infatuation 復習

　A year ago Donald Trump produced the biggest political upset in modern-day America, but were there historical clues that pointed to his unexpected victory?
　Flying into Los Angeles, a descent that takes you from the desert, over the mountains, to the outer suburbs dotted with swimming pools shaped like kidneys, always brings on a near narcotic surge of nostalgia.
　This was the flight path I followed more than 30 years ago, as I fulfilled a boyhood dream to make my first trip to the United States. America had always fired my imagination, both as a place and as an idea. So as I entered the immigration hall, under the winsome smile of America's movie star president, it was hardly a case of love at first sight.
　My infatuation had started long before, with Westerns, cop shows, superhero comic strips, and movies such as West Side Story and Grease. Gotham exerted more of a pull than London. My 16-year-old self could quote more presidents than prime ministers. Like so many new arrivals, like so many of my compatriots, I felt an instant sense of belonging, a fealty borne of familiarity.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41826022

　今回取り上げる語は、infatuation /ɪnf`ætʃuéɪʃən/ です。
　まず意味を確認します。『ジーニアス英和大辞典』(大修館)をみると、「(一時的な)のぼせあがり、心酔; 夢中にさせるもの」とあります。この語の派生形として infatuate が挙げられます。この意味を確認すると、同書に「<人>の分別をなくさせる、<人>を愚かにする」とありました。
　次に語源を確認します。Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd Edition Revised)をみると、“mid 16th cent. : from Latin infatuat- ‘made foolish’, from the verb infatuare, from in- ‘into’ + fatuus ‘foolish’ ” とあります。
　最後にこの語の類語として obsess があるので infatuate と比較します。Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd Edition Revised)によると、infatuate は、“be inspired with an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for” とあり、obsess は、“preoccupy or fill the mind of (someone) continually and to a troubling extent” とありました。どこか恋愛の話をしているようで嫌ですが、人にのめり込みすぎるのも良いとは言い切れませんね。(OkaUchi)

cf. be infatuated with