- 1沒有樹的、光禿禿的（多用來形容荒原、高山、草原這類大片開闊地）。中文常說「不長樹的」「光禿一片」。
A treeless place has no trees in it. Simple — but the word is almost always doing something more than counting.
A treeless place一個沒有樹的地方 has no trees in it裡面沒有樹 Simple很簡單——but the word不過這個字 is almost always doing something more than counting幾乎總是在講數量以外的事
When you say a is treeless, you are usually saying it looks bare, exposed, hard, with nothing to stand under and nothing to break the wind. Writers use it for , high mountain , the far north, wide flat , and for land where people cut everything down. So it leans towards emptiness rather than towards tidiness.
When you say a hillside is treeless當你說一片山坡treeless, you你 are usually saying it looks bare, exposed, hard通常是在說它看起來光禿禿、沒有遮蔽、很嚴酷, with nothing to stand under沒有東西可以躲在下面, and nothing to break the wind也沒有東西能擋風 Writers作家 use it for deserts用它形容沙漠, high mountain slopes高山坡地, the far north遙遠的北方, wide flat grasslands一望無際的平坦草原, and for land where people cut everything down以及被人砍光的土地 So所以 it leans towards emptiness它偏向講「空」, rather than towards tidiness而不是講「整齊」
That is why you would not normally call a parking lot or an office 'treeless' — the word wants open land, somewhere trees could have grown.
That is why這就是為什麼 you would not normally call a parking lot or an office 'treeless'你通常不會說停車場或辦公室是treeless — the word wants open land這個字要的是開闊的土地, somewhere trees could have grown一個本來可能長樹的地方
The -less ending is simply 'without', the same one in 'useless' and 'homeless'. It is not the opposite of 'treelike'. And note that it is absolute: treeless means no trees, not 'few trees'.
The -less ending-less這個字尾 is simply 'without'就是「沒有」的意思, the same one in 'useless' and 'homeless'跟useless、homeless裡的是同一個 It它 is not the opposite of 'treelike'不是'treelike'的反義詞 And而且 note that it is absolute要注意這個字是絕對的: treeless means no trees意思是完全沒有樹, not 'few trees'而不是「樹很少」
If a slope has a of pines, English says 'almost treeless' or 'nearly treeless', and you will meet those hedged forms very often — writers reach for the hedge because the plain word is so total.
If a slope has a scattering of pines如果一片山坡上零星長著幾棵松樹, English英文 says 'almost treeless' or 'nearly treeless'會說'almost treeless'或'nearly treeless', and you will meet those hedged forms very often而你會很常遇到這種加了保留語氣的說法 — writers reach for the hedge作家會用這種保留說法, because the plain word is so total因為原本那個詞太絕對了
core核心畫面
組成tree（樹）+ -less（沒有…的）。-less 一路從古英文 -lēas 傳下來，最早跟「失去、鬆脫」同源，所以骨子裡的意思是「缺了這個東西」。tree 更早可以追到原始印歐語 *drew-。
原始詞典資料1 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。
treelessadj
- 1
Having no trees.
- The line is unfenced, except in the vicinity of stations, and runs across the treeless Mesaorian plain for the whole distance between Famagusta and Nicosia.
- Their path led them past sharp cliffs, along narrow trails unknown and untrodden, past headlong boulders strewn across barren, treeless, wind-haunted heights.
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。