pay off
pay off は英検準1級・英検1級レベルの英単語で、「成果を上げる、完済する、賄賂を渡す」という意味があります。発音記号は /ˈpeɪ ˈɔːf/ です。
成果を上げる
解説 Definition
努力や投資が最終的に良い結果・成果をもたらすこと。
Pay off can mean to produce good results after time, effort, or risk. It is often used when hard work, planning, or investment finally brings success. In another common use, it can also mean to finish paying money that is owed.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
pay off は、先に払った努力や投資があとで「見返りを生む」と考えると覚えやすい比喩表現です。work, study, training, investment など、時間や労力をかけたものが主語になりやすく、finally や really と相性がよいです。The hard work paid off. を型として覚えると、「苦労が報われた」「成果を上げた」という感覚がつかめます。
Think of pay off as getting a return after you have put in effort, time, or money. Work, study, training, or investment can pay off when it finally brings a good result. The hard work paid off is a useful model sentence.
例文
Years of hard work finally paid off when she got promoted.
何年もの努力が昇進という形でついに成果を上げた。
The investment in new technology paid off with increased productivity.
新技術への投資は生産性向上という成果をもたらした。
All that studying really paid off — I got the highest score in class.
あの勉強は本当に報われた。クラスで最高点を取った。
完済する
(意味 2)解説 Definition
借金やローン、請求額などをすべて支払い終える意味です。金銭的な義務を残さず片づける場面で使われ、長く返済してきたものをやっと払い終えるという達成感を伴うこともあります。
To pay off something means to finish paying all of a debt, loan, bill, or other amount of money that you owe. It is used when no payment remains and the financial obligation is completely cleared. The phrase often suggests a feeling of relief or achievement, especially after making payments for a long time.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
pay off は「払って終える」感覚から覚えると残りやすい。借金が pay off なら“完済する”、そこから努力や投資が最後にきれいに回収されて「報われる・成果を上げる」へ広がる。off は“終わる・片がつく”方向。The hard work paid off. が基本形。pay for は「代償を払う」、pay back は「払い返す」で別物なので混同しない。長く続けた勉強や訓練が実を結ぶ場面と結びつけると定着しやすい。
Think of pay off as "pay and finish." The word off gives the feeling that the debt is gone and the matter is cleared away. This helps you remember the core meaning "finish paying a debt," and from there the phrase can also grow into the idea of effort finally bringing a good result, as in The hard work paid off. Do not confuse it with pay for, which means to bear a cost, or pay back, which means to return money.
例文
It took us ten years to pay off our home loan.
私たちは住宅ローンを完済するのに10年かかった。
She worked extra shifts to pay off her credit card debt.
彼女はクレジットカードの借金を完済するために追加で働いた。
By the end of this year, the company should pay off what it owes to the bank.
今年の終わりまでに、その会社は銀行への借入金を完済するはずだ。
賄賂を渡す
(意味 3)解説 Definition
相手に金や利益を与えて、自分に都合のよい行動を取らせる意味です。政治や警察、証人などを不正に動かす文脈で使われ、単なる支払いではなく違法性や裏取引の響きがあります。
When you pay someone off, you give them money or some benefit to make them do something that helps you. It is often used in situations involving politicians, police officers, witnesses, or other people in power. The phrase usually suggests bribery, corruption, or a secret deal, not a normal or honest payment.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
pay off は pay「支払う」に off「切り離して終わらせる」が付いた句動詞です。本来は借金を完済する意味ですが、人を黙らせたり便宜を得たりするために金を渡すと「賄賂を渡す」になります。pay off a witness、pay off officials のように相手を目的語に取り、bribe より口語的で、金で問題を片付ける響きがあります。
When you add -ing to hear, it can mean the act of hearing, but the noun hearing often means an official event where a court, committee, or government body listens to people. Imagine a judge or committee hearing a witness, evidence, or testimony. That makes it easier to remember that a hearing is more formal and procedural than a meeting, and usually narrower than a whole trial.
例文
The businessman tried to pay off a city official to get the permit faster.
その実業家は許可を早く取るために市の役人に賄賂を渡そうとした。
The gang paid off a witness so he would change his story in court.
そのギャングは証人に賄賂を渡して法廷で証言を変えさせた。
Investigators found evidence that several officers had been paid off for years.
捜査員は、複数の警官が何年も賄賂を受け取っていた証拠を見つけた。
pay off の語源・成り立ち Etymology
pay は古フランス語 payer、さらにラテン語 pacare「満足させる・静める」に由来します。off は古英語 of「離れて」で、借りや負担を外して片づける感覚が核です。pacify や peace と同根で、「きれいに清算する」から「報われる・成果が出る」へ意味が伸びました。
Pay came through Old French from Latin pacare, meaning "to satisfy" or "make peaceful," and off comes from Old English of, meaning "away from." The original sense was to clear a debt completely, removing an obligation. From that idea, pay off later grew to mean producing a good result or reward; related words include peace and pacify.
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