喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can think of it as standing outside a thing and looking at the face it turns toward you: the skin, the shell, the outward-facing side. There is always an implied inside that you are not seeing — exterior only means something because there is an interior it is not.

你站在一樣東西的外面，看著它朝向你的那一面——外殼、外皮、朝外的那一層。這個字有個很重要的前提：它一定預設了「裡面」…更多收起你站在一樣東西的外面，看著它朝向你的那一面——外殼、外皮、朝外的那一層。這個字有個很重要的前提：它一定預設了「裡面」的存在。你不會對一張紙說 exterior，因為紙沒有內外之分；房子、車子、人才有。也就是說，每次用 exterior，畫面裡都同時站著一個你看不到的 interior。這也是為什麼它很容易滑向「表面看起來如何、裡面其實不然」的味道——外層擋住了內層，這件事本身就藏在字義裡。

From the word’s history

From Latin exterior, the comparative of exter/exterus "outward, on the outside" — literally "the more outer one", already built on the idea of a contrast between outer and inner.

直接來自拉丁文 exterior，是 exterus（在外面的）的比較級，字面意思是「比較外面的那個」。比較級這件事本身就說明了核心畫面：exterior 從一開始就不是孤立地說「外面」，而是相對於某個「裡面」而言的外。它的對手字 interior 是 interus（在裡面的）的比較級，兩個字是成對造出來的。同一家族還有 external、extra-，都繞著「外」這個意思。

Wiktionary, "exterior" (from Latin exterior, comparative of exter/exterus "outward")

Two branches

名詞：那個朝外的面

名詞用法把核心畫面裡「朝外的那一層」直接當成一個東西來指稱，先是建築物的，再是人的。

exterior, outer surface · noun · C1

The outer surface or outside part of a thing, most often a building.

外部

形容詞：位在外側的、來自外部的

形容詞把同一個「朝外的那一層」拿來修飾東西：先是實體位置在外，再延伸成拍攝地點在外、來源在外。

exterior, outer (adj) · adjective · C1

On the outer side of a thing, such as a wall, a car, or a building.

外部的

原始詞典資料6 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。

exterioradj/ɪkˈstɪəɹɪə/

  • 1

    Relating to the outside parts or surface of something.

    • the exterior part of a sphere
    • Sith nor the exterior nor the inward man / Resemble that it was.
  • 2

    Being from outside a country; foreign.

    • the exterior relations of a state or kingdom
  • 3

    Outdoor.

exteriornoun/ɪkˈstɪəɹɪə/

  • 1

    The outside part, parts or surface of something.

    • The sticker was attached to the exterior of the package
    • Before dissecting a shark to see how it manages to function so effectively, let us first examine its exterior.
  • 2

    Foreign lands.

    • She is our new minister of the exterior
  • 3

    A recording taken outside to be used in film-making, often including establishing shots.

    • We'll get the last of the exteriors done tomorrow.

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。