family can be fascinating. The suffix -ling is Germanic in origin and had several uses already in Old English. For example, it could be added to a noun to make a second noun that referred to something connected with or similar to the first noun; thus, adding the suffix to the Old English word yrth, “ploughland,” produced the Old English word yrthling, “plowman.” The suffix could also be added to an adjective to make a noun that referred to something having the quality denoted by the adjective: from Old English d?, “dear, beloved,” was derived d?g (Modern English darling ). Adding -ling to an adverb produced a noun referring to something having the position or condition denoted by the adverb: from Old English under came underling. The last use of the -ling family to be described here was actually borrowed from another Germanic source, Old Norse. The Old Norse version of the -ling suffix was used to form diminutives; thus, our word gosling was a borrowing in Middle English of an Old Norse word, g?slingr, “gosling.”