喜樂美語

One way to hold it: the distance from the surface down to the bottom grows. Whatever the thing is, it gains more 'down' than it had before.

從表面往下算的那段距離變長了。原本水面到河底是一公尺，挖過之後變成三公尺——東西沒有變大、變寬，變的是「往下」的那個方向多了。deep 加上 -en（使…變成），deepen 就是「讓往下的那一段長出來」。英文很喜歡把這個垂直的量拿去比喻各種看不見的東西：感情、危機、聲音、顏色，全都可以「往下長」。

From the word’s history

Simply deep + -en, the suffix that turns an adjective into 'become/make more so' (as in widen, darken, soften). So the word is literally 'become deep', and every extended sense is the vertical picture of deep applied to something that has no real bottom.

構詞很單純：deep（深）+ -en（使…變得、變成），跟 widen（變寬）、darken（變暗）、soften（變軟）同一個模子。所以 deepen 字面就是「變深」。有意思的是引申都不是來自 deepen 本身，而是繼承 deep 的比喻：英文早就用「深」去講感情、理解、顏色和聲音，deepen 只是把那些「深」再往下推一格。

Wiktionary 'deepen' etymology (deep + -en)

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

容易混在一起的字在訂閱裡。容易混在一起的字需要訂閱帳號。

同家族的字

過去式 deepened過去分詞 deepened-ing deepening三單 deepens

原始詞典資料13 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。

deepenverb/ˈdiːpən/

  • 1

    To make deep or deeper

    • They deepened the well by 200 feet.
  • 2

    To make darker or more intense; to darken

    • The event deepened the prevailing gloom.
  • 3

    To make more poignant or affecting; to increase in degree

    • News of her death deepened my sorrow.
  • 4

    To make lower in tone

    • The tuner deepened the tone of the organ.
  • 5

    To make more thorough or extensive.

    • The class deepened my understanding of the subject.
    • The AIDS crisis changes day by day, and the pamphlet was completed a year ago. Much remains to be deepened and updated: we recognize that, and would welcome discussion.
  • 6

    To make more intimate.

    • The shared experiences deepened our relationship.
  • 7

    To make more sound or heavy.

    • The hypnotist then proceeded to deepen his trance.
  • 8

    To become deeper

    • The water deepens as you go toward the middle of the channel.
另外 5 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    To become darker or more intense

    • The crisis deepened in the following weeks.
    • We may be pardoned our nostalgia, those of us who can remember the old days, the days before the grouping and before standardisation, when we see, as today we see so often, the derelict and abandoned buildings of what were once railway stations, for the life which they used to enjoy we lived with them. There they stand, today, as the dusk deepens about them, lampless, cold and deserted.
  • 10

    To become lower in tone

    • His voice deepened with age.
  • 11

    To become more thorough or extensive.

    • His skill in deciphering the texts deepened with practice.
  • 12

    To become more intimate.

    • The conversation deepened and they began to truly share.
    • He's in the process of breaking up with one boyfriend, who refuses to let their relationship deepen, and courting another, who promises to be somebody with whom he could grow old.
  • 13

    To become more sound or heavy.

    • The new bed allowed my sleep to deepen.

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。