喜樂美語

核心畫面

Hold the picture of the Egyptian pyramid: a huge base spreading wide on the sand, sides inward as they rise, and everything narrowing to a single point at the top. Wide at the bottom, one point at the top — that shape is the whole word.

埃及沙漠上那座巨大的石造建築——底部又寬又厚地攤在地上，四個斜面往上收，最後全部收束成頂端唯一的一個點。「下面很寬、…更多收起埃及沙漠上那座巨大的石造建築——底部又寬又厚地攤在地上，四個斜面往上收，最後全部收束成頂端唯一的一個點。「下面很寬、上面只有一個點」，這個輪廓就是整個字。後面所有的意思，不管講的是石頭、是水果、還是一家公司，都只是把這個輪廓套到不同的東西上；只要你腦中留著這座金字塔的形狀，就不會認錯。

Two branches

實體的金字塔形狀

這一家就是核心畫面本身，從那座建築本體，到一般物體堆成的同一個形狀，再到數學上把這個形狀抽象出來的定義。

stone pyramid building · noun · C1

A huge stone building with four sloping sides that meet in a point at the top, like the famous old ones in Egypt and Central America.

金字塔

人與權力的金字塔

形狀沒變，換成用來描述人的排列。金字塔的輪廓本來就讓「上面稀少、下面眾多」一目了然，所以拿來畫組織結構特別順手。

hierarchical system · noun · C1

A system, company, or society arranged in layers, with a few people at the top and a much larger number of people at the bottom.

金字塔結構

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。

Pyramidname

  • 1

    card-gamesgamesA solitaire card game where the cards are arranged as a triangle (a "pyramid") and the object is to get the cards from the bottom to the top.

pyramidnoun/ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/

  • 1

    An ancient massive construction with a square or rectangular base and four triangular sides meeting in an apex, such as those built as tombs in Egypt or as bases for temples in Mesoamerica.

  • 2

    A construction in the shape of a pyramid, usually with a square or rectangular base.

    • [T]he owners of Doddington Hall, in Lincolnshire, have brought the folly into the 21st century, by building a 30ft pyramid in the grounds of the Elizabethan manor.
  • 3

    geometrymathematicssciencesA solid with triangular lateral faces and a polygonal (often square or rectangular) base.

  • 4

    Any structure or diagram with many members at the bottom and progressively fewer towards the top.

    • The company was organized as a pyramid, with a CEO in charge of four directors, each heading up a department.
    • They sit looking at the empty plate that had held a pyramid of sesame cakes. They have eaten them all.
  • 5

    anatomymedicineneuroanatomyA medullary pyramid, the medial-most bumps on the ventral side of the medulla oblongata

  • 6

    datedThe game of pool in which the balls are placed in the form of a triangle at spot.

  • 7

    A pyramid scheme.

  • 8

    card-gamesgamesThe triangular layout of cards in the game of Pyramid.

    • Build your pyramid with all cards face down, except the cards in the bottom row.
另外 1 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    journalismmediaAn approximately triangular headline consisting of several centered lines of text of increasing length.

    • […] with a cross-line banner, a set of two-column pyramids beneath it in the middle, and on each side of these exactly the same thing,—something between a headline and a story—"$50,000 Reward for—" etc.

pyramidverb/ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/

  • 1

    To build up or be arranged in the form of a pyramid.

    • The paint was stacked in neatly pyramided lots along the concrete floor.
    • Once there was an enormous jukebox; the then-Harlettes (her three-woman back-up vocalists/dancers/mimes) pyramided to drop a huge coin, and around the bend of the big record would spin the diva.
  • 2

    biologygeneticsmedicineTo combine (a series of genes) into a single genotype.

  • 3

    To employ, or take part in, a pyramid scheme.

  • 4

    businessfinanceTo engage in pyramid trading.

    • Multiply this by the number of shares you traded, and add other positions if you pyramided.
  • 5

    datedTo increase to or towards a peak.

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。