時間留在表面的那一層
最貼近核心畫面的一組：東西是真的長出了一層，而那層是年份的證據。
noun · C1
A thin green or blue-green layer that forms by itself on the surface of copper or bronze after the metal has been in the air for many years.
銅綠
核心畫面
Think of a surface that has simply been left in the world. Air, rain, hands and daily use keep touching it, year after year, and they leave a thin layer behind: green on an old bronze bell, a soft shine on a table that has had forty years of dinners on it. One way to hold patina is as the layer time lays down on top of something. It sits on the surface, it takes years, and English usually likes it, because it is proof the thing is old and has been left alone. From there the word reaches in two directions: the colour of that green layer becomes a colour name, and the idea of a layer that is only on the surface becomes a way of talking about how something looks to other people.
可以想成一個表面，被放在世界裡不去動它。空氣、雨水、手、日常使用，年復一年地碰它，於是留下薄薄一層：老銅鐘上的綠，或…更多收起
可以想成一個表面，被放在世界裡不去動它。空氣、雨水、手、日常使用，年復一年地碰它，於是留下薄薄一層：老銅鐘上的綠，或是一張吃了四十年飯的木桌上那層溫潤的光。patina 可以想成「時間鋪在東西上面的那一層」。它在表面，要好幾年，而且英文通常是欣賞它的，因為那層東西證明這件物品夠老、而且沒有被磨掉。順著這個畫面，字義往兩邊長：那層綠的顏色變成一個顏色名，而「只在表面的一層」則變成講「別人看起來的樣子」的說法。From the word’s history
Borrowed from Italian patina, from Latin patina (a dish or pan), itself from Ancient Greek patane; a doublet of paten and possibly of pan.
從義大利文 patina 借入，再往上是拉丁文 patina（盤子、淺鍋），更早來自古希臘文 πατάνη。原本指的是器皿，後來才轉去指器皿表面因年久形成的那層東西，也就是今天的核心畫面。
Wiktionary entry supplied in packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:621834545), etymology_text
Three branches
那層綠變成一個顏色名
從「那一層」跳到「那一層的顏色」，跟 rust（鏽紅）、olive（橄欖綠）走同一條路。
noun · C2
A grey-green colour, the colour of the green layer on old bronze, used as the name of a colour for paint, cloth, and design.
銅綠色
只在表面的那一層
把畫面裡「薄、在表面、蓋住裡面」這一點抽出來，用來講別人看起來的樣子。
noun · C2
Used to say that a person, place, or thing has the outward look of being wealthy, successful, respectable, or scientific, when that look is only a thin layer on the surface.
表面的光鮮