被事物包圍:空間上的置身其中
這是核心畫面本身:東西實實在在圍在四周。
among, surrounded by · preposition · C1
Among things, or with them all around you — a word used more in stories and poems than in everyday talk.
置身…之中
One way to picture it: you are standing in the middle of a crowd — things are not beside you or behind you, they are all around you on every side, and you are inside that mass rather than looking at it from outside.
Old English on middan — literally 'on the middle' — a- (on) plus mid (middle); the modern word still carries that 'in the middle of, surrounded' picture.
這個字拆開來就是 a-(on,在…上)+ mid(middle,中間),古英語 on middan 字面就是「在中間」。所以現代 amid 一路帶著「在正中央、被圍住」的畫面,並不是後來才有的比喻——它從一開始講的就是位置上的「在…當中」。
Middle English amidde, Old English on middan (a- + mid), as given in the entry's attested origin note.
Two branches
被事物包圍:空間上的置身其中
這是核心畫面本身:東西實實在在圍在四周。
among, surrounded by · preposition · C1
Among things, or with them all around you — a word used more in stories and poems than in everyday talk.
置身…之中
被情況包圍:事情正在鬧的時候
把四周圍著你的東西,從樹木人群換成「正在發生的事」:抗議、傳言、混亂。你人沒有被實體圍住,但那些事件就像人群一樣把這件事包在中間,成為它發生的背景。
during (busy events) · preposition · C1
Used in writing and news reports to say something happens while busy, noisy, or confusing events are going on around it.
在…之中
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
amidprep詞源 1/əˈmɪd/
In the middle of; in the center of; surrounded by.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形:
資料來源:英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary(CC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。