whit
白い
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
whit は名詞で「ごくわずかな量」。現代ではほぼ not a whit や no whit の形に限られ、「少しも〜ない」を強めます。white「白い」とは綴りも語源も別です。古英語で「もの」を指した語が「ほんの小さなもの」へ変化したと捉え、not a whit different の型で覚えます。
Treat whit as a small-quantity noun, not as a spelling of white. Its most useful pattern is not a whit, meaning “not even the slightest amount.” For example, not a whit different means “not different at all.” The word is uncommon outside fixed or literary negative expressions, so learn the whole phrase rather than trying to use whit freely as an everyday noun. Connect its history—an old word for a thing—with the idea of one tiny thing or particle, and then with the modern sense “the least bit.”
whit の語源・成り立ち Etymology
古英語 wiht（もの、少量）に由来し、ゲルマン祖語 *wihtiz から派生。「ほんの少しも～ない」(not a whit) の形で使われ、「わずかなもの」を意味する。関連語: wight（生き物）、aught（何か）。目に見えないほど小さい存在を指す語根が「少量」の意味に転じた。
Whit comes from Old English wiht, meaning a thing, creature, or being, and is related to Germanic forms represented by wight. A word for an indefinite “thing” developed the quantitative sense of a very small thing or amount. In modern English it survives mainly in negative phrases such as not a whit, where it means “not in the smallest degree.” It is unrelated to the adjective white despite the similar spelling.
同じレベルの英単語をもっと
外部辞書で調べる
この単語を英単語クイズで覚えよう