喜樂美語

You can picture a split screen: on the left, the thing we were just talking about; on the right, something else running through the very same stretch of time. Meanwhile is the word that switches the camera to the other half.

可以想成電影裡的分割畫面：左邊是剛剛在講的那件事，右邊是同一段時間裡另一頭正在發生的事。meanwhile 就是那個把鏡頭切到另一半的字。

From the word’s history

The 'mean' in meanwhile is the old adjective meaning 'middle, intermediate' (via Old French moien from Latin medianus 'of the middle'), so meanwhile is literally 'the middle time' — the stretch in between.

meanwhile 裡的 mean 不是「意思」也不是「刻薄」，而是一個舊的形容詞「中間的」（經古法語 moien，來自拉丁文 medianus「中間的」）。所以整個字字面就是「中間那段時間」——兩件事之間、或兩個時間點之間的那一段。知道這一點，「同時」和「在這期間」兩種用法就是同一段中間時間的兩種看法。

Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/meanwhile

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。

意思相近

at the same timein the meantimemeantimein the meanwhilesimultaneouslyuntil thenwhile this happensfor nowon the other handby contrastwhereas

原始詞典資料4 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。

meanwhilenoun/ˈmiːnwaɪl/

  • 1

    The time between two events.

    • In the meanwhile, the surveyors carried the line three miles, which was no contemptible day's work, considering how cruelly they were entangled with briers and gallbushes.

meanwhileadv/ˈmiːnwaɪl/

  • 1

    During the time that something is happening, often specifically in a different place.

    • There was a party going on downstairs. Meanwhile, I was reading a book.
    • Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.
  • 2

    During an intervening time; from now until a future time.

    • We’re going on holiday next month; meanwhile, keep working on the project.
    • The day may dawn when fair play, love for one's fellow men, respect for justice and freedom, will enable tormented generations to march forth triumphant from the hideous epoch in which we have to dwell. Meanwhile, never flinch, never weary, never despair.
  • 3

    In contrast to aspects previously mentioned.

    • Some songs on the album are beautiful. Meanwhile, others are quite forgettable.
    • When you are in the studio you don’t have anybody to feed off of, meanwhile when you are playing live you interact with people and you feel the energy in the room.

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。