把人釘到位子上
同一個「釘住」的動作換了對象：不是把一件事釘在某個時間，而是把某個人釘到某個位子上。敲定之後同樣是雙方都算數，只是這次留下來的不是一格時間，而是一個職位。
act of choosing someone · noun · A2
The act of choosing someone for a job or an official position.
任命 / 委任
核心畫面
Picture two people with an open diary, moving a finger down the page until it stops: Thursday, three o'clock. Something loose has just been fixed to one exact point, and now both sides are held to it. Appointment can be thought of as that moment of pinning down — most often a time, but the same act of pinning down works on a person too: this person, this post.
可以想成兩個人翻著行事曆，手指往下滑，停住：星期四，三點。本來浮著的事情，這下被釘在一個確切的點上，雙方都照這個點走…更多收起
可以想成兩個人翻著行事曆，手指往下滑，停住：星期四，三點。本來浮著的事情，這下被釘在一個確切的點上，雙方都照這個點走。appointment 可以想成就是那個「釘住」的動作——最常釘的是時間，但同樣的動作也可以釘在人身上：就這個人，就這個位子。From the word’s history
Appoint came from Old French apointier, from the phrase a point, 'to the point' — the original idea being to bring a matter to a point, that is, to settle it. English first used it in the late 14th century for deciding and arranging the time of a meeting, and from the early 15th century for assigning someone to a post. The two modern meanings are the same act of settling something to a point, once applied to a time and once to a person.
appoint 來自古法文 apointier，源頭是片語 a point「到那個點上」，原本的想法是把一件事「談到一個定點」，也就是敲定。英文從十四世紀晚期用它指決定、敲定見面的時間，十五世紀初開始用來指派人擔任職務。所以現代這兩個看起來不相干的意思，其實是同一個動作：把事情釘到一個定點——一次釘在時間上，一次釘在人身上。
Online Etymology Dictionary — etymonline.com/word/appoint
From the picture
Also in this word
scheduled meeting · noun · A2
An arrangement to meet someone or go somewhere at a fixed time, often to get help or a service.
預約 / 約診
原始詞典資料10 筆記錄
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。
appointmentnoun/əˈpɔɪnt.mɛnt/
- 1
The act of appointing a person to hold an office or to have a position of trust.
- His appointment as treasurer was deemed suitable.
- 2
The state of being appointed to a service or office; an office to which one is appointed.
- the appointment of treasurer
- 3
A stipulation; an agreement; the act of fixing by mutual agreement.
- 4
An arrangement between people to meet; an engagement.
- They made an appointment to meet at six.
- I’m leaving work early because I have a doctor’s appointment.
- 5
lifestylereligionA decree; a direction; an established order or constitution.
- to submit to the divine appointments
- According to the appointment of the priests.
- 6
lawThe exercise of the power of designating (under a power of appointment) a person to enjoy an estate or other specific property; also, the instrument by which the designation is made.
- 7
governmentThe assignment of a person by an official to perform a duty, such as a presidential appointment of a judge to a court.
- 8
Equipment, furniture.
- […] the house had been inhabited for years by his father, and in many of its appointments was old-fashioned and grim […]
- The appointments of a gentleman's dressing-room are similar in most respects to those of the lady's dressing-room, the differences being in trifling matters.
另外 2 個記錄的用法
- 9
An honorary part or exercise, as an oration, etc., at a public exhibition of a college.
- to have an appointment
- 10
obsoleteThe allowance paid to a public officer.
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。