English 版 (精华区)
发信人: watergod (共工), 信区: English
标 题: A.Word.A.Day--malefactor(转载)
发信站: 哈工大紫丁香 (2000年06月27日16:22:13 星期二), 转信
【 以下文字转载自 watergod 的信箱 】
【 原文由 Wordsmith 所发表 】
malefactor (MAL-Uh-fak-tuhr) noun
1. One who has committed a crime; a criminal.
2. An evildoer.
[Middle English malefactour, from Latin malefactor, from malefacere, to do
wrong : male, ill + facere, to do.]
"Dean Kirk Peters at Eastern Connecticut State University is sentencing
students convicted of minor rules infractions to attend the opera or the
symphony with him. Since they don't want to go, it's punishment. The
malefactor students already have seen `Carmen.'"
Editorial; Innovation by the dean, Boston Herald, Mar 27, 2000.
Even though the bulk of the malefactors on this planet happen to be male, the
word in itself has nothing to imply that men have a monopoly in the crime biz.
A woman who holds up a bank is still a malefactor, maybe a malefactress, but
never a femalefactor. The combining form male- meaning `evil' occurs in
loanwords from Latin. So malevolence in a person can be a precursor to
violence as easily in those belonging to the fair sex as in those of the
unfair sex.
This week brings together seven words whose meanings are not the first things
that come to mind. Watch out for these red-herring words. -Anu
.............................................................................
A leader who keeps his ear to the ground allows his rear end to become a
target. -Angie Papadakis
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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/malefactor.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/malefactor.ram
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