核心畫面

You can think of a debt being settled and the slate wiped clean, so that a person can walk away with nothing left hanging over them. In court the debt is a charge, and wiping it clean means the person is free. Turn the same idea on yourself and it becomes the part you owed on the day: you gave it, and you can walk away from it too.

可以想成一筆帳被結清,紀錄擦乾淨,人身上不再掛著任何東西,可以走了。在法庭上,那筆帳就是一項指控,擦乾淨代表人自由了更多收起可以想成一筆帳被結清,紀錄擦乾淨,人身上不再掛著任何東西,可以走了。在法庭上,那筆帳就是一項指控,擦乾淨代表人自由了。把同一個想法轉向自己,就變成「你今天該交出的那一份」:你交了,所以你也可以抬頭走開。

From the word’s history

The source traces acquit to Old French aquiter and Medieval Latin acquitāre 'to settle a debt', from ad- 'to' plus quitare 'to free' — a doublet of quit. Settling and freeing sit inside the word from the start.

來源資料說 acquit 來自古法文 aquiter 和中世紀拉丁文 acquitāre(把債務結清),由 ad-(朝向)加 quitare(使自由)組成,跟 quit 同源。「結清」和「放開」這兩件事,從一開始就在這個字裡面。

Wiktionary entry for acquit, etymology: Middle English aquī̆ten, Old French aquiter, Medieval Latin acquitāre (“to settle a debt”), from ad- + quitare (“to free”); doublet of acquiet, related to quit. (packet ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:527864149:51832)

From the picture

把自己該交的那一份交出去

同樣是「把該負的交代完」,只是這次要交代的是自己在場上的表現。來源資料裡 acquit 也有「把債結清、把責任履行完」的舊意思,這一層就沿著那條線長出來。

verb · C1

If you acquit yourself well or honourably, you do something difficult well, especially something you are doing for the first time while other people are watching.

表現得宜、表現出色

Also in this word

verb · C1

If a court or a jury acquits someone, it decides at the end of a trial that the person is not guilty of the crime they were charged with.

判…無罪