stilt
竹馬・高床式の支柱
解説 Definition
地面から高い位置で歩くための長い棒状の道具。竹馬やセイタカシギ（鳥）も指す。
A stilt is a long pole or support that holds something high above the ground. The word can refer to poles used for walking, or to supports under buildings in wet or flood-prone areas. It is often used in the plural form, especially for building supports.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
stilt は「細長い脚・支柱で高く持ち上げる」絵で覚えると残りやすい。まず still とは別語なので混同しない。竹馬は two stilts、家なら a house on stilts の形で見かけやすい。鳥の意味でも、脚が不自然なくらい長い鳥を思い浮かべると同じイメージでつながる。派生語 stilted は「竹馬に乗ったように不自然で堅い」という感覚があり、語の芯は一貫して『高く支える細い脚』だと押さえると忘れにくい。
Picture something standing high on long, thin legs. `Stilts` are the long supports under a house, or the poles used for walking high above the ground. This also helps with `stilted`, which describes speech or movement that feels stiff and unnatural, as if on stilts.
例文
The performer walked across the stage on stilts, towering above the audience.
パフォーマーは竹馬に乗ってステージを歩き、観客の上にそびえ立った。
Children at the festival were learning to walk on stilts for the first time.
祭りの子供たちは初めて竹馬に乗って歩くことを学んでいた。
The beach houses were built on stilts to protect them from flooding.
ビーチハウスは洪水から守るために高床式で建てられていた。
stilt の類義語・関連語
派生語
stilt の語源・成り立ち Etymology
stilt は中英語を経て古いゲルマン系語にさかのぼり、印欧祖語 *stel-「立てる・置く」に結びつくと考えられます。もともと「立たせる棒・支え」の感覚から、竹馬や高床を支える脚の意味になりました。関連語は pedestal, stall。
"Stilt" came into English through Middle English from an older Germanic source. It is thought to be connected to a very old Indo-European root meaning "to place" or "to stand." From the basic idea of a support that keeps something standing upright, it came to mean the long poles used to raise a person or structure above the ground. A related English word from the same deep root is "stall."
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