earphone
イヤホン
解説 Definition
earphone は、耳に入れたり耳元に当てたりして音を聞く小型の機器、イヤホンという意味です。日本語の「イヤホン」と近い意味ですが、英語では片耳用なら単数形 earphone、両耳用は earphones と複数形で言うことが多いです。
A small audio device worn in or against one ear so that a person can listen privately to sound from a phone, music player, receiver, or similar equipment. A pair for both ears is commonly called “earphones.”
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
earphone は ear「耳」＋ phone「音を扱う装置」の透明な複合語で、「耳で音を聞く小型機器」です。英語では片方・片耳用を an earphone、左右一組を earphones と複数で言うことが多い点が重要です。one earphone under the desk のように、片方だけを数える場面と結び付けましょう。
The structure is straightforward: “ear” plus “phone,” an element associated with sound or a sound-transmitting device. An “earphone” is therefore a small device that delivers sound to an ear. The grammar is especially useful: say “one earphone” for a single earpiece and “earphones” for the pair used in both ears. Picture finding only one earphone under a desk or fitting an earphone into your right ear. Compare it with “headphones,” which commonly refers to a connected pair worn over or around the ears, often with a headband.
例文
I found one earphone under the desk.
机の下でイヤホンの片方を見つけました。
This earphone fits comfortably in my right ear.
このイヤホンは右耳に心地よく合います。
The guide gave each visitor an earphone for the audio tour.
ガイドは音声ツアー用に、来場者一人ひとりへイヤホンを渡しました。
earphone の類義語・関連語
earphone の語源・成り立ち Etymology
英語 ear「耳」+ phone「音」（ギリシャ語 phōnē「声・音」より）の複合語。19世紀末の電話技術の発展とともに生まれた造語。関連語: telephone（電話）、microphone（マイク）。「耳に当てる音の装置」というそのままの構造が語源で、非常にわかりやすい複合語。
“Earphone” is an English compound of “ear” and “phone.” “Ear” is an inherited Germanic word, while “phone” comes ultimately from Greek “phōnē,” meaning voice or sound, and entered many modern compounds connected with sound technology. The term developed alongside telephone and audio equipment in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its construction is literal: it names a device that carries sound directly to the ear.
同じレベルの英単語をもっと
外部辞書で調べる
この単語を英単語クイズで覚えよう