喜樂美語

核心畫面

Hold this picture: something harmful arrives and reaches you — but it simply does not take. Everyone around gets hit; it lands on you and nothing happens.

有害的東西確實找上門了，也真的碰到你了——但它就是「吃不下去」。旁邊的人一個個中招，同樣的東西落在你身上卻沒有作用。…更多收起有害的東西確實找上門了，也真的碰到你了——但它就是「吃不下去」。旁邊的人一個個中招，同樣的東西落在你身上卻沒有作用。注意這裡的重點不是躲開，是碰到了卻不受影響，就像雨打在防水布上一樣。這個「打得到但傷不到」的感覺，是 immune 全部用法共通的底。

From the word’s history

Latin immunis = in- ('not') + munus ('a duty, a public service or tax owed to the community'), so it first meant 'exempt from public duty' — free from a burden others must bear. The medical sense came much later, borrowing that same shape: the disease is a burden everyone owes, and you are let off.

拉丁文 immunis 是 in-（不）加上 munus（該向公家盡的義務、要繳的稅賦），原意是「免除公共義務的」——別人都得扛的擔子，你不必扛。醫學上的「免疫」是很久以後才借用這個形狀的：把疾病想成大家都得承受的一份負擔，而你被放行了。有趣的是現代英文裡最日常的意思（免疫）反而是後來的，最古老的意思（豁免）今天聽起來卻最像專業術語。同一個 munus 也留在 common、municipal、remunerate 這些字裡。

Wiktionary, entry "immune" (Latin immūnis < in- + mūnus 'duty, service, tax')

Three branches

身體不受病侵

核心畫面落在身體上：病菌進來了，但身體有一套機制讓它做不了事。

immune to disease · adjective · C2

Not able to catch a particular disease, often because you have had it before or have had a vaccine.

免疫

外力動不了你

把病換成任何會影響人的力量：批評、潮流、魅力、壓力都打得到你，但你不為所動——身體的免疫被搬到了心理和處境上。

unaffected by · adjective · C2

Not changed or hurt by something that happens or is done, such as criticism, new ideas, or charm.

不受影響

法律上被放行

回到這個字最早的形狀：不是身體擋下了什麼，而是有一份保護明文規定，某些不好的後果不能落到你頭上。

immune from punishment · adjective · C2

Specially protected so that something unpleasant, such as arrest or a penalty, cannot be done to you.

豁免

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。

immuneadj/ɪˈmjuːn/

  • 1

    Exempt; not subject to.

    • As a diplomat, you are immune from prosecution.
    • He had always been remarkably immune from such little ailments, and had only once in his life been ill, of a vicious pneumonia long ago at school. He hadn't the faintest idea what to with a cold in the head, he just took quinine and continued to blow his nose.
  • 2

    medicinesciencesProtected by inoculation, or due to innate resistance to pathogens.

    • I am immune to chicken pox.
  • 3

    Not vulnerable.

    • Alas, he was immune to my charms.
    • [...] most of the original electrical signalling equipment has had to be replaced by apparatus immune to 50-cycle currents.
  • 4

    medicinesciencesOf or pertaining to immunity.

    • immune system
    • We examined the patient's immune response.

immunenoun/ɪˈmjuːn/

  • 1

    epidemiologymedicinesciencesA person who is not susceptible to infection by a particular disease

    • Susceptibles effectively exposed to cases become cases in the next time period; cases recovering from the infection accumulate as immunes.

immuneverb/ɪˈmjuːn/

  • 1

    rareTo make immune.

    • In the seventies those who met me did not know / Of the vision / That immuned me from the chillings of mis-prision […]
    • The utilization of such milk will, however, necessitate an adaptable milk preservation method, through which the immuning agents will not be destroyed or diminished.

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。