bulwark 復習

　昨日は憲法記念日でした。世界情勢が大きく変わった今、日本国憲法への意見が様々あるようです。

Japan's 'peace constitution' set for an overhaul after 70 years as nationalists push for military powers to defend against North Korean aggression

Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of forces as a means of settling international disputes.

In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

A paragraph in the constitution says the Japanese people must 'renounce war' and says land, sea and air forces 'will never be maintained'.

In a speech to supporters yesterday, Mr Abe said: 'The time is ripe. We will take a historic step towards the major goal of revising the constitution in this milestone year.'

Those against amending the document believe it serves as a bulwark against a repeat of Japan's World War Two aggression, and say changing it will amount to whitewashing the country's history.

（一部抜粋）

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4466358/Japan-s-peace-constitution-set-overhaul.html#ixzz4g2EzQHEq

　今回はbulwark /búlwərk/に注目いたしました。Oxford Dictionary of English(Second Edition Reserved, Oxford University Press)によると、 “a defensive wall”、 “an extension of a ship’s sides above the level of the deck”の二つ定義されております。『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版，大修館）で調べたところ、「防波堤」、「防護する人（制度など）」そして「舷しょう」と載っておりました。

インターネット辞書サイトMerriam-Websterによると語源はドイツ語のbolwercで、bolがtree trunk(木の幹)、wercがworkの意味を持つとのことです。（Gomez）

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20160328/1459123646:titile