核心畫面

Take a tape measure and run it once round the middle of something, at the place where it pulls in. That single line is the whole word. Round a person it gives a number a tailor or a doctor down. On a dress it is a line the designer can move up or down. Down the side of a car it is the line under the windows. Same line, three surfaces.

可以想成拿一條皮尺,繞著某個東西的中段走一圈,停在最收窄的位置。那一條線就是這個字的全部。繞在人身上,得到的是裁縫或更多收起可以想成拿一條皮尺,繞著某個東西的中段走一圈,停在最收窄的位置。那一條線就是這個字的全部。繞在人身上,得到的是裁縫或醫生記下來的數字。畫在洋裝上,變成設計師可以上下移動的一條線。拉到車子側面,就是窗戶下方那一道。同一條線,換三個表面而已。

From the word’s history

The supplied Wiktionary entry is explicit: waistline is waist + line. The compound is transparent, and every use keeps both halves — a waist-height line drawn once round a body, a garment or a vehicle.

packet 附的 Wiktionary 資料寫得很直接:waistline 就是 waist(腰)加 line(線)。這個複合字是透明的,拆開就看得懂。所有用法都同時保留這兩半:在腰的高度上,繞一圈畫出的一條線。知道這一點,衣服和車子的用法就不必另外背。

Wiktionary entry supplied in this batch's evidence packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:832032578, From waist + line)

Two branches

畫在人身上的那條線

這一支是核心畫面的原點:線繞在人身上,而且會量出一個數字。

noun · B2

The measurement around the narrowest part of your middle, and the line it follows round the body. It comes up when people talk about clothing sizes and about body size or weight.

腰圍

畫在物品上的那條線

線離開身體,搬到人做出來的東西上。最大的差別是:這時候線的位置是有人決定的,可以往上移,也可以往下移。

noun · B2

The line on a piece of clothing where the garment is narrowest, which the designer can place at the waist, above it, or below it.

(衣服的)腰線