【每日一詞】Meterology

Why is it that meteorology is the study of weather instead of the study of meteors? The study of meteors is called 「meteoritics」 and fits in under astronomy which includes the study of lots of other things astronomical. The root of the word 「meteorology」 goes back to ancient Greek where meteoros meant 「raised」 or 「lofty.」 The still famous Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote all about it in a piece he actually called something along the lines of 「meteorology.」 He didn』t exactly mean weather, but he did bring his understanding of weather into it. He talked about winds under the earth causing earthquakes and tied the winds above the earth into all kinds of phenomena including—correctly—how water evaporates from the sea to come down as rain. He thought that not only thunder and lightning were products of this meteorology, but so were meteors and the milky way.

2In fact, the first of this pair words 「meteor」 and 「meteorology」 to come into English was 「meteor」 around 1500. And when it did, it didn』t mean a shooting star, but the study of weather—what meteorology means now. It took about a hundred years before the two words sorted themselves out and established the meanings we recognize for them today. When I talked about the word 「storm」 I touched on the sometimes conflicting superstitions that people used to have. The same applies to meteors or shooting stars.Of course the birth of Christ was supposed to have been advertised by a shooting star and according to the Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions the idea that you could wish upon a shooting star is recorded back in the early 1800s. Even though Shakespeare in Richard the Second says that shooting stars denote the death of kings, as early as 2000 years ago the Roman Pliny the Elder was debunking the belief that they portend any death at all.

為什麼meteorology這個詞是指氣象學而不是指流星學呢，而研究流星的學科被稱為」meteoritics」（流星學）？天文學主要研究一系列的天文現象。流星學便是天文學的其中一個分支。Meteorology（氣象學）一詞的詞根「meteoros」要追溯到古希臘時期。那時meteoros指「升高的，高起的」或者「高聳的，極高的。」久負盛名的古希臘哲學家亞里士多德在署名為「meteorology」的一文中大談此詞。雖然他並未指明為天氣，但是字裡行間確有他對天氣的理解。他談到了地表以下的風造成地震，並將地表以上的風運動和各種現象聯繫起來，包括：海洋水分蒸發，然後以雨水的形式回到地面。他認為「meteorology」不僅僅包括雷和閃電，還應該包括流星和銀河。

事實上，大約在1500年，「meteor」這個詞首先在英語中出現，而「meteorology」仍未出現。當時，它並不是指流星，而是指氣象研究，也就是現在「meteorology」的意思。這兩個詞經過100時間，才被區分開來，有了今天我們所知道的兩個意思。當我談到「storm」（暴風雨）一詞時，有時恰恰是我在談論人們從前的迷信觀念。同樣，隕石或者流星也會有相同的境遇。當然，耶穌誕生也曾被認為應該用流星來形容。根據《牛津迷信詞典》，向流星許願的起源可以追溯到19世紀。對於流星的寓義，各家都有自家之言。莎士比亞在《理查德二世》中提到流星預示著國王的死亡；而早在2000年以前，古羅馬學者老普林尼卻揭露流星根本不預示著死亡。

（文章來自「譯言網」，譯者moonstruck）

請您繼續閱讀更多來自 翻譯教學與研究 的精彩文章:

TAG:翻譯教學與研究 |

※【每日一詞】promising
※每日一詞-Designer
※【每日一詞】upscale
※名師每日教你記一詞——?deliberate
※LHC中的強子一詞究竟是hadron還是hardon？
※韋氏詞典收錄 Sheeple 一詞 蘋果用戶全是 Sheeple
※Eminem 經典作品《Stan》中的「Stan」一詞被編入牛津詞典
※傻傻分不清：LHC中的強子一詞究竟是hadron還是hardon？
※名師教你秒殺每日一詞——squeeze
※我的腦容量最多可以一天學一詞：Impromptu
※Virgil 和 Nike 聯手，引發 KIKS 編輯各執一詞，你最喜歡哪雙？
※Hip-hop歌手Iron因施暴＆威脅被起訴，雙方卻各執一詞……
※關於最好的100雙Air Force 1,我們的成員各執一詞「你說你有理」
※「時尚」一詞已是這個世界的潮流代言詞，英文為fashion
※女真（諸申Juxen）一詞的多重含義
※尼赫魯談印度教：為什麼 Hindu 一詞是種誤讀？
※《命運2》中將不會有「THE DARKNESS」一詞
※Rome一詞能構成哪些實用的交際用語？
※NBA每日一詞之Day3：小牛拒絕諾維茨基！庫班與司機又搞啥