喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can picture flight as a body moving through the air off the ground — a bird or a plane in the sky. Most senses grow from that picture: the plane journey, the path it traces, a whole flock up there, a sweep of that rises like a run upward, and the mind off into fancy. One family, though, comes from a different old word — flight as 'running away' — which only looks the same.

可以想成一個東西離開地面、在空中移動——天上的一隻鳥或一架飛機。大部分意思都是從這個畫面長出來的：搭飛機的那趟旅程、…更多收起可以想成一個東西離開地面、在空中移動——天上的一隻鳥或一架飛機。大部分意思都是從這個畫面長出來的：搭飛機的那趟旅程、它劃過的軌跡、天上一整群鳥、像往上一口氣衝上去的一段樓梯、還有心思飄上天的胡思亂想。不過有一族意思來自另一個古老的字——flight 當「逃跑」講——只是長得剛好一樣。

From the word’s history

The 'flying' senses come from Old English flyht 'act of flying' (from the root of fly). The 'escape' sense is a separate Old English word (related to flee), confused with the first since Old English because fly and flee looked almost identical. So flight is really two old words that fell together in spelling.

「飛」這一系的意思來自古英語 flyht「飛行的動作」（跟 fly 同源）。「逃跑」那個意思則是另一個古英語的字（跟 flee 有關），因為 fly 和 flee 在古英語裡長得幾乎一樣，從很早就被混在一起。所以 flight 其實是兩個古字拼法剛好合流成一個。

etymonline.com/word/flight

Three branches

在空中飛（核心）

最核心的「飛」本身，以及最常用的搭機那趟、飛過去的軌跡。

act of flying · noun · A2

The act of flying through the air.

飛行

像往上飛的延伸（樓梯·想像）

借「往上飛、一口氣升上去」的感覺：一段往上的樓梯，和往上飄走的心思。

flight of stairs · noun · A2

A set of stairs going from one floor up to the next.

一段樓梯

逃跑（另一條來源）

這一族不是從「飛」延伸來的，而是另一個古字（跟 flee 逃 有關），只是拼法剛好和「飛」的 flight 合流。

fleeing/escape · noun · A2

The act of running away from a place to escape danger or someone.

逃離／逃跑

原始詞典資料28 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。

flightnoun詞源 1/ˈflaɪ̯t/

  • 1

    The act of flying; the ability to fly.

    • Most birds are capable of flight.
    • Bats are born with the instinct of flight.
  • 2

    The act of flying; the ability to fly.

    • The migrating birds' flight took them to Africa.
  • 3

    The act of flying; the ability to fly.

    • The space shuttle's flight was carefully calculated long before takeoff.
  • 4

    The act of flying; the ability to fly.

    • The lizard's immediate flight when startled makes it hard to catch.
    • The judge thought she was a flight risk.
  • 5

    The act of flying; the ability to fly.

    • The flight to Paris leaves at 7 o'clock tonight.
    • Where is the departure gate for flight 747? / Go straight down and to the right.
  • 6

    The act of flying; the ability to fly.

    • He boarded the flight to Miami.
  • 7

    ball-gamescricketgamesThe act of flying; the ability to fly.

  • 8

    The act of flying; the ability to fly.

    • a flight of fancy; a flight of the imagination
另外 16 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    A surface that aids in an item's purpose

    • Baſſ. In my ſchoole dayes, when I had loſt one ſhaft / I ſhot his fellow of the ſelfeſame flight / The ſelfeſame way, with more aduiſed watch / To finde the other forth, and by aduenturing both, / I oft found both. I vrge this child-hoode proofe, […]
  • 10

    A surface that aids in an item's purpose

  • 11

    engineeringnatural-sciencesphysical-sciencesA surface that aids in an item's purpose

  • 12

    governmentmilitarypoliticsA thing that flies or moves as if in flight

  • 13

    governmentmilitarynavalA thing that flies or moves as if in flight

  • 14

    A thing that flies or moves as if in flight

    • a flight of swallows
    • The latest note I have of the hobby waiting on the swallows is dated the 7th of September, 1893, when one appeared near the mill on the Avon at Harvington, where a small flight of swallows had gathered.
  • 15

    A thing that flies or moves as if in flight

    • The central figure in the painting is a young woman, surrounded by a flight of angels.
    • The horses chafing at the bit and pawing the ground with pride, the flight of angels round the young woman symbolizing Faith, the Spirit riding one of the horses and carrying the pontifical keys, Faith with her inspired gesture and the life-like attitudes of the vanquished, all combine to form a group incomparably rich and animated, a veritable triumphal procession marching onward, overpowering, irresistible.
  • 16

    A thing that flies or moves as if in flight

  • 17

    A segment of a whole

    • Limerick terminus has changed but little since its opening, and travellers still ascend the same flight of steps from the forecourt to enter the handsome two-storey stone building, which contains the offices and a recently-modernised refreshment room.
    • She crept up the stairs [...] On she went, across the landing, from which sprang the tall window, and up the next flight until she reached the top.
  • 18

    A segment of a whole

    • How many flights up is it?
  • 19

    A segment of a whole

    • I'll start on the lowest flight of the terrace, you start at the top.
    • The flight of terraces extended up fifty meters from the base.
  • 20

    A segment of a whole

  • 21

    hobbieslifestylesportsA segment of a whole

    • The competing sprinters were divided into several flights.
  • 22

    Several sample glasses (usually three to five) of a specific wine varietal or other variations in wine, each sample comprising a smaller amount than a full glass of wine.

  • 23

    Several sample glasses (usually three to five) of a specific wine varietal or other variations in wine, each sample comprising a smaller amount than a full glass of wine.

    • a flight of canapés, a flight of sliders
  • 24

    advertisingbroadcastingbusinessAn advertising campaign of fixed length.

    • After the first eight-week flight of advertising, the tracking research showed that consumers' predisposition to use Citi as a financial services provider jumped 50 percent.

flightadj詞源 1/ˈflaɪ̯t/

  • 1

    obsoleteFast, swift, fleet.

flightverb詞源 1/ˈflaɪ̯t/

  • 1

    ball-gamescricketgamesTo throw the ball in such a way that it has more airtime and more spin than usual.

  • 2

    hobbieslifestylesportsTo throw or kick something so as to send it flying with more loft or airtime than usual.

    • Riyad Mahrez flighted the free-kick that followed to the far post and Morgan, with not much finesse but plenty of desire, bundled the ball over the line. Cue pandemonium in the stands.

flightnoun詞源 2/ˈflaɪ̯t/

  • 1

    The act of fleeing.

    • take flight
    • the flight of a refugee

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。