corrosive 復習
For those of us in Kiev or, for that matter, London, it’s best to hang on and weather the storm. For those of us in Washington, it’s best to resist the bizarre and corrosive status quo as much as we can. Another valuable lesson Ukrainians have passed down to us is this: the moral and ethical authority of the state is terrifyingly easy to undermine and, ultimately, destroy. The damage Trump is inflicting upon American institutions and America’s global standing will be hard to undo – and is likely to take many ugly forms before the end. The aftershocks will be felt in the United States but also far beyond – the trouble with Ukraine could very well be the beginning. (Skip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、corrosive /kəróʊsɪv/ です。文脈からマイナスの意味合いを持つことが推測できます。以下で意味等を確認していきます。
まず意味を Cambridge Dictionary でみると、“the process of corroding, or metal that has been corroded” とあり、Collins Dictionary には “slow deterioration by being eaten or worn away” と定義されていました。
次に語源を OED でみると、“Late Middle English: from Old French, or from late Latin corrosio(n-), from Latin corrodere ‘gnaw through’ (see corrode).” とありました。
以上のことから、corrosion は 「腐敗、衰退」という意味を持つことがわかりました。(OkaUchi)
