- 1恭敬；敬重（願意聽從對方的判斷）
Deference is the polite way you treat someone when you respect them enough to let their view come first. You do not only say kind words; you actually give way. You wait, you listen, and you are willing to accept their opinion or their decision, even if you are not sure you agree. People show deference to a teacher, a judge, an older relative, or a boss — not because they are , but because they think that person’s place or knowledge deserves it. It is a fairly formal, careful word. You often hear it in the phrase “deference to”: deference to tradition, deference to an expert, deference to your parents’ wishes. In everyday talk, people more often just say respect, but deference is a special kind of respect: the kind that yields. It is not the same as liking someone, and it is not the same as putting a plan off until later — that is a different word that looks related.
組成From French déférence. Built as defer + -ence. The defer here is “give way to someone you respect,” not “put something off until later.”
同家族的字
- deferthe verb in “defer to someone”: to yield because you respect them
- deferentialthe adjective: showing this respectful, yielding manner
- deferentiallythe adverb: in that respectful, yielding way
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，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。
deferencenoun/ˈdɛfəɹəns/
- 1
Great respect.
- The children treated their elders with deference.
- 2
The willingness to carry out the wishes of others.
- By tidying his room, he showed deference to his mother.
- Michael in turn benefits from Tom. He loosens up a bit, stops talking so much like one of the bad novels he used to read, and learns to give his intellect a rest once in a while in deference to the emotions.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。