點火的那個東西
從動詞 light（點燃）長出來的那條線：做這件事的器具。
flame-lighting device · noun · B1
a small object that makes a flame, used for lighting candles, a stove, or similar things.
打火機
核心畫面
Think of a small thing in your hand that you press, and a flame appears. That is the everyday lighter: a thing whose job is to light something. The word is just light + -er, 'the thing that lights' — the same way a cooks and a heater heats.
可以想成手上那個小東西，一按就冒出火。這就是日常說的 lighter：一個專門用來「點火」的東西。字面拆開就是 li…更多收起
可以想成手上那個小東西，一按就冒出火。這就是日常說的 lighter：一個專門用來「點火」的東西。字面拆開就是 light（點燃）+ -er（做這件事的人或器具），跟 cooker 是拿來煮的、heater 是拿來加熱的一樣，是很好懂的組合。From the word’s history
There are two different lighters. The flame one is an agent noun from light (v.2) 'to set fire to': it first meant 'person who lights' (1550s), then from 1851 a device for lighting gas-jets or candles, and from 1895 the mechanical cigarette lighter. The boat one is separate — 'type of barge used in unloading', late 15c., an agent noun from light (adj.) with the sense of lightening a load, or from Dutch lichter, from lichten 'to lighten, unload'. So the barge is not a fire word at all: it is the boat that makes a ship lighter.
英文其實有兩個 lighter，走的是兩條路。火的那個來自動詞 light（點燃）加 -er：1550 年代先指「負責點燈的人」，1851 年起用來指點瓦斯燈、點蠟燭的器具，1895 年起才是我們熟悉的打火機。船的那個完全另一條線——15 世紀末就有，指卸貨用的平底駁船，來自 light（輕）的「使變輕、卸下重量」這個意思，也可能是從荷蘭文 lichter 借來的，源頭是 lichten「減輕、卸貨」。換句話說，駁船跟火一點關係也沒有：它是那艘讓大船變輕的船。
Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), entries 'lighter (n.1)' and 'lighter (n.2)'
Two branches
讓大船變輕的那艘船
這一條不是從打火機引申出來的，而是另一個字碰巧長成一樣的樣子：這裡的 light 是「輕」，lighter 就是「讓船變輕的那個」。
cargo boat · noun · B1
a large open low boat used for loading and unloading ships, especially when the big ship cannot come close to land.
駁船
原始詞典資料7 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。
lighternoun詞源 1/ˈlaɪtɚ/
- 1
A person who lights things.
- a lighter of lamps
- 2
A device used to light things, especially a reusable handheld device for creating fire to light cigarettes.
- Cigarette in mouth, he clutched his pockets in search of a lighter.
lighternoun詞源 2/ˈlaɪtɚ/
- 1
A flat-bottomed boat for carrying heavy loads across short distances (especially for canals or for loading or unloading larger boats).
- It is, of course, possible to work only to or from lighters in this way, and such working is not very general in this country, although a certain amount of such overside work is carried on in enclosed docks.
lighterverb詞源 2/ˈlaɪtɚ/
- 1
To transfer (cargo or passengers) to or from a ship by means of a lighter or other small vessel.
- 1900. Report of the Commission Appointed by the President to Investigate the Conduct of the War Department in the War with Spain. Vol. 7, pg. 3227. Troops and stores were lightered to the wharves inside the harbor by steamers Orizaba and Berkshire.
- Beyond the station an extension descends at 1 in 30, the steepest gradient on the line, to Government Wharf, where cargo is lightered to and from ships at anchor in the harbour.
- 2
To transfer cargo or fuel from (a ship), lightening it to make its draft less or to make it easier to refloat.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
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。