A condenser can be pictured as the place in a machine where something loose and spread out is gathered and packed into a smaller, denser form: hot gas pulled back into drops of liquid, electricity held in one small store, scattered light brought onto a single bright spot. The word always names a part, never the whole machine.

可以想成:condenser 是機器裡「把散開的東西收攏起來」的那一站。熱氣體在這裡被收回成液滴,電被收進一個小零件裡存著,四散的光被收到一個亮點上。每個用法都在做同一件事——把原本鋪開的東西,壓進更小、更密的形式。也因為這樣,它指的永遠是機器裡的一個零件,不是整台機器。

From the word’s history

From condense + -er, literally the thing that condenses.

從 condense(凝聚、變濃)加 -er(做這件事的東西)來的,字面就是「做凝聚這件事的裝置」。這條線索跟上面的畫面是同一件事:所有用法都圍著「收攏」打轉。

Wiktionary entry for condenser, etymology supplied in this packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1381451787)

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