核心畫面

A useful way to picture it: wood seen as building material — not a tree standing in a forest, but wood on its way into a house.

木頭被當成「蓋東西的料」在看。同樣一棵樹,你若看的是它的葉子和影子,那是 tree;你若看的是它能鋸成幾根樑、撐得起更多收起木頭被當成「蓋東西的料」在看。同樣一棵樹,你若看的是它的葉子和影子,那是 tree;你若看的是它能鋸成幾根樑、撐得起哪面牆,那就是 timber。這個字的重心一直放在「拿來蓋、拿來做」這個用途上,所以它可以往前延伸到還沒砍的那片林子,也可以往後延伸到已經架上屋頂的那根樑。

From the word’s history

Old English timber meant 'building material, the act of building' — the wood-sense came from the building-sense, not the other way round; it traces to a root about building and arranging (compare Latin domus, 'house').

古英語的 timber 原本指的是「建材、蓋房子這件事」,字根跟「建造、安排」有關(跟拉丁文 domus「房子」同源)。也就是說,這個字是先有「蓋」的意思,才用來指蓋房子用的木頭——這正好解釋了為什麼 timber 從來不是泛指木頭,而始終黏著「拿來造」這個用途。

Wiktionary, entry "timber" (etymology from Old English timber, Proto-Germanic *timrą, PIE *dem-)

Two branches

當作建材的木頭

核心本身,以及它往前後兩端的自然延伸:從林中的樹,到成材的木料,到屋子裡的那根樑。

wood (material) · noun · C2

Wood that people use for building houses or making things such as furniture.

木材

伐木時的喊聲

不是從核心長出的比喻,而是伐木現場把這個字直接當口號喊出來,聽的人一聽就知道跟樹有關。

"timber!" (falling-tree warning) · noun · C2

A shout that warns people a tree is going to fall, used when someone is cutting it down.

樹倒了

原始詞典資料14 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。

timbernoun/ˈtɪmbə/

  • 1

    Trees in a forest regarded as a source of wood.

    • collect timber
    • cut down timber
  • 2

    Wood that has been pre-cut and is ready for use in construction.

  • 3

    A heavy wooden beam, generally a whole log that has been squared off and used to provide heavy support for something such as a roof.

    • the timbers of a ship
  • 4

    Material for any structure.

  • 5

    informalengineeringfirearmsgovernmentThe wooden stock of a rifle or shotgun.

  • 6

    archaicA certain quantity of fur skins (as of martens, ermines, sables, etc.) packed between boards; in some cases forty skins, in others one hundred and twenty. Also timmer, timbre.

  • 7

    slangball-gamescricketgamesThe stumps.

timberintj/ˈtɪmbə/

  • 1

    Used by loggers to warn others that a tree being felled is falling.

    • From the core of the trunk come explosive cracks sounding like rifle-fire. The top of the tree begins swaying drunkenly, as if struggling to keep on its feet. The warning cry "Timber!"
  • 2

    A cry used when anything is falling over.

    • The cameras caught the big man crashing to the studio floor. It seemed to take an age for Sticks to hit the deck and as he went down we all chorused "Timberrrr!"

timberverb/ˈtɪmbə/

  • 1

    To fit with timbers.

    • timbering a roof
  • 2

    obsoleteTo construct, frame, build.

    • For many heads that undertake [learning], were never squared nor timbred for it.
  • 3

    falconryhobbieshuntingTo light or land on a tree.

  • 4

    obsoleteTo make a nest.

  • 5

    To surmount as a timber does.

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。