permeate 復習
I met Prince Charles this week at the Commonwealth People’s Forum at which I was a speaker (on a day whose itinerary was entitled Politics of Hope: Taking on Injustice in the Commonwealth). It was part of the buildup to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting, the summit of leaders of 53 countries representing more than 2 billion people. …
Whatever the prince meant or didn’t mean in our fleeting encounter, since it happened I have been through all the feelings – from shock to humiliation to rage. Most of all, I feel angry that there could be such casual ignorance in the corridors of power, an ignorance that also permeates society – not least because some British people of colour invited here have been threatened with deportation. They don’t look like they are from here, according to some. (Skip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、permeate /pə́ːrmièɪt/ です。文脈から “… permeates society …” は「社会に広がっていく」と推測することができ、語の構成は per- (through) + -meate となりそうです。以下で意味や語源を確認していきます。
まず意味を Cambridge Dictionary でみると、“to spread through something and be present in every part of it” とあり、OED には “Spread throughout (something); pervade” と定義されていました。
次に語源を ONLINE ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY でみると、“1650s, from Latin permeatus, past participle of permeare "to pass through," from per "through" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "through") + meare "to pass," from PIE root *mei- (1) "to change, go, move." Related: Permeated; permeating.” とあり、permeate の per- は perfect の per- と同じであることもわかりました。
過去にこの語が取り上げられているので、合わせて確認してみてください。(OkaUchi)
