喜樂美語

核心畫面

Think of it as words that a person lifts up and locks in front of witnesses — a promise so weighted that breaking it would break the person's own standing.

一個人把話「立」起來，當著見證者的面說出一句自己往後都要照著走的話。vow 的重量不在內容有多難，而在那句話一旦出口…更多收起一個人把話「立」起來，當著見證者的面說出一句自己往後都要照著走的話。vow 的重量不在內容有多難，而在那句話一旦出口就被鎖住了——它不像 promise 那樣可以順口說說，它通常有場合、有見證、有分量。可以想成你把自己的名譽押在那句話上面：說出來之後，反悔的代價不是別人罰你，而是你自己站不住。

From the word’s history

Latin vōtum ‘a promise, a thing pledged to a god’, from vovēre ‘to pledge’; vote is a doublet — both are acts of formally handing over your will so it counts.

拉丁文 vōtum 意思是「許下的願、獻給神的承諾」，來自動詞 vovēre（許願、承諾）。這條線索和今天的核心很貼合：vow 最早是對神說的話——你把一句話獻出去，就再也收不回來。有趣的是 vote（投票）和 vow 是同源的雙生詞，投票同樣是把自己的意志正式交出去、讓它算數。

Wiktionary, entry ‘vow’ (Middle English vowe < Old French vut < Latin vōtum, from vovēre); doublet of vote.

Three branches

對人立下的重誓（名詞）

這一族就是核心本身：把話立起來、讓它有約束力的那個「一句重話」。

solemn promise · noun · C2

A very serious promise that you make to yourself or to other people.

誓言

向神許下的願（宗教線）

和核心是同一個動作，只是見證者從人換成了神；重量的來源從名譽換成了信仰。

religious promise · noun · C2

A serious religious promise that you will do something for God or for the church.

誓願

立下這句話的動作（動詞）

名詞是那句立起來的話，動詞就是「把它立起來」的那個動作；語意完全一樣，只是換了詞性。

make a solemn promise · verb · C2

To make a very serious promise to yourself or to someone else.

發誓

原始詞典資料6 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。

vownoun/vaʊ/

  • 1

    A solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner, especially a promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order.

    • The old hermit, up in the mountains, took a vow of silence.
    • And Moses spake vnto the heads of the tribes, concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded. If a man vowe a vow vnto the Lord, or sweare an othe to bind his soule with a bond: he shall not breake his word, hee shall doe according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.
  • 2

    A declaration or assertion.

    • Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.
  • 3

    obsoleteA votive offering.

    • There are also waxen vows, that represent other parts of the body mixed with them; but of these there are few in comparison of the number of the Priapi.

vowverb/vaʊ/

  • 1

    To make a vow; to promise.

    • When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it.
    • We do not vow that we will never sin, nor neglect a duty (nor ought we to do so).
  • 2

    To make a vow regarding (something).

    • The wronged woman vowed revenge.
  • 3

    To declare publicly that one has made a vow, usually to show one's determination or to announce an act of retaliation.

    • The rebels vowed to continue their fight.

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。