喜樂美語

Something once solid slowly breaking down from the inside — fruit going soft and brown, wood to powder, left alone long enough that nature takes it apart.

一樣本來好好的東西，被放著不管，慢慢從裡面壞掉：水果變軟變褐、木頭一捏就碎成粉、牙齒被蛀出洞。重點有三個——它是慢的（不是一下子壞掉）、是自然發生的（沒有人動手破壞）、而且是從內部瓦解（外表可能還在，裡面已經沒了）。這個字的其他用法幾乎都是把這幅畫面搬到別的東西上。

From the word’s history

Inherited from Middle English roten, from Old English rotian "to rot, putrefy, become corrupted", from Proto-West Germanic *rotēn, from Proto-Germanic *rutāną "to rot". Notably, Old English rotian already carried both the physical sense (putrefy) and the figurative one (become corrupted) — the decay-of-a-system meaning is not a modern invention.

由古英語 rotian（腐爛、化膿、敗壞）一路繼承下來，再往上是原始日耳曼語 *rutāną（腐爛）。值得注意的是：古英語的 rotian 就同時帶著「肉體腐敗」和「敗壞、墮落」兩層意思，所以「制度或團隊爛掉」並不是現代人新發明的比喻，而是這個字很早就有的另一張臉。

Wiktionary, "rot" (etymology section, as supplied in the entry's attested origins)

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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。

同家族的字

過去式 rotted過去分詞 rotted-ing rotting三單 rots

原始詞典資料14 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。

rotverb/ɹɒt/

  • 1

    To suffer decomposition due to biological action, especially by fungi or bacteria.

    • The apple left in the cupboard all that time had started to rot.
    • Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, / To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot.
  • 2

    To decline in function or utility.

    • Your brain will rot if you spend so much time on the computer, Tony!
  • 3

    To (cause to) deteriorate in any way, as in morals; to corrupt.

  • 4

    To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes.

    • to rot vegetable fiber
  • 5

    To spend a long period of time (in an unpleasant place or state).

    • to rot in prison
    • to rot in Hell
  • 6

    To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.

  • 7

    datedslangTo talk nonsense.

    • “Did they hang you well?” said Porson. “Don’t rot,” said Mr Watkins; “I don’t like it.”
    • Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’
  • 8

    slangDamn; blast.

    • "Oh rot yer!" exclaimed Fank, with a sudden flare of passion that at least carried with it the dignity of a genuine emotion; "I've had just abart enough of you and your blinkin' game, Toady Joolby. Here, I'd sooner smash the bloody thing, straight, than be such a ruddy mug as to swallow any of your blahsted promises […]"

rotnoun/ɹɒt/

  • 1

    The process of becoming rotten; putrefaction.

  • 2

    Decaying matter.

    • When a turkey vulture detects the scent of rot, it circles down, tracing the plume of chemicals to its source.
  • 3

    Any of several diseases in which breakdown of tissue occurs.

    • His cattle must of rot and murrain die.
  • 4

    Verbal nonsense.

    • You're talking rot! I don't believe a word.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

  • record of transmission
  • refugee Olympics team

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。