One way to picture it: two things placed side by side, with one sitting lower than the other. The word never describes a thing on its own — it always needs the other thing above it, whether the height is quality, rank, or how you feel next to someone.

兩個東西被放在一起比高低,而這一個位置比較低。這個字幾乎不能單獨描述一樣東西,它總是需要旁邊有另一個「比較高的」存在——至於高低量的是品質、是職位、還是站在別人旁邊時心裡的感覺,那是後來分出來的。

From the word’s history

From Latin īnferior, the comparative of īnferus 'below, underneath' — literally 'lower'. The comparative form is the point: the word is built to compare, so a lower position is always a position relative to something above.

來自拉丁文 īnferior,是 īnferus(在下面的)的比較級,字面就是「比較低的」。關鍵在「比較級」這個形式:這個字生下來就是拿來比的,所以它講的低,永遠是相對於上面某個東西的低。

Wiktionary: inferior < Latin īnferior, comparative of īnferus ('below, underneath')

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

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。

inferioradj/ɪnˈfɪə.ɹi.ə/

  • 1

    Lower in rank, status, or quality.

    • Anna had always felt inferior to her brother due to poor school grades.
    • The pathological liar was morally inferior to his much nicer constituents.
  • 2

    Lower in rank, status, or quality.

    • an inferior officer
    • Due to the internet issue, the system generates an inferior audio file.
  • 3

    lawLower in rank, status, or quality.

  • 4

    economicssciencesLower in rank, status, or quality.

  • 5

    anatomymedicinesciencesLocated below:

  • 6

    biologynatural-scienceszoologyLocated below:

  • 7

    biologybotanynatural-sciencesLocated below:

  • 8

    biologybotanynatural-sciencesLocated below:

另外 3 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    mediapublishingtypographyLocated below:

    • an inferior figure or letter
  • 10

    astronomynatural-sciencesLocated below:

    • the inferior part of a meridian
  • 11

    astronomynatural-sciencesNearer to the Sun than the Earth is.

    • the inferior or interior planets
    • an inferior conjunction of Mercury or Venus

inferiornoun/ɪnˈfɪə.ɹi.ə/

  • 1

    A person of lower rank, stature, or ability to another.

    • ,
    • As you are my inferior, I can tell you to do anything I want.
  • 2

    mediaprintingpublishingAn inferior letter, figure, or symbol.

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。