midstream
中流
/ adverb 副詞 途中で、進行中に解説 Definition
川や小川で、両岸から離れた流れの中央付近を指す名詞です。船・泳者・流木などが水路の真ん中にいる位置を表す語で、「上流・中流・下流」の地理区分としての中流域とはやや異なります。
Midstream is the middle part of a river or stream, away from both banks. It describes the position of something such as a boat, swimmer, or piece of wood when it is in the center of the flowing water. It is different from the geographic idea of the middle course of a river. The word later developed a figurative use for something happening in the middle of a process, but as a noun it first means the center of the waterway.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
midstream は mid「中央」+ stream「流れ」で、岸から押し出されて水の通り道のまんなかにいる絵を作ると覚えやすい。a boat in midstream のように、主役は川そのものより「水面上の位置」です。ここから比喩的に、物事の流れの途中を表す副詞用法にも広がりましたが、この名詞ではまず川幅の中央という空間感覚を押さえるのが大切です。
Think of midstream as mid plus stream: the middle of the flowing water. Picture a boat pushed away from both banks and sitting right in the center of the river. In a phrase like a boat in midstream, the focus is not the river as a whole but the object's position on the water. If you remember that picture, the word becomes easy to recall.
例文
The boat drifted into midstream before the fisherman could stop it.
漁師が止める前に、その船は中流へ流れていった。
A fallen branch was turning slowly in midstream after the rain.
雨のあと、落ちた枝が中流でゆっくり回っていた。
The rescue team spotted the dog in midstream and brought it safely back to shore.
救助隊は中流にいる犬を見つけて、無事に岸へ戻した。
midstream の語源・成り立ち Etymology
英語本来の複合語で、mid「中央の」と stream「川・流れ」から成ります。もとは文字どおり水流の中央部を指し、そこから比喩的に「進行中」の意味も生まれました。
Midstream is a native English compound made from mid, meaning "middle," and stream, meaning "river" or "flowing water." It first meant the middle of the current itself, and later it also developed a figurative sense meaning "in the middle of an ongoing process."
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