entrenchment
塹壕／固い立場
解説 Definition
軍事用語で、防御目的で掘られた塹壕や壕。比喩的には、固い立場や考え方が深く根付いた状態を指す。
Entrenchment means the state of being firmly established and difficult to change. It can describe physical trenches in war, but more often it refers to strong positions, habits, or systems in politics, business, or society. The word often suggests resistance to change.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
まず trench「塹壕」を知っていると覚えやすいです。entrench は「塹壕に入って守りを固める」感じで、そこから entrenchment は軍事では実際の塹壕、防御設備そのものを指します。比喩では意見・制度・既得権が defend されて動かなくなった固定化。become entrenched, political entrenchment のように出たら、「深く入り込み、簡単に崩れない固い立場」と結びつけると定着します。
Look for `trench` inside the word. A trench is a defensive ditch, so `entrenchment` gives the image of digging in and becoming hard to move. That image also helps in abstract uses like politics, where ideas or systems become deeply fixed.
例文
The soldiers fortified their entrenchment with barbed wire and sandbags.
兵士たちは有刺鉄線と土嚢で塹壕を強化した。
The two sides showed little willingness to negotiate, preferring their ideological entrenchment.
両者は交渉の意思をほとんど示さず、イデオロギー的な立場の固守を好んだ。
Breaking through the enemy entrenchment required careful planning and coordinated attack.
敵の塹壕を突破するには慎重な計画と協調的な攻撃が必要だった。
entrenchment の類義語・関連語
entrenchment の語源・成り立ち Etymology
entrenchment は entrench + -ment で、entrench は en-「中に」+ trench「溝・塹壕」、さらに古フランス語 trenchier「切る」に由来します。trench や retrench と同根で、「溝で守りを固める」発想が比喩的な固定化にもつながります。
Entrenchment comes from entrench plus the noun ending -ment. Entrench is made from en- "in" and trench, a ditch or defensive cut, and trench goes back to Old French trenchier, meaning "to cut." The basic idea was cutting trenches for protection, and later the word developed a wider sense of becoming firmly fixed. Related words include trench and retrench.
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