核心畫面

One way to picture it: something was already inside when you arrived — it came with you, it wasn't added on afterwards. Because it was never installed from outside, there's no obvious way to it.

這個東西在你「到場」的時候就已經在裡面了——它是跟你一起來的,不是後來裝上去的。想像兩種東西的差別:一種是你出生以後更多收起這個東西在你「到場」的時候就已經在裡面了——它是跟你一起來的,不是後來裝上去的。想像兩種東西的差別:一種是你出生以後別人教給你、你練出來的;另一種是你一睜眼它就在那裡,沒有人教過你。innate 指的是後者。而正因為它不是從外面裝進來的,也就沒有一個明顯的方式可以把它拆掉——這一點正好通往它的第二個用法。

From the word’s history

From Latin innātus, the past participle of innāscī 'to be born in' — in- 'in' + nāscī 'to be born'; the same nāscī gives us nature, native and nation. The English adjective is attested from the 1420s.

innate 來自拉丁語 innātus,是 innāscī(生在裡面)的過去分詞:in-(在裡面)+ nāscī(出生)。同一個 nāscī 也生出了 nature、native、nation 這些字。所以 innate 字面就是「生下來就在裡面的」——這個「與生俱來」的畫面,直到今天都還是它的骨架。英語的形容詞用法最早見於 1420 年代。

Wiktionary (innate, adjective: from Middle English innat(e), borrowed from Latin innātus, perfect passive participle of innāscī; adjective first attested 1420s)

Two branches

與生俱來的能力與特質

這一支就是核心畫面的字面用法:談的是真的從出生就帶著的東西。

inborn (quality/ability) · adjective · C2

Used about a quality or ability that you have from birth, not one that you only learn later.

天生

根深柢固、拔不掉的想法

從「不是裝上去的」推出「所以也拆不下來」:重點從來源移到了牢固程度。

deeply held (belief) · adjective · C2

Used about a belief or way of thinking that people feel strongly and are not likely to change.

固有

原始詞典資料5 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。

innateadj/ɪˈneɪt/

  • 1

    Inborn; existing or having existed since birth.

    • Ironically, given France's innate reluctance to permit competition at home, the first breach in Renfe's monopoly came from SNCF offshoot Ouigo España in 2021.
  • 2

    human-sciencesphilosophysciencesOriginating in, or derived from, the constitution of the intellect, as opposed to acquired from experience.

    • innate ideas
    • There is an innate light in every man, discovering to him the first lines of duty, in the common notions of good and evil, which, by cultivation and improvement, may be advanced to higher and brighter discoveries.
  • 3

    Instinctive; coming from instinct.

    • Perhaps, from an innate desire of justification, sorrow always exaggerates itself.
    • As if she held the clue to something secret in his breast, of the nature of which he was hardly informed himself. As if she had an innate knowledge of one jarring and discordant string within him, and her very breath could sound it.
  • 4

    biologybotanynatural-sciencesJoined by the base to the very tip of a filament.

    • an innate anther

innateverb/ɪˈneɪt/

  • 1

    obsoleteTo cause to exist; to call into being.

    • I never ſaw a foole leane : the chub-fac’d fop / Shines ſleek with full cramm’d fat of happineſſe, / VVhilſt ſtudious contemplation ſucks the juice / From wiſards cheekes : who making curious ſearch / For Natures ſecrets, the firſt innating cauſe / Laughs them to ſcorne, as man doth buſy Apes / VVhen they will zany men.
    • […]but the innating matter works not upon the dull matter, as upon a new material, for the innate matter is mixt with the dull part of matter[…]

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。