One way to hold indemnify: someone takes a loss, and another side puts them back where they stood before it. The word covers the same act at two moments. First the promise, written into a contract before anything breaks. Then the money, handed over after something has broken. Both moments aim at the same picture, which is a hole being filled until it looks as if nothing happened.

可以想成:有人受了損失,另一邊出面把他放回損失之前的位置。indemnify 講的是同一件事的兩個時間點。先是承諾,在東西還好好的時候就寫進合約。再來是錢,在東西壞了以後真的付出去。兩個時間點指向同一個畫面:一個洞被補起來,補到看起來像沒發生過。也因為這樣,這個字幾乎只活在合約、保險和法律的語境裡。

From the word’s history

The packet's source gives the make-up of the word as indemn ("unhurt") plus -ify, the ending that makes verbs. That lines up with the core: to keep someone unhurt, or to put them back to unhurt.

來源把這個字拆成 indemn(未受傷害)加上 -ify(使變成)。這和核心畫面正好對得上:讓對方維持在沒受傷害的狀態,或是把他補回那個狀態。

Wiktionary entry supplied in this packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1023699515:13035): 'From indemn ("unhurt") + -ify (forming verbs)'

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。