喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can picture appreciate as putting the right price tag on something: looking closely enough to see what a thing — or a person, or an effort — is really worth, and letting that worth register. Everything else grows from that single act of seeing the true value: valuing a thing, how big a situation is, thanking someone whose effort you now value, and money itself climbing in value.

可以把 appreciate 想成替一樣東西貼上它真正該有的價碼：看得夠仔細，看出這個東西、這個人、或這份心意到底值…更多收起可以把 appreciate 想成替一樣東西貼上它真正該有的價碼：看得夠仔細，看出這個東西、這個人、或這份心意到底值多少，然後讓那份『值』在心裡落地。核心畫面比較像『認出真正的價值』這個動作——後面所有意思都是從這裡長出來的：看重一樣東西、看清一件事有多大、謝謝一個你現在懂得珍惜的人、還有錢本身慢慢往上漲。

From the word’s history

Appreciate comes from Late Latin 'appretiare,' to set a price on or estimate the worth of, built from 'ad-' (to) + 'pretium' (price). So 'to put a value on something' sits literally under every modern sense — from valuing a person to money rising in value.

appreciate 來自晚期拉丁文 appretiare，意思是『替…定價、估出它的價值』，由 ad-（朝向）加 pretium（價格）組成——pretium 也正是 price（價格）的來源。所以『替一樣東西估出它的價值』這個畫面，實實在在墊在今天每一個意思底下，從看重一個人到錢本身增值，都是同一條線。

Online Etymology Dictionary, 'appreciate': from Late Latin appretiatus, pp. of appretiare 'estimate the quality of,' from ad- + pretium 'price' — https://www.etymonline.com/word/appreciate

Three branches

看出價值、看重

最貼著核心的一家：把『估出價值』直接用在欣賞和感激上——一個是看出東西好在哪、進而喜歡它，一個是看出別人替你做的事有多難得、進而謝謝他。

value and enjoy · verb · B2

To see the worth of something or someone, and enjoy or value them for it.

欣賞

看清一件事有多重

把『估價值』從東西移到局勢上：不是估錢，而是估『這件事有多嚴重、多重要』——看出它真正的分量，而不是輕輕放過。

grasp the importance · verb · B2

To understand how serious or important something is, or how someone feels.

了解

錢本身漲價

這一家把『價值』從『心裡認出』翻回最字面的錢上：不是人去看重它，而是東西自己的價碼隨時間往上爬。

increase in value · verb · B2

To slowly become worth more money over time.

增值

原始詞典資料4 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。

appreciateverb/əˈpɹiː.ʃi.eɪt/

  • 1

    To be grateful or thankful for.

    • I appreciate your efforts.
    • We sincerely appreciate your help.
  • 2

    To view as valuable.

    • You must learn to appreciate time.
  • 3

    To be fully conscious of; understand; be aware of; detect.

    • Near-synonyms: realize, grasp, acknowledge
    • It is essential for the reader to appreciate how important this argument is.
  • 4

    To increase in value.

    • The value of his portfolio appreciated by 80% over eight years.
    • The sanguine, flattering themselves with the delusive hopes of a speedy termination of the war, were often induced to sell lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money, in which case it was sup­po­sed they would lose the present opportunity of sell­ing to great advantage.

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。