build(v.)
中古英语 bilden,源自晚期古英语 byldan “建造房屋”, bold 的动词形式,意为“房屋”,源自原始日耳曼语 *buthla-(也是 Old Saxon bodl,Old Frisian bodel “建筑,房屋”的来源),源自 PIE *bhu- “居住”,源自 *bheue- “存在,生长”根。
在古英语中很少见; 在中古英语中,它胜过了更常见的古英语 timbran(见 timber)。现代拼写法尚未解释。比喻用法始于15世纪中叶。自16世纪末以来,除了建筑物之外的物理事物也有所发展。相关: Builded(古语); built; building。
In the United States, this verb is used with much more latitude than in England. There, as Fennimore Cooper puts it, everything is BUILT. The priest BUILDS up a flock; the speculator a fortune; the lawyer a reputation; the landlord a town; and the tailor, as in England, BUILDS up a suit of clothes. A fire is BUILT instead of made, and the expression is even extended to individuals, to be BUILT being used with the meaning of formed. [Farmer, "Slang and Its Analogues," 1890]
在美国,这个动词的使用范围比在英国要广得多。在那里,正如 Fennimore Cooper 所说,一切都是 BUILT。牧师建立了一个群体; 投机者建立了一笔财富; 律师建立了声誉; 房东建立了一个城镇; 而裁缝,就像在英国一样,建立了一套衣服。火被建立而不是制造,这个表达甚至被扩展到个人,被建立的意思是形成的。[Farmer,“Slang and Its Analogues”,1890]