vowとは 意味・読み方・使い方

発音

• IPA^(key): /vaʊ/
• 韻: -aʊ

名詞

vow (複数形 vows)

1. A solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner, especially a promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order.

   The old hermit, up in the mountains, took a vow of silence.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 30:1–2:

     And Moses spake vnto the heads of the tribes, concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded.
     If a man vowe a vow vnto the Lord, or sweare an othe to bind his soule with a bond: he shall not breake his word, hee shall doe according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

2. A declaration or assertion.
   • 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:

     Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.

3. (obsolete) A votive offering.
   • 1786, Richard Payne Knight, The Worship of Priapus:

     There are also waxen vows, that represent other parts of the body mixed with them; but of these there are few in comparison of the number of the Priapi.

使用する際の注意点

• One normally makes or takes a vow, or simply vows (see below).
• Commonly mentioned vows include those of silence, obedience, poverty, chastity, and celibacy.
• 'to keep/pay/fulfill a vow' = to honor a vow
• 'to break a vow' = to dishonor a vow

動詞

vow (三人称単数 現在形 vows, 現在分詞 vowing, 過去形および過去分詞形 vowed)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To make a vow; to promise.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 5:4:

     When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it.

   • 1673, Richard Baxter, Christian Directory

     We do not vow that we will never sin, nor neglect a duty (nor ought we to do so).

2. (transitive) To make a vow regarding (something).

   The wronged woman vowed revenge.

3. To declare publicly that one has made a vow, usually to show one's determination or to announce an act of retaliation.

   The rebels vowed to continue their fight.

派生語

関連する語

Further reading

• vow in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• vow in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• vow at OneLook Dictionary Search

アナグラム

• WOV, WVO