喜樂美語
  1. 1nB2/dɪˈstrʌkʃən/破壞；毀滅

    The act of damaging something so badly that it no longer exists or cannot be used, or the state of being ruined like this.

    示範例句 · Example

    The destruction of the rainforest puts many animals in danger.

    逐字雨林的破壞使許多動物陷入危險。

    「destruction」是動詞 destroy 的名詞，指把某樣東西徹底破壞、弄到不存在或無法再用的那個過程或結果。它比 damage 更嚴重——damage 是受損還能修，destruction 是整個毀掉。常用在天災、環境、戰爭等大範圍的破壞。

    常見搭配

    • the destruction of something

      對某物的破壞

      the ruining of a particular thing

      People are worried about the destruction of the coral reefs.

    • environmental destruction

      環境破壞

      serious damage to nature

      Plastic waste is a big cause of environmental destruction.

    • widespread destruction

      大範圍的破壞

      damage that covers a large area

      The flood caused widespread destruction across the valley.

    • cause destruction

      造成破壞

      to make destruction happen

      A careless campfire can cause huge destruction.

core核心畫面

Picture something that was put together piece by piece — a house, a forest, a city — being taken apart again until nothing is left standing and nothing is left to use. 'Destruction' names that whole event, and also the state it leaves behind. The key is that it is not a scratch or a dent: it is the un-building of a thing.

destruction 可以想成「把蓋起來的東西反過來拆掉」的畫面：一棟房子、一片森林、一座城市，本來是一塊一塊堆起來的，現在被一塊一塊拆掉，拆到沒有東西還站著、也沒有東西還能用。這個字同時指「拆」的那個過程，和拆完之後留下的那個狀態。

From the word’s history

Latin destruere is literally 'un-build': de- 'down, un-' plus struere 'to pile up, build'. English took the noun destructionem 'a pulling down' around 1300, via Old French. The modern word still carries that picture — not damage to a thing, but the taking-apart of something that had been put together.

拉丁文 destruere 字面就是「反過來蓋」：de-（往下、反向）加上 struere（堆起、建造），合起來是「拆毀」。英文在 1300 年前後經由古法文借進 destruction「拆毀、被毀的狀態」。這個字到今天都還帶著那個畫面——不是把東西弄壞一點，而是把原本組合起來的東西整個拆散。

Online Etymology Dictionary — https://www.etymonline.com/word/destruction

同家族的字

原始詞典資料3 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。

destructionnoun/dɪsˈtɹʌkʃən/

  • 1

    The act of destroying.

    • The destruction of the condemned building will take place at noon.
    • It may be that a free society as we have known it carries in itself the forces of its own destruction, that once freedom has been achieved it is taken for granted and ceases to be valued, and that the free growth of ideas which is the essence of a free society will bring about the destruction of the foundations on which it depends.
  • 2

    The results of a destructive event.

    • Amid the seemingly endless destruction, a single flower bloomed.
    • If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.
  • 3

    A group of feral cats.

    • A group of wild cats is called a destruction.

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。