- 1爪牙、打手、親信（多半幫主子做壞事或動手的那種）
A henchman is a loyal of a powerful person — a political boss or a criminal — who will do the dirty work: threats, violence, illegal jobs the leader does not want to touch. In films and games, the villain’s henchmen are the people who chase the hero. The word is a little dramatic and a little old-fashioned; news writers still use it when they want to paint someone as a willing tool, not an equal partner. A sidekick can be loyal too, but a sidekick is not usually doing crimes. Though actually, the word began as something much quieter: in Old English a henġestmann was a , a groom — the man who looked after the stallion. The meaning walked a long road from servant who rides with you to servant who fights for you. Older use usually pictures a man; henchwoman exists but is rare. Often plural: his henchmen.
組成Inherited from Middle English henxman (page, attendant), from Old English *henġestmann, literally horse-man: henġest (stallion, horse) + mann (man). Originally a groom. Akin to old German Hengstmann and Icelandic hestamaður, both horseman / groom.
原始詞典資料4 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。
henchmannoun/ˈhɛnt͡ʃ.mən/
- 1
A loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.
- 2
A person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests.
- The glib sophistries of the special pleader and the verdant gullibility of the public; the ridiculous, now happily fast disappearing partisan bias of the voter and the venal instincts of the political henchman; the lack of proper moral stamina in much of our public press, and the tardiness of practical public appreciation where journals are true to the people's interests the fear of the vengeance;
- It is madness to commence war against the audacious despots under any leader like Lafayette, the traitor and venal henchman of despotism, against whom the cries of the patriots murdered on July 17 call to Heaven.
- 3
An assistant member of a criminal gang.
- Johnny Genaro, chief of staff to Al Capone, was “put on the spot” in a crowded street in Chicago on Saturday night.
- Most of the carpet joints were run by the mobsters and local henchmen associated with the Mayfield Road Gang, but Peter Schmidt's Playtorium and Glenn Rendezvous were also included.
- 4
obsoleteA page to a prince or other person of high rank.
- Henchmen had placed, as was their habit, each warrior's gear and trappings above his pile of skins.
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。