perforate 復習
Crohn's disease patient in fact had Heinz sauce sachet perforating intestine
A woman thought she was suffering from a serious bowel disease for six years before doctors discovered some Heinz packaging piercing the wall of her intestine.
The 41-year-old patient had bouts of acute abdominal pain and bloating lasting up to three days, prompting doctors to diagnose her symptoms as Crohn’s disease.
Doctors at Heatherwood and Wexham Park hospital in Slough eventually decided surgery was the only option when the patient failed to respond to standard treatment, a case study in the British Medical Journal said.
But keyhole surgery found an inflamed mass in the small intestine, revealing two pieces of plastic packaging bearing the Heinz branding.
The plastic appeared to come from a sachet of sauce.(Skip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、perforate/pˈɚːfərèɪt/ です。工学系の人にはperforatorとして有名ですが、その動詞のようです。
まず意味を確認します。LDOCEをみると “to make a hole or holes in something” とあり、OEDをみると “Pierce and make a hole or holes in.” とあります。『ジーニアス英和大辞典』(大修館)をみると、「(1)…に穴をあける、(2)<紙>にミシン目をいれる、(3)[病理]<腸壁など>に穿孔を生じさせる」とありました。
次に語源を確認します。OEDをみると、“Late Middle English (as an adjective): from Latin perforat- ‘pierced through’, from the verb perforare, from per- ‘through’ + forare ‘pierce’.” とあります。さらに『ジーニアス英和大辞典』には、「per- (…通して)+-for (穴をあける)+-ate (…する)」となっています。
以上のことから今回の記事にある “perforating intestine” は「腸に穴をあけている」と訳をつけることができます。(OkaUchi)