softening
柔らかくする
解説 Definition
softening は、動詞 soften の現在分詞・動名詞で、「柔らかくする」「柔らかくなる」という意味です。物の硬さだけでなく、態度・表情・口調などを穏やかにする場合にも使われます。
Softening is the -ing form of soften and describes the ongoing action or process of making something less hard, firm, severe, or intense, or of becoming so. It may refer to physical materials as well as emotions, expressions, attitudes, or language.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
softening は soften「柔らかくする、和らげる」に -ing を付けた現在分詞・動名詞で、発音は /ˈsɔːfənɪŋ/ または /ˈsɒfənɪŋ/。soft＋-en「〜にする」という語形成を押さえる。softening the butter なら物理的変化、softening her anger なら感情や態度を穏やかにする変化と覚える。
Build the meaning from soft plus -en, a suffix meaning “to make or become”: soften means “make softer” or “become softer.” Adding -ing produces softening, the present participle or gerund, pronounced with the unstressed middle syllable /ən/. Picture butter becoming easier to mix, warm water changing dried clay, or kind words reducing someone’s anger. The first two are physical softening; the last is figurative. This connection helps you use the word for both materials and human attitudes without treating them as unrelated meanings.
例文
She is softening the butter before making the cake.
彼女はケーキを作る前にバターを柔らかくしている。
The warm water is softening the dried clay.
温かい水が乾いた粘土を柔らかくしている。
His kind words were softening her anger.
彼の優しい言葉が彼女の怒りを和らげていた。
softening の類義語・関連語
softening の語源・成り立ち Etymology
softeningは動詞softenに-ingが付いた形で、soft「柔らかい」に-en「〜にする」が加わり「柔らかくすること」の意。softは古英語softe/sefteにさかのぼり、硬さを取るだけでなく、態度や表現を和らげる意味へ広がった。関連語はsoften、softness。
Softening is formed by adding -ing to soften. The verb soften combines soft with the verb-forming suffix -en, meaning “to make or become,” so its structure literally conveys making or becoming soft. Soft descends from Old English sōfte or sēfte and has long described gentleness as well as a lack of physical hardness. The figurative senses involving attitudes, expressions, sounds, and emotions developed from that contrast with hardness or severity.
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