小词详解 | apparatus

小词详解 | apparatus
apparatus 英 [ˌæpəˈreɪtəs] 美 [ˌæpəˈrætəs]

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外刊例句

  • Pedestrians in Manhattan can catch a glimpse of apparatus that looks like a video camera on a stand, but jerks around and has a strange, hornlike protrusion where the lens should be.
    在曼哈顿,行人会瞥见摄像头般的装置立在支架上,不但会猛然转动,而且在本应是镜头的位置有奇怪的角状突出。
    ——《经济学人》
  • By the end of a long night Tuesday, there was a collective exhaling in the Trump administration’s national security apparatus, and officials indicated that they believed things had been contained, for now.
    周二,在漫长的一晚结束后,特朗普政府国家安全机构都长出了一口气,官员们表示,他们认为事情暂时得到了控制。

基本释义

[noun] the technical equipment or machinery needed for a particular activity or purpose
[名词] 特殊活动或目的所需的技术设备或机械

深入解读

Apparatus 一词源自拉丁语 apparare (准备),现主要表示“仪器、器械、装置”,既可指某种具体的由许多不同零件构成的复杂的仪器、装置或器械,又可指它们的总称,往往用作特殊用途,比如老版《高级英语》上册第一课 The Middle Eastern Bazaar 中提到的:

The pressing of the linseed pulp to extract the oil is done by a vast ramshackle apparatus of beams and ropes and pulleys which towers to the vaulted ceiling and dwarfs the camels and their stone wheels.
榨油工序是由一套摇摇欲坠的机械装置来完成的。该装置由大梁、缆索和滑轮组合而成,犹如一座高塔耸立在屋中,上端直与拱形屋顶相接。相形之下,油坊里的骆驼和石磙便显得矮小起来。

这套复杂的用作特殊用途的装置,用在人身上则是指“(身体某一功能的)全体器官”,与 熟词僻义 | organ是一种什么报纸? 中讲过的 organ 这种单一器官略有不同,多数情况下可与其复数 organs 互换,比如:

  • 呼吸器官
    the respiratory apparatus/organs

而用在政治领域时,则表示“(政党或政府的)组织、机构、机关”,也可以用于形容地下活动的组织,比如:

  • 压制性国家机器
    the repressive state apparatus
  • 间谍组织
    the spy apparatus

双语名著

It was a vast and badly lighted apartment, now full of uproar, now full of silence, where all the apparatus of a criminal case, with its petty and mournful gravity in the midst of the throng, was in process of development.
这是一间圆厅,灯光惨暗,容积颇大,时而喧嚣四起,时而寂静无声,一整套处理刑事案件的机器,正带着庸俗、愁惨的隆重气派,在群众中间活动。

出自法国作家维克多·雨果的长篇小说《悲惨世界》(Les Misérables,原意为“悲惨的人们”“可怜的人们”)。该小说是19世纪最著名的小说之一,故事的主线围绕主人公土伦苦刑犯冉·阿让(Jean Valjean)的个人经历,融进了法国的历史、革命、战争、道德哲学、法律、正义、宗教信仰等,多次被改编演绎成影视作品。

同近义词

  • gear: equipment that is used for a particular purpose
  • rig: an apparatus, device, or piece of equipment designed for a particular purpose
  • tackle: a mechanism consisting of ropes, pulley blocks, hooks, or other things for lifting heavy objects