真的在打獵的那一邊
核心畫面的字面版本：追的是野生動物，追的可以是人，也可以是另一隻動物，還可以是載著人的那匹馬。
noun · B1
A person who goes out to find and catch wild animals, for food or as a sport. The same word is used for an animal that catches other animals to eat.
獵人；獵食的動物
核心畫面
Picture someone moving slowly through long grass, eyes fixed ahead, following marks on the ground and waiting for the right moment. That is the whole word: the one who goes after something and means to get it. English does not care much what is being chased, or even whether the chaser is a person. An owl on a branch fits the picture. So does a waiting outside a shop at six in the morning for half-price shoes. And in the riding world the picture slides one step down, from the rider to the animal carrying them.
可以想成一個畫面：有人在長草裡慢慢往前走，眼睛盯著前方，看著地上的痕跡，等一個對的時機。整個字就是這個：主動去追某樣…更多收起
可以想成一個畫面：有人在長草裡慢慢往前走，眼睛盯著前方，看著地上的痕跡，等一個對的時機。整個字就是這個：主動去追某樣東西，而且打算把它弄到手。至於追的是什麼、追的人是不是人，英文並不太在意。樹上的貓頭鷹合這個畫面。早上六點在店門口等半價鞋的人也合。而在馬術的世界裡，這個畫面往下挪了一格——從騎的人挪到底下那匹馬。From the word’s history
From Middle English huntere, by surface analysis hunt + -er, the one who does the hunting. Old English had hunta for the same idea.
來源說 hunter 來自中古英語 huntere，拆開就是 hunt ＋ -er：做 hunt 這件事的那一個（古英語另有 hunta）。這條線索正好解釋上面的畫面為什麼可以伸這麼遠——-er 只說「做這件事的那一個」，沒有說那一個必須是人，所以貓頭鷹、甚至那匹馬都可以被放進來。
Wiktionary entry for hunter, supplied in packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:481857247:67366)
Two branches
把目標換掉的用法
同一個追捕的姿態，只是目標從野生動物換成便宜貨、工作或簽名。
noun · B2
Someone who is searching hard for a particular kind of thing, or collecting it. The thing they are after goes in front of the word: bargain hunter, house hunter, autograph hunter.
專找某樣東西的人