drifting
漂流
解説 Definition
drifting は drift（漂う、流される）の動名詞・現在分詞で、名詞としては水や空中で流されること、つまり漂流という意味です。目的地を決めずに動く様子や、車を横滑りさせる運転技術にも使われますが、ここでは物や人が流される意味で覚えるとよいです。
Drifting is the action or process of being carried slowly by wind, water, or another external force without firm control or a fixed course. In this sense, it refers especially to people or objects floating and moving with a current.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
drift「風や水流に運ばれて漂う」に -ing を付けた形で、drifting /ˈdrɪftɪŋ/。語尾を変えずに加える。自力で目的地へ進む sailing と違い、leaves drifting on the river のように外からの流れに任せて動く像が中心。名詞なら「漂流すること」を表す。
Begin with drift and add -ing without changing the spelling: drifting, pronounced /ˈdrɪftɪŋ/. Imagine a leaf on a river or a small boat with no engine running. It moves, but the wind or current chooses its direction. That lack of a fixed course is the memory core. Compare drifting with sailing: sailing normally suggests controlled travel toward a destination, while drifting suggests being carried passively. As a gerund, drifting names the activity or condition itself; as a participle, it describes something currently moving, as in leaves drifting on the water.
例文
The boat was drifting near the shore.
そのボートは岸の近くを漂流していました。
We saw leaves drifting on the river.
私たちは川面を漂う葉を見ました。
After the storm, drifting wood covered the beach.
嵐のあと、漂流してきた木が浜辺を覆っていました。
drifting の類義語・関連語
対義語
紛らわしい語
drifting の語源・成り立ち Etymology
drifting は drift＋-ing。drift は古英語 drifan「駆り立てる、押し流す」にさかのぼり、drive と同根です。自分で進むより「風や流れに運ばれていく」感覚が、漂流という意味をよく表しています。
Drifting consists of drift plus the gerund and present-participle suffix -ing. Drift is historically connected with Old English drīfan, “to drive, push, or impel,” the ancestor of modern drive. A drift was therefore something driven or carried along by an outside force. The verb developed the intransitive sense of moving under the influence of wind or water without deliberate control. Drifting retains this central image of motion caused more by a current or force than by the traveler.
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