Picture a hand shaking a jar: the liquid inside will not sit still. Agitate can be seen as that shaking, carried from a jar to a person and then to a whole town. The water keeps moving. The upset person keeps moving — pacing, talking fast, unable to settle. The group of people keeps making noise until someone in power moves. Three uses that sound far apart, with one action underneath them all: something that was quiet is kept in motion.
From the word’s history
The evidence packet traces agitate through Middle English agitat(e) 'set in motion' to Latin agitō 'to put in motion', a frequentative of agō 'to drive, move, push'. That 'keep setting it in motion' idea sits close to the shaking picture above.
證據裡的字源是拉丁文 agitō「使之動起來」，來自 agō（推、驅動）；中古英語 agitat(e) 的意思正是「使開始運動」。這條線索和上面「一直讓它動」的畫面很接近，可以拿來幫助記憶。
Wiktionary entry 'agitate' (verb), source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:442214832:25450, supplied in the evidence packet
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料6 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，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。
agitateverb/ˈæ.d͡ʒɪ.teɪt/
- 1
To disturb or excite; to perturb or stir up (a person).
- He was greatly agitated by the news.
- 2
To cause to move with a violent, irregular action; to shake.
- to agitate water in a vessel
- The wind agitates the sea.
- 3
To participate in political agitation (sense 3).
- NAMBLA is working to build a coalition of gay, lesbian, progressive and civil liberties groups to agitate against the increasing state attacks on gay men who associate with boys.
- 4
obsoleteTo set in motion; to actuate.
- 5
archaicTo discuss or debate.
- Your speech at the time a bill for the regency was agitated now lies before me.
- 6
archaicTo mull over, or think deeply about; to consider, to devise.
- Politicians agitate desperate designs.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。