ordeal

英 [ɔː'diːəl] 美[ɔr'dil]
  • n. 折磨;严酷的考验;痛苦的经验

CET6+TEM4IELTSGRETOEFL中低频词扩展词汇

词态变化


复数: ordeals;

助记提示


1. or- "out" + deal => literally "deal out, share out".
2. literally "that which is dealt out" (by the gods).
3. The prefix or- survives in English only in this word, but was common in Old English and other Germanic languages and originally was an adverb and preposition meaning "out".
4. 谐音“奥迪哦、熬弟哦”——想获得奥迪就要经受严峻的考验
5. deal => dole, ordeal.

中文词源


ordeal 磨难

来自古英语ordel,裁决,裁定,身体的磨难,来自Proto-Germanic*uz-dailjam,即deal out,神的安排,神的旨意,来自*uz,向外,词源同out,*dailijam,安排,分配,词源同deal.原指古代一种用折磨肉体来裁决对错的极其残忍的迷信审判,如使一个人赤脚走在烧红的铁块或铁板上,如果这个人安然无恙的走过这块铁板,则说明神判断他无罪,如果他倒在铁块上,则死有余辜。后引申词义磨难,折磨。

英英释意


1. a severe or trying experience
2. a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence

英文词源


ordeal
ordeal: [OE] The ‘meting out of judgement’ is the etymological notion immediately underlying ordeal, but at a more primitive level still than that it denotes simply ‘distribution, giving out shares’. It comes ultimately from prehistoric Germanic *uzdailjan ‘share out’, a compound verb formed from *uz- ‘out’ and *dailjan, ancestor of English deal.

The noun derived from this was *uzdailjam, and it came to be used over the centuries for the ‘handing out of judgements’ (modern German urteil, for instance, means among other things ‘judicial verdict or sentence’). Its Old English descendant, ordāl, denoted specifically a ‘trial in which a person’s guilt or innocence were determined by a hazardous physical test, such as holding on to red-hot iron’, but the metaphorical extension to any ‘trying experience’ did not take place until as recently as the mid-17th century.

=> deal
ordeal (n.)
Old English ordel, ordal, "trial by physical test," literally "judgment, verdict," from Proto-Germanic noun *uz-dailjam (cognates: Old Saxon urdeli, Old Frisian urdel, Dutch oordeel, German urteil "judgment"), literally "that which is dealt out" (by the gods), from *uzdailijan "share out," related to Old English adælan "to deal out" (see deal (n.1)). Curiously absent in Middle English, and perhaps reborrowed 16c. from Medieval Latin or Middle French, which got it from Germanic.

The notion is of the kind of arduous physical test (such as walking blindfolded and barefoot between red-hot plowshares) that was believed to determine a person's guilt or innocence by immediate judgment of the deity, an ancient Teutonic mode of trial. English retains a more exact sense of the word; its cognates in German, etc., have been generalized.

Metaphoric extension to "anything which tests character or endurance" is attested from 1650s. The prefix or- survives in English only in this word, but was common in Old English and other Germanic languages (Gothic ur-, Old Norse or-, etc.) and originally was an adverb and preposition meaning "out."

考试真题


Back in the good old days—say, two years ago, when the last of my children suffered the ordeal (折磨)—a high-school student applying to college could procrastinate all the way to New Year's Day of their senior year, assuming they could withstand the parental pestering (烦扰).

出自-2013年12月阅读原文

Photography was once an expensive, laborious ordeal reserved for life's greatest milestones.

2018年6月六级真题(第二套)阅读 Section C

实用场景例句


They are to be spared the ordeal of giving evidence in court.
他们将免受出庭作证的难堪。

牛津词典

The hostages spoke openly about the terrible ordeal they had been through.
人质公开陈述了他们所遭受的非人的折磨。

牛津词典

The interview was less of an ordeal than she'd expected.
面试并非如她想象的那样可怕。

牛津词典

...the painful ordeal of the last eight months...
过去8个月的痛苦煎熬

柯林斯高阶英语词典

She described her agonising ordeal.
她描述了自己备受折磨的苦难经历。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

Klein in Brazil sick Cross also experienced the ordeal.
克莱在巴西贫病交加,也历尽磨难.

期刊摘选

I was lightheaded, glad my ordeal was over.
我高兴得轻飘飘地,总算熬到头了.

名作英译部分

They have tried to take it as an ordeal of ours.
他们想把这个当作我们的灾难.

期刊摘选

This sounds like an ordeal.
这听起来像是个痛苦的折磨.

期刊摘选

The ordeal of virtue is to resist all temptation to evil.
德性的磨炼是抵制罪恶的诱惑.

辞典例句

The parents went through a terrible ordeal when their child kidnapped.
当孩子遭到绑架时,父母亲经受了一次可怕的“折磨”.

期刊摘选

The ordeal ended with five of the eight terrorists dead, along with all nine hostages.
这次事件的最终结果是八名恐怖主义分子中有五人死亡, 所有九名人质都被杀害.

期刊摘选

She talked composedly to reporters about her terrible ordeal.
她沉着地向记者谈了自己可怕的经历.

辞典例句

She maintained her equanimity throughout her long ordeal.
她在长期的苦难中心情一直都很平静.

辞典例句

Waiting in line for food or drink was not an ordeal.
为食物或饮料在线等待不是折磨.

期刊摘选

He was happy to know that she was alive and none the worse for her ordeal.
他很高兴知道她仍然活着,并且那些痛苦的经历并没有伤害到她.

期刊摘选

She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.
在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常.

《简明英汉词典》

Having a helper definitely makes the ordeal more manageable _ and enjoyable.
难度等级的设计也不是很合理.

期刊摘选

Seated beside him, I bore the ordeal for two hours.
我坐在他旁边, 苦苦熬了两个钟头.

《现代汉英综合大词典》

Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.
在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难.

《简明英汉词典》

The ceremony was an ordeal for those who had been recently bereaved.
这个仪式对于那些新近丧失亲友的人来说是一种折磨。

《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

He spoke frankly about the ordeal.
他直率地讲出了苦难的经历。

《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

They are to be spared the ordeal of giving evidence in court.
他们将免受出庭作证的难堪。

《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

The ordeal has affected both her mental and physical health.
痛苦的经历损害了她的身心健康。

《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

The hostages emerged from their ordeal unscathed .
各人质历尽磨难后安然生还。

《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

She wouldn't want to put them through the ordeal of a huge ceremony.
她不想让他们参加大型仪式受罪。

柯林斯例句

The former hostage is in remarkably good shape considering his ordeal.
想想人质曾遭受的折磨,获救后其身体状况已经是出奇地好了。

柯林斯例句

Mrs Kerr was too upset to take part in a reconstruction of her ordeal.
克尔夫人受惊过度,不堪再参与自己所受折磨的场景重现。

柯林斯例句

The experience was a detestable ordeal, and it cured him of any ambitions to direct again.
那次经历是一次令人厌恶的煎熬,使得他放弃了任何再当导演的想法。

柯林斯例句

She kept her cool and managed to get herself out of the ordeal.
她保持着冷静与克制,努力使自己走出了这次痛苦的经历。

柯林斯例句