answer的词源
英文词源
- answer
- answer: [OE] Etymologically, the word answer contains the notion of making a sworn statement rebutting a charge. It comes from a prehistoric West and North Germanic compound *andswarō; the first element of this was the prefix *and- ‘against’, related to German ent- ‘away, un-’ and to Greek anti-, source of English anti-; and the second element came from the same source as English swear.
In Old English, the Germanic compound became andswaru (noun) and andswarian (verb) ‘reply’, which by the 14th century had been reduced to answer. The synonymous respond has a similar semantic history: Latin respondēre meant ‘make a solemn promise in return’, hence ‘reply’. And, as another element in the jigsaw, Swedish ansvar means ‘responsibility’ – a sense echoed by English answerable.
=> swear - answer (n.)
- Old English andswaru "an answer, a reply," from and- "against" (see ante) + -swaru "affirmation," from swerian "to swear" (see swear), suggesting an original sense of "make a sworn statement rebutting a charge." A common Germanic compound (cognates: Old Saxon antswor, Old Norse andsvar, Old Frisian ondser, Danish and Swedish ansvar), implying a Proto-Germanic *andswara-. Meaning "a reply to a question," the main modern sense, was present in Old English. Meaning "solution of a problem" is from c. 1300.
- answer (v.)
- Old English answarian "to answer;" see answer (n.). Meaning "to respond in antiphony" is from early 15c.; that of "to be responsible for" is early 13c. Related: Answered; answering. The telephone answering machine is from 1961.
中文词源
在古代西方的法庭上，宣誓扮演着重要的角色。证人作证、原告被告的申辩都要进行宣誓。在现代西方法庭上我们依然还能看到证人在作证之前都要象征性地宣誓。英语单词answer的来源就跟这种宣誓行为有关。单词answer中的an与词根anti（对于、against）有关，swer与单词swear（宣誓）有关。所以，它的字面意思就是“经过宣誓对指控做出答辩”。它本是一个严肃的法律术语，但在长期的使用过程中，逐渐丧失其法律含义，变成了“答复、回答”等含义。
answer：['ɑːnsə] v.回答n.回答，答案，答辩。记：an（anti）+swer（swear）
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：answer 词源，answer 含义。
前缀anti-, 相对。词根swer, 发誓，见swear. 原指法律用语，发誓没干过某坏事，指控不实。后词义转化为回复，答复。
ant 蚂蚁
词源略。
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Answer 答案 回答
在当代英语中，answer是个非常普通的词，意义比较温和，表示“答复”，“回答”等，但在古时却是个极为严肃的词。它在古英语原作andswaru,由and-“against”加swerian“swear”构成,含有“（经宣誓）对指控作出答辩”之义。此义仍残留于answer to the charge这一短语中，而其词形是直到14世纪才逐渐演变为answer的。
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answer：回答，回复；满足，适应；符合，与
来源于史前日耳曼语,由两部分组成,第一部分是前缀*and-(靠着,迎着),第二部分和英语的swear(发誓,保证)同源。
词根词缀： an-靠着,迎着 + swer发誓,保证
