recoup 復習
Nigel Farage is being docked half his monthly MEP salary after a European parliament investigation alleged he had misspent public funds intended for staffing his office.
The former Ukip leader, who recently bemoaned being “53, separated and skint”, will lose €40,000 (£35,500) in total, the Guardian has learned, after European parliament auditors concluded he had misspent that amount of EU funds.
Financial controllers have been investigating the role of Christopher Adams, who was hired by Farage to work in the European Parliament as his assistant. (Skip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、recoup /rɪkúːp/ です。
まず意味を確認します。LDOCEをみると、”to get back an amount of money you have lost or spent” とあり、OEDをみると、”Regain (something lost or expended)” となっていました。また、『ジーニアス英和辞典』(大修館)をみると、「(1)<お金・損失など>を取り戻す、(2)弁償する、(3)[法]差し引く、控除する」という意味だとわかります。同意表現としては、"make up for" が挙げられます。
次に語源を確認します。OEDをみると、”Early 17th century (as a legal term): from French recouper ‘retrench, cut back’, from re- ‘back’ + couper ‘to cut’.” とありました。綴りが似ている “coup” とは関係がないことがわかりました。(OkaUchi)
