Embitterとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From em- (variant of the suffix en- with the sense ‘to become’) +‎ bitter.

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɪmˈbɪtə/, /ɛm-/
• (General American) IPA: /əmˈbɪtəɹ/, /ɛm-/, [-ɾəɹ]
• 韻: -ɪtə(ɹ)
• ハイフネーション: em‧bit‧ter

動詞

embitter (third-person singular simple present embitters, present participle embittering, simple past and past participle embittered) (transitive)

1. (archaic) To cause (something) to be or taste bitter; to bitter.

   Synonym: acerbate

2. (figurative)
   1. To cause (a positive quality such as happiness, or a thing such as an activity or one's life) to become less good or pleasurable; also, to make (a negative quality, or thing such as a disagreement) worse or more unpleasant.
      • 1713 April 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “Wednesday, April 1. 1713.”, in The Guardian, number 18, London: […] J[acob] Tonson […]; and sold by A. Baldwin […], →OCLC, page [1], column 1:

        The Proſpect of Death is ſo gloomy and diſmal, that if it vvere conſtantly before our Eyes, it vvould imbitter all the Svveets of Life.

      • 1776, Edward Gibbon, “Of the Constitution of the Roman Empire, in the Age of the Antonines”, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 80:

        A juſt, but melancholy reflection, embittered, hovvever, the nobleſt of human enjoyments.

      • 1820, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 4:

        Two circumstances only had embittered their union, which was otherwise as happy as mutual affection could render it.

      • 1838, [Edgar Allan Poe], chapter XII, in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 107:

        It is with extreme reluctance that I dwell upon the appalling scene which ensued; a scene which, with its minutest details, no after events have been able to efface in the slightest degree from my memory, and whose stern recollection will imbitter every future moment of my existence.

      • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VI, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 38:

        But his prosperity was embittered by one insupportable recollection. He never regained his cheerfulness, and at length died by his own hand.

   2. To cause (someone or their feelings) to become more angry, resentful, or unfriendly; to envenom.
      • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Sick-Room”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 155:

        She was at once humiliated and embittered; but the warm heart, and the strong mind, must have an object; and her energies, equally with her affections, had concentrated themselves on her son.

Conjugation

別の表記

• imbitter (obsolete)

派生語

参考

• embetter

参照