喜樂美語

You can picture small as something that takes up little space — you can hold it in your hand, it doesn't fill much room, there isn't much of it. From that one picture of 'little in size or amount' everything else grows: little also comes to mean not important, a child being young (not yet grown big), a business or a voice being slight, and a long list of fixed phrases that play on 'small'. The noun uses point at small, curved-in spots — the small of your back, and 'smalls' (the little items of underwear).

可以把 small 想成「佔不了多少空間」的東西——握得進手心、塞不滿房間、份量不多。從這個「體積或數量很小」的畫面,其他意思一個個長出來:小也延伸成不重要、小孩還沒長大(年幼)、公司或聲音很細小,還有一長串拿「小」來玩的固定說法。名詞用法則指向身上那些又小又凹進去的地方——後腰(the small of your back),以及 smalls(那些小件的內衣褲)。

From the word’s history

Small comes from Old English smæl 'slender, narrow, thin', from Proto-Germanic *smalaz. The early sense was 'thin/narrow' (as in a thin animal or a narrow thing), which broadened into the general 'little in size' we use today — the core picture of taking up little space.

small 來自古英語 smæl(細、窄、瘦),更早可追到原始日耳曼語 *smalaz。最早的意思是「細瘦、狹窄」(像瘦小的動物、窄窄的東西),後來放寬成今天泛指的「體積小」——也就是「佔不了多少空間」這個核心畫面。

etymonline.com/word/small; Wiktionary 'small'

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

同家族的字

  • 名詞smallness

a比較級 smaller最高級 smallest

n複數 smalls

意思相反

biggrown-upcapitallargemajorolderupper-casehugeseriousloudbooming

原始詞典資料21 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。

Smallname

  • 1

    A surname.

    • “People have biases towards species that are glamorous,” said Dr. Ernie Small, author of the study and taxonomist for Agriculture Canada.

smalladj/smɔl/

  • 1

    Not large or big; insignificant; few in number.

    • A small serving of ice cream.
    • A small group.
  • 2

    Not large or big; insignificant; few in number.

    • The bullies had succeeded in making him feel small.
    • For all the times that you made me feel small / I fell in love, now I feel nothing at all
  • 3

    Not large or big; insignificant; few in number.

    • (of genitals)
    • Though over six feet tall, the man was very small and ashamed to undress.
  • 4

    Young, as a child.

    • Remember when the children were small?
  • 5

    communicationsjournalismliteratureMinuscule or lowercase, referring to written or printed letters.

    • "I've got catholic tastes. Catholic with a small "c", of course."
  • 6

    Evincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; paltry; mean.

    • A true delineation of the smallest man is capable of interesting the greatest man.
  • 7

    Not prolonged in duration; not extended in time; short.

    • a small space of time
  • 8

    Synonym of little (“of an industry or institution(s) therein: operating on a small scale, unlike larger counterparts”).

    • small science
另外 2 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    archaicSlender, gracefully slim.

  • 10

    businessclothingfashionThat is small (the manufactured size).

    • I'll have a small coffee, thanks.

smalladv/smɔl/

  • 1

    In a small fashion

    • Don't write very small!
  • 2

    In or into small pieces.

    • That's going to go in there. We've got some chives small chopped as well.
  • 3

    obsoleteTo a small extent.

    • It small avails my mood.
  • 4

    obsoleteIn a low tone; softly.

    • That's all one: you shall play it in a mask, and / you may speak as small as you will.

smallnoun/smɔl/

  • 1

    businessclothingfashionOne of several common sizes to which an item may be manufactured, smaller than a medium.

  • 2

    businessclothingfashionAn item labelled or denoted as being that size.

    • Two smalls and a large, please.
  • 3

    One who fits an item of that size.

  • 4

    rareAny part of something that is smaller or slimmer than the rest, now usually with anatomical reference to the back.

    • I got a splitting pain in the small of my back

smallverb/smɔl/

  • 1

    obsoleteTo make little or less.

  • 2

    To become small; to dwindle.

    • And smalled till she was nought at all.

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。