喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can picture male as one of the two sides of the sex divide — the side that, in living things, contributes to making new life but does not carry the babies or lay the eggs. From this single biological picture everything else fans out: it stretches to 'belonging to men/boys' for people, to plants on the same side of the divide, and even — by pure shape — to a plug whose part sticks OUT to fit into a hole.

可以想成性別這條分界線的其中一邊——在生物裡，是「提供精子、但本身不懷孕也不下蛋」的那一邊。所有其他意思都從這個生物…更多收起可以想成性別這條分界線的其中一邊——在生物裡，是「提供精子、但本身不懷孕也不下蛋」的那一邊。所有其他意思都從這個生物畫面往外擴散：用在人身上就變成「屬於男人／男孩的」，用在植物上指同一邊的雄株，甚至純粹靠「形狀」延伸到插頭——那種有凸出部分、可以插進孔裡的「公頭」。

From the word’s history

From Latin masculus 'male' (diminutive of mas 'a male'), via Old French masle/male. The plug sense comes by analogy of shape, not from the root.

源自拉丁文 masculus（雄性，mas「雄」的指小形），經古法文 masle/male 進入英語。注意它和 mail（信件）只是拼法湊巧相近，毫無關係。插頭「公頭」那個意思是後來靠形狀打的比方，不在字根裡。

Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), 'male (adj.)'

Three branches

性別的一邊（生物）

這一家直接就是核心畫面本身：不懷孕、不下蛋的那一邊性別，把人、動物、植物都收進來。

biologically male · adjective · B1

Of the sex that cannot have babies or lay eggs; being a man, a boy, or an animal of this sex.

雄性的／男的

雄性／男性（名詞）

同樣的生物畫面，只是從形容詞變成名詞——不再修飾別的字，而是直接拿來「指那一邊性別的個體」。

male animal · noun · B1

An animal that belongs to the sex that cannot have babies or lay eggs.

雄性（動物）

凸出的一頭（形狀比喻）

這一家不靠性別本身，而是靠生物上「凸出去、插進另一邊」的形狀印象打比方：工程上把有凸出部分、要插進孔裡的那一頭叫 male（公頭）。

male plug/connector · adjective · B1

Used about a plug or part that has a piece sticking out to fit into a hole.

凸的（插頭）

原始詞典資料16 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。

Malename詞源 1

  • 1

    A surname.

Malename詞源 3

  • 1

    A Madang language of Papua New Guinea.

maleadj/meɪl/

  • 1

    Belonging to the sex which typically produces sperm, or to the gender which is typically associated with it.

    • male writers
    • the leading male and female singers
  • 2

    Characteristic of this sex/gender. (Compare masculine, manly.)

    • stereotypically male interests
    • an insect with typically male coloration
  • 3

    Tending to lead to or regulate the development of sexual characteristics typical of this sex.

    • the male chromosome
    • like testes, ovaries also produce testosterone and some other male hormones
  • 4

    Having the F factor; able to impart DNA into another bacterium which does not have the F factor (a female).

    • Furthermore, male bacteria with fi + R factors, which inhibit the function of F (fi fertility inhibition) (Watanabe et al., 1964a), cannot form specific cell pairs at high frequencies. On the contrary, the formation of[…]
    • Male bacteria having the sex factor, also known as the F or "fertility" factor, are termed P if the sex factor exists extrachromosomally. F+ bacteria can only conjugate with F, the female counterparts, which do not possess the F [factor].
  • 5

    Of instruments, tools, or connectors: designed to fit into or penetrate a female counterpart, as in a connector, pipe fitting or laboratory glassware.

    • Male adapter connects female pipe threads to polyethylene cold-water pipe; [...] female flare coupling connects male pipe threads to flared copper or plastic;

malenoun/meɪl/

  • 1

    One of the male (masculine) sex or gender.

    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:male.
  • 2

    One of the male (masculine) sex or gender.

  • 3

    One of the male (masculine) sex or gender.

  • 4

    A bacterium which has the F factor.

    • During mating, F+ male bacteria transfer the F factor to the recipient females, transforming them into F+ males. Males also retain a copy of their F factor for themselves (left). When Hfr (or high frequency recombination) males mate[…]
    • In this process, one bacterium designated the male bacterium transfers its DNA into the female bacterium. Bacteria are determined to be male or female by a small piece of DNA, called F-plasmid, or sex factor. Bacteria with this small piece of DNA are labeled as males, and bacteria that do not have this factor are considered females. […] Nevertheless, in addition to a small piece of DNA, male bacteria have some unique characteristics. They can make a special protrusion on their surface, called F-pilus. Pilae (plural for pilus) are hair-like structures that cover the[…]
  • 5

    A male connector, pipe fitting, etc.

    • Work another rubber washer over the threads of the male adapter that is now sticking out of the bucket. […] cut out with an X-acto knife, then thread the female fittings to the males.

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。