喜樂美語

這個拼法底下其實是2個不同的字，意思沒有關係， 只是長得一樣。下面分開列出來。跳到 sheer, utter and undiluted · sheer, verb, veer suddenly

1

sheer

a, r

核心畫面

A useful picture: something with nothing else mixed into it. No other substance, no other cause, no other material, no other angle. Because nothing else is in there, what remains shows itself completely — pure joy is only joy, a sheer cliff is only down, sheer silk is so nearly nothing that light passes straight through.

「裡面沒有摻別的東西」。純粹、不混雜——沒有第二種成分、沒有第二個原因、沒有第二種材質、沒有第二個角度。也正因為什麼…更多收起「裡面沒有摻別的東西」。純粹、不混雜——沒有第二種成分、沒有第二個原因、沒有第二種材質、沒有第二個角度。也正因為什麼都沒摻，剩下的那一樣就顯得徹底：純粹的喜悅裡只有喜悅；一面 sheer 的懸崖從上到下只有「垂直」這一件事，沒有一段緩坡打斷；sheer 的絲薄到幾乎等於沒有，光直接穿過去。這個字有趣的地方在於，它常常帶著一種「你只需要看這一點」的語氣——說話的人在把其他因素全部撥開。

From the word’s history

The adjective goes back to Old English scǣre 'pure, clear, bright', from Proto-Germanic *skairiz — the old sense is literally 'pure, unmixed', which is still the core today.

這個形容詞來自古英文 sċǣre「純淨的、清澈的、明亮的」，出自原始日耳曼語 *skairiz。也就是說，「純粹、不摻雜」不是後來引申出來的，它本來就是這個字最早的意思，一路保留到今天；後面的「陡峭」「薄透」都是把這個老意思用到不同東西上。

Wiktionary (sheer, adj. < Middle English shere/schere < Old English sċǣre 'pure, sheer; shining, clear' < Proto-Germanic *skairiz)

Three branches

沒摻別的：純粹與全然

最貼近本義的一支，講的是「成分上不混雜」——用在感受上，也用在原因上。

sheer, utter and undiluted · adjective · C1

Used about a feeling or quality that is complete, with nothing else mixed in.

純粹的

沒摻別的角度：陡直

把「不混雜」搬到坡度上：一整面只有垂直這一個角度，中間沒有任何一段緩坡來稀釋它。

sheer, very steep · adjective · C1

A sheer drop, cliff, or slope is very steep and almost straight up and down.

陡峭的

薄到近乎沒有：透明布料

「裡面沒摻別的」推到極端，就成了「幾乎沒有東西在那裡」——薄到光可以穿過。

sheer, thin and see-through · adjective · C1

Sheer cloth, such as nylon or silk, is very thin and fine, so you can almost see through it.

薄透的

A second word, same spelling

2

sheer

v

核心畫面

This is a different word that happens to be spelled the same. Picture a boat that suddenly swings off its line to avoid something ahead — the movement is a swerve, a veering aside, not a matter of purity at all.

這是一個跟形容詞 sheer（純粹的、陡峭的）完全不同的字，只是拼法剛好一樣。核心畫面可以想成「一艘船原本走直線，忽…更多收起這是一個跟形容詞 sheer（純粹的、陡峭的）完全不同的字，只是拼法剛好一樣。核心畫面可以想成「一艘船原本走直線，忽然歪一下閃開前面的東西」。整個字的內容就是這個「偏開」的動作：不是慢慢轉彎，是為了避開而突然改變方向。它跟 shear（剪、切）同源，畫面上也接近——都是「切開一條線離開原路」。

From the word’s history

This verb is a separate word, probably from Dutch scheren 'to move aside, skim', related to English shear. Its content is the sideways movement itself, unconnected to the adjective sheer 'pure'.

這個動詞多半來自荷蘭文 scheren「移開、掠過」，跟英文的 shear（剪、切）有關，是航海用語進到英文的。它和形容詞 sheer（源自古英文 sċǣre「純淨」）是兩條完全不同的來源，只是在英文裡撞成同一個拼法——所以不必去想「純粹」和「轉向」之間有什麼關聯，那是同形異源，不是引申。

Wiktionary (sheer, verb: perhaps from Dutch scheren 'to move aside, skim'; cf. shear — listed as a separate etymology from the adjective)

原始詞典資料12 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。

Sheername

  • 1

    A surname.

sheeradj詞源 1/ʃɪə̯/

  • 1

    businessmanufacturingtextilesVery thin or transparent.

    • Her light, sheer dress caught everyone’s attention.
    • “She sheathed her legs in the sheerest of the nylons that her father had brought back from the Continent, and slipped her feet into the toeless, high-heeled shoes of black suède.”
  • 2

    obsoletePure in composition; unmixed; unadulterated.

    • If she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the lying’st knave in Christendom.
    • Thou sheer, immaculate and silver fountain, / From when this stream through muddy passages / Hath held his current and defiled himself!
  • 3

    Downright; complete; pure.

    • I think it is sheer genius to invent such a thing.
    • This poem is sheer nonsense.
  • 4

    Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.

    • The army's sheer size made it impossible to resist.
    • Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state’s well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.
  • 5

    Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.

    • It was a sheer drop of 180 feet.

sheeradv詞源 1/ʃɪə̯/

  • 1

    archaicClean; completely; at once.

    • Hector the ashen lance of Ajax smote / With his broad faulchion, at the nether end, / And lopp’d it sheer.
    • Swift into the dark stream at once he fell, / As the red star at once falls swift and sheer / From sky to sea

sheernoun詞源 1/ʃɪə̯/

  • 1

    A sheer curtain or fabric.

    • Use sheers to maximize natural light.
    • Lightweight, tightly woven silkies, sheers, lingerie

sheernoun詞源 2/ʃɪə̯/

  • 1

    nauticaltransportThe curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.

  • 2

    nauticaltransportAn abrupt swerve from the course of a ship.

sheerverb詞源 2/ʃɪə̯/

  • 1

    nauticaltransportTo swerve from a course.

    • I sheered her well inshore—the water being deepest near the bank, as the sounding–pole informed me.
    • Seydlitz correctly identifies the larger shell splashes as coming from the two "large light cruisers" at the rear, and takes aim. Moments later, Courageous sheers out of line, smoke and steam venting through a massive hole in her side, the shells having blasted right through whatever excuse for armor was present and detonated amidst the boiler rooms. She is doomed.

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。