pontoon
浮き橋
解説 Definition
pontoon は、水に浮かべて橋や桟橋を支える浮体、またはそれを使った浮き橋を指します。カタカナ語の「ポンツーン」は工学・船舶分野で使われますが、英語では浮体そのものを指すことも多いです。
A hollow or boat-shaped floating structure used to support a temporary bridge, landing platform, or vessel; it can also refer to a bridge or platform constructed on such floats.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
pontoon は水面に浮かべ、橋・桟橋・船体を支える箱形や船形の「浮体」、またはそれらで作る「浮き橋」です。ラテン語 pons「橋」につながる語なので、pontoon bridge を基本の組み合わせにすると定着します。bridge 全体を指す場合と、engineers checked each pontoon のように個々の浮体を指す場合を区別しましょう。
Connect pontoon with bridge through its historical relationship to Latin pons, “bridge.” Picture a row of hollow floats placed on water, with a roadway or platform resting across them. This gives the common phrase pontoon bridge. The word can name the whole floating bridge in some contexts, but it often names each individual supporting float, as in engineers checked each pontoon. That distinction explains why one pontoon may connect a shore to a boat, while many pontoons can support a temporary military bridge across a river.
例文
The soldiers built a pontoon across the river.
兵士たちは川に浮き橋を架けました。
A small pontoon connected the shore to the boat.
小さな浮き橋が岸と船をつないでいました。
Engineers checked each pontoon before opening the temporary bridge.
技術者たちは仮設橋を開通させる前に、それぞれの浮体を点検しました。
pontoon の類義語・関連語
pontoon の語源・成り立ち Etymology
フランス語 ponton から入り、ラテン語 ponton-/ponto にさかのぼり、さらに pons「橋」と結びつく語です。もとは橋を浮かせる平底の浮き台を指し、pontoon bridge や pontonier と同系なので、「浮く橋材」から「浮き橋」の意味が見えます。
Pontoon entered English through French ponton and related European forms, ultimately connected with Latin ponto or ponton-, a type of flat-bottomed vessel, and with pons, meaning “bridge.” The term first referred to a floating vessel or support used in bridge construction. Its meaning expanded to include the hollow float itself and, in some usage, the temporary bridge or platform supported by a series of such floats. Pontoon bridge preserves the word’s older engineering and military association.
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