【英语学习】【WOTD】regale 释义/词源/示例

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regale v. [rih-GAIL]

v. 盛情招待；尽情吃喝；使快乐
n. 款待

Definition

1: to entertain sumptuously : to feast with delicacies
1：奢华招待：佳肴款待

2: to give pleasure or amusement to
2：让…愉悦或者娱乐

3: to feast oneself : feed
3：招待某人：给予食物

注：entertain：娱乐，招待，容纳，考虑；sumptuous ['sʌmptʃuəs] ：华丽的，奢侈的；feast：v. 享乐，款宴，请客；delicacy：佳肴，优雅，谨慎，精致；

Did You Know?

Regale has been an English verb since the early half of the 1600s; it was adapted from French régaler, which has the same meaning as regale. The French verb traces back to Middle French galer, which means “to have a good time,” and, ultimately, to gale, meaning “pleasure.” (Gala, meaning “a festive celebration,” is from the same source.) Regale also has a history as a noun meaning “a sumptuous feast.” Early use of the noun appears in a 1670 notice: “My Lord Duke will not be able to get away yet…, all the regales that are intended for him not being yet at an end.” (The man referred to is the Duke of Buccleuch, whose regales ended once and for all 16 years later when he was beheaded.)

词源词根演化：gale (“pleasure”) —>galer (“to have a good time”) —>　régaler —> regale

自从17世纪的早期，regale就是英语中的一个动词；它是由同义的法语单词régaler变化而来的。而这个法语动词则可以向上追溯到中古法语galer，意思是“尽兴”，最终可至gale，意思是“愉悦”。（gala，意思是 “节日庆祝会”，也是同一来源）。历史上，regale也可以做名词，意思是“奢华的宴会”。在1670年的一张通知单上可以看到名词用法：“我家主人公爵尚不能出发…，所有为他准备的宴会还不能结束。”（文中指的是Buccleuch公爵，16年后他被砍头后，所有他的宴会一下子也就彻底结束了。）

注：festive：欢乐的，节日的，喜庆的；Duke of Buccleuch /bəˈkluː/：Buccleuch公爵；once and for all：彻底地，一劳永逸地

Examples

• “Mickelson regaled the 1,000 or so spectators at Monday’s trophy ceremony on the 18th green by sharing how his late grandfather, Al Santos, was an original caddie here when Pebble Beach opened 100 years ago.”
  — Cam Inman, The East Bay Times (Walnut Creek, California), 11 Feb. 2019

  Mickleson 款待了大约1000个观众，在星期一的颁奖典礼上，在第18绿？？，讲述了在100年前Pebble Beach刚开张时，他的已故祖父Al Santos是这里的第一个球童。

  注：late grandfather：已故的祖父；caddie：(=caddy) n. 球童

• “The process of digestion, as I have been informed by anatomical friends, is one of the most wonderful works of nature. I don not know it may be with others, but it is a great satisfaction to me to know, when regaling on my humble fare, that I am putting in motion the most beautiful machinery with which we have any acquaintance.”
  — Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, 1844

消化过程，正如一个解剖学朋友告诉我的，是大自然最令人惊奇的杰作。我不知道其他人怎么想的，但是对我来说非常高兴知道这点，当吃点粗食，我就启动了这个最优美的我们有所了解的消化机器。

注：fare：车费，路费，乘客，食物；