喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can picture 'sentence' as one whole thought said all the way through — a string of words with a subject and a verb that stands complete on its own. In Latin the same word also meant 'an authoritative opinion, a decision', so the second picture a judge gives you is the completed, spoken-out verdict.

可以想成把一個想法一次講到底、講成一段有頭有尾、獨立成立的話（有主詞、有動詞）。它的拉丁字源同時帶著「權威說出來的判…更多收起可以想成把一個想法一次講到底、講成一段有頭有尾、獨立成立的話（有主詞、有動詞）。它的拉丁字源同時帶著「權威說出來的判斷、決定」這層意思，所以在法庭裡它又變成法官正式宣布出來的那個「已經定案的話」。

From the word’s history

From Latin sententia 'opinion, way of thinking, judgment, decision', an irregular formation from sentire 'to feel, perceive, be of an opinion'. A sentence was first an authoritative opinion put fully into words — which later split into a grammatical complete statement and a judge's pronounced decision.

來自拉丁文 sententia（意見、想法、判斷、決定），由 sentire（感覺、認為、持某種看法）而來。最早指「把一個權威的看法完整說出來」，後來一邊落到語言上成為「一句完整的話」，一邊落到法庭上成為法官「宣判的決定」。

etymonline.com/word/sentence; Oxford English Dictionary (sentence, n.)

Two branches

語言上的完整句

這是把「完整說出來的想法」直接落在語言上：一串字帶著主詞和動詞，剛好講完一件事，可以自己站住。這正是字源 sententia「把想法完整表達」在文法上的樣子。

grammatical sentence · noun · A1

A group of words that has a subject and a verb and tells one complete idea.

句子

法官宣判的判決

同一個字源 sententia 也指「權威說出來的判斷」。法官對一個被定罪的人，把「該受什麼罰」這個已定案的決定正式講出來——那段話本身就是一種 sentence，只是這回是法庭上的判決，不是文法上的句子。

prison sentence · noun · A1

The punishment a judge gives someone, especially a length of time in prison.

刑罰／判刑

原始詞典資料13 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。

sentencenoun/ˈsɛn.təns/

  • 1

    datedThe decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict.

    • The court returned a sentence of guilt in the first charge, but innocence in the second.
    • A branch that has played a significant part in the history of its territory is under sentence at the end of the summer timetables, so far as its passenger services are concerned.
  • 2

    The judicial order for a punishment to be imposed on a person convicted of a crime.

    • The judge declared a sentence of death by hanging for the infamous child rapist.
    • The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.
  • 3

    A punishment imposed on a person convicted of a crime.

  • 4

    obsoleteA saying, especially from a great person; a maxim, an apophthegm.

    • Men (saith an ancient Greek sentence) are tormented by the opinions they have of things, and not by things themselves.
    • I am told that she writes well, and that all her letters are full of sentences.
  • 5

    grammarhuman-scienceslinguisticsA grammatically complete series of words consisting of a subject and predicate, even if one or the other is implied. In modern writing, when using, e.g., the Latin, Greek or Cyrillic alphabets, typically beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop or other punctuation.

    • Near-synonym: clause
    • The children were made to construct sentences consisting of nouns and verbs from the list on the chalkboard.
  • 6

    human-scienceslogicmathematicsA formula with no free variables.

  • 7

    computingcomputing-theoryengineeringAny of the set of strings that can be generated by a given formal grammar.

  • 8

    obsoleteSense; meaning; significance.

    • Noght o word spak he moore than was neede, / And that was seyd in forme and reverence / And short and quyk and ful of hy sentence […]
    • now to the discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence, but that, for the most part, either specious rather than solid, or to his cause nothing pertinent.
另外 2 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    obsoleteOne's opinion; manner of thinking.

    • My sentence is for open war.
    • The book of ſentences, which rendered the name of Peter Lombard ſo illuſtrious, was a compilation of ſentences, and paſſages, drawn from the fathers, whoſe manifold contradictions, this eminent prelate endeavoured to reconcile.
  • 10

    archaicA pronounced opinion or judgment on a given question.

    • [I]f it may bee lawfull to iudge or giue any ſentence thereof, it [the author of the book of Ruth] was either Samuell, or ſome other godly Prophet vnder the raigne of Saule, [...]
    • By them [Martin Luther's works] we might pass sentence upon his doctrines.

sentenceverb/ˈsɛn.təns/

  • 1

    To declare a sentence on a convicted person; to condemn to punishment.

    • The judge sentenced the embezzler to ten years in prison, along with a hefty fine.
    • Nature herself is sentenced in your doom.
  • 2

    lawTo decree, announce, or pass as a sentence.

    • “We are empowered to deliver thee to prison; yea, the law commands us to sentence death upon the abettors of this mischief.[…]"
    • So as far as the older generation of German Lutherans were concerned, the abolition of the mother language sentenced death upon the church as they knew it.
  • 3

    obsoleteTo utter sententiously.

    • Let me heare one wise man sentence it, rather then twenty Fooles, garrulous in their lengthened tattle.

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。