核心畫面

At the bottom of cycle is a circle — and a wheel: Greek kyklos means both. From that one shape come two lines: things that go round and return to the start, and a thing you ride.

可以想成:cycle 的底層是一個圓、一個輪子——希臘文 kyklos 同時指「圓圈」和「車輪」。順著這個圓,一邊是更多收起可以想成:cycle 的底層是一個圓、一個輪子——希臘文 kyklos 同時指「圓圈」和「車輪」。順著這個圓,一邊是「轉一圈又回到原點」的循環,一邊是「會滾動的輪子」做成的車。

From the word’s history

From Greek kyklos 'circle, wheel', also 'a round of events'. That single root holds both pictures: things that recur in a loop, and the wheeled bicycle.

cycle 來自希臘文 kyklos,意思同時是「圓圈、車輪」,也指「一輪接一輪的循環」。這一個字根同時撐起兩個畫面:週而復始的循環,以及有輪子的腳踏車。

etymonline.com/word/cycle (from Greek kyklos 'circle, wheel, cycle of events')

From the picture

有輪子的車

這一支走的是 kyklos 的另一半意思「輪子」:cycle 是 bicycle(兩個輪)的簡稱,把抽象的「圓」落實成看得見、會滾的車輪。

bicycle · noun · B1

A bicycle, or sometimes a motorcycle — a vehicle with two wheels that you ride.

腳踏車

Also in this word

recurring cycle · noun · B1

A round of connected events that keeps repeating, each one in the same order as before.

循環 / 週期

machine cycle · noun · B1

The full set of steps a machine goes through to finish one job, or the time this takes.

一輪 / 運轉週期

song or poem cycle · noun · B1

A group of songs, poems, or stories that are all about the same important subject.

組曲 / 系列

go through a cycle · verb · B1

To move through a repeating set of steps again and again, or to make something do this.

循環運作 / 使循環

原始詞典資料23 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。

cyclenoun詞源 1/ˈsaɪ.kəl/

  • 1

    An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.

    • the cycle of the seasons, or of the year
    • VVages have been tvvice raiſed in my time, and they bear a full proportion, or even a greater than formerly, to the medium of proviſion during the laſt bad cycle of tvventy years.
  • 2

    A complete rotation of anything.

  • 3

    A process that returns to its beginning and then repeats itself in the same sequence.

    • electoral cycle    menstrual cycle    news cycle
    • No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.
  • 4

    The members of the sequence formed by such a process.

  • 5

    A series of poems, songs or other works of art, typically longer than a trilogy.

    • The Ring of the Nibelung is a cycle of four operas by Richard Wagner.
  • 6

    A programme on a washing machine, dishwasher, or other such device.

    • Put the washing in on a warm cycle.
    • the spin cycle
  • 7

    ball-gamesbaseballgamesA single, a double, a triple, and a home run hit by the same player in the same game.

    • Jones hit for the cycle in the game.
  • 8

    graph-theorymathematicssciencesA closed walk or path, with or without repeated vertices allowed.

另外 9 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    algebraic-topologymathematicssciencesA chain whose boundary is zero.

  • 10

    An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the celestial spheres.

    • With centric and eccentric scribbled o'er, Cycle and epicycle, orb in orb
    • There appears to be no absolute cycle in the universe; all is change and progression. No planet ever revolves twice precisely in the same orbit.
  • 11

    An age; a long period of time.

    • Thro' the shadow of the world we sweep into the younger day: / Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.
  • 12

    An orderly list for a given time; a calendar.

    • [H]ere we endeavour to preſent our Gard'ners with a compleat Cycle of what is requiſite to be done throughout every Moneth of the Year: […]
  • 13

    biologybotanynatural-sciencesOne entire round in a circle or a spire.

    • a cycle or set of leaves
  • 14

    engineeringgovernmentmilitaryA discharge of a taser.

    • Officers have made the mistake of applying many Taser cycles, expecting the suspect to relent.
  • 15

    aeronauticsaerospaceaviationOne take-off and landing of an aircraft, referring to a pressurisation cycle which places stresses on the fuselage.

  • 16

    hobbieslifestylesportsA scheduled period of time of weeks or months wherein a performance-enhancing substance or, by extension, supplement is applied, to be followed by another one where it is not or the dosage is lower.

    • The deterioration of his physique may be a result of his being off cycle.
  • 17

    A hertz; cycle per second.

    • […] the Plan incorporates in proper combination every available modern technique, including extensive electrification on the new standard high-voltage a.c. system at a frequency of 50 cycles; main-line diesel traction as a half-way house to electrification; lightweight diesel trains for secondary and branch services; and a smaller wagon fleet doing more work by the use of continuous brakes in conjunction with modernised terminals and marshalling yards.

cycleverb詞源 1/ˈsaɪ.kəl/

  • 1

    To go through a cycle or to put through a cycle.

    • When my wife and I heard a plaintive whinny from our laundry room the other day, we knew that our old dryer had cycled its last load.
  • 2

    businesselectrical-engineeringelectricityTo turn power off and back on

    • Avoid cycling the device unnecessarily.
  • 3

    hobbiesice-hockeylifestyleTo maintain a team's possession of the puck in the offensive zone by handling and passing the puck in a loop from the boards near the goal up the side boards and passing to back to the boards near the goal

    • They have their cycling game going tonight.

cyclenoun詞源 2/ˈsaɪ.kəl/

  • 1

    A pedal-powered vehicle, such as a unicycle, bicycle, or tricycle, or a motorized vehicle that has either two or three wheels.

  • 2

    A pedal-powered vehicle, such as a unicycle, bicycle, or tricycle, or a motorized vehicle that has either two or three wheels.

cycleverb詞源 2/ˈsaɪ.kəl/

  • 1

    To ride a bicycle or other cycle.

    • Sometimes I would cycle over to Beckenham to watch the boat trains and Kent Coast expresses of the London, Chatham & Dover Railway, which seemed very superior to its future partner.
    • I cycled the three miles each morning between hedges draped with spangled cobwebs and berried bryony.

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。