Picture two things coming toward each other and meeting head-on, face to face. Encounter is that moment of coming up against something — sometimes a person you bump into, sometimes a problem that blocks your path. The meeting is not planned; it just appears right in front of you.
From the word’s history
From Old French encontre 'against, counter to' (Latin in- + contra 'against'). The verb (c.1300) first meant 'to meet as an adversary'; the softer 'casually meet' arrived in the early 1500s. That 'contra / face-to-face against' base is why encounter still fits both bumping into a person and running into a problem.
來自古法文 encontre「對著、相向」（拉丁文 in- + contra「對抗」）。動詞最早（約1300年）是「與人交鋒、當對手相遇」，後來才軟化成「偶然碰上」。這個「迎面、對著」的底子，正好說明為什麼 encounter 既能指巧遇一個人，也能指撞上一個難題。
etymonline.com/word/encounter
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料11 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。
encounterverb/ɪnˈkaʊntə/
- 1
To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly.
- It fits Ioues ſonne / VVraſtle vvith Lyons, and to tugge vvith Beares, / Grapple vvith Dragons, and incounter VVhales.
- H' incounters Talgol, routs the Bear, / And takes the Fidler Prisoner; / Conveys him to enchanted Castle, / There shuts him fast in wooden Bastile.
- 2
To confront (someone or something) face to face.
- 3
rareTo meet one another.
- […] yet when the brother and the sister had encountered, according to the set appointment, none of these impassionedments had been repeated.
- 4
To engage in conflict, as with an enemy.
- Three armies encountered at Waterloo.
- Techelles, and the reſt prepare your ſwordes: I meane to incounter with that Baiazeth.
- 5
To kill or execute someone extrajudicially.
- Speaking to the media, Reddy said, "He (Accused in 6-year-old rape and murder case) should be encountered. We will nab the accused and will encounter him. We will stand by the victim's family. We console them and will provide aid to the family. We will encounter him (the accused)."
encounternoun/ɪnˈkaʊntə/
- 1
A meeting, especially one that is unplanned or unexpected.
- Their encounter was a matter of chance.
- That was Selwyn's first encounter with the Ruthvens. A short time afterward at the opera Gerald dragged him into a parterre to say something amiable to one of the amiable débutante Craig girls—and Selwyn found himself again facing Alixe.
- 2
A hostile, often violent meeting; a confrontation, skirmish, or clash, as between combatants.
- 3
hobbieslifestylesportsA match between two opposing sides.
- Andre Santos equalised and the outstanding Theo Walcott put Arsenal ahead for the first time before Juan Mata's spectacular strike set up the finale for an enthralling encounter.
- 4
lifestylesexualityA sexual encounter; sexual activity, especially unplanned or unexpected, between two people who have not already established a sexual relationship with each other. In many cases, it does not lead to a relationship, and thus is utterly transient. A sexual encounter can be consensual or non-consensual; in the latter case, it is known as sexual assault. A consensual sexual encounter that happens only once is commonly known as a one-night stand.
- Though Mr. Cosby described the sexual encounter in 2004 as consensual, Ms. Constand said she was too intoxicated to physically or verbally resist.
- 5
sciencesThe period of a space mission during which it carries out its data-gathering objectives.
- 6
An extrajudicial killing or execution.
- Telangana Labour and Employment Minister Malla Reddy on Tuesday said that the guilty person in the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Hyderabad "will be nabbed and will be killed in an encounter".
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。