vt. 回答；符合
vi. 回答；符合
n. 回答；答案；答辩
英 ['ɑːnsə] 美 ['ænsɚ]
权威例句
- "I can't give you an answer now," he hedged.
“我现在不能回答你，”他闪避道。
来自柯林斯例句 - Two historical questions — you can answer them how you like.
两个历史问题——你可以随便回答。
来自柯林斯例句 - Two men answer-ing the description of the suspects tried to enter Switzerland.
与描述的疑犯样子相符的两名男子试图进入瑞士。
来自柯林斯例句 - He grimaced slightly, obviously expecting no answer to his rhetorical question.
他微微皱了下眉头，显然并不期待任何人回答他的反问。
来自柯林斯例句 - I don't quite know what to say in answer to your question.
我不太清楚如何回答你的问题。
来自柯林斯例句
中文词源
answer 回复
前缀anti-, 相对。词根swer, 发誓，见swear. 原指法律用语，发誓没干过某坏事，指控不实。后词义转化为回复，答复。
ant 蚂蚁
词源略。
英文词源
answer
**answer: **[OE] Etymologically, the word _answer _contains the notion of making a sworn statement rebutting a charge. It comes from a prehistoric West and North Germanic compound *andswarō; the first element of this was the prefix *and- ‘against’, related to German ent- ‘away, un-’ and to Greek anti-, source of English anti-; and the second element came from the same source as English swear.
In Old English, the Germanic compound became _andswaru _(noun) and _andswarian _(verb) ‘reply’, which by the 14th century had been reduced to answer. The synonymous _respond _has a similar semantic history: Latin _respondēre _meant ‘make a solemn promise in return’, hence ‘reply’. And, as another element in the jigsaw, Swedish _ansvar _means ‘responsibility’ – a sense echoed by English answerable.
=> swear
answer (n.)
Old English andswaru "an answer, a reply," from and- "against" (see ante) + -swaru "affirmation," from swerian "to swear" (see swear), suggesting an original sense of "make a sworn statement rebutting a charge." A common Germanic compound (cognates: Old Saxon antswor, Old Norse andsvar, Old Frisian ondser, Danish and Swedish ansvar), implying a Proto-Germanic *andswara-. Meaning "a reply to a question," the main modern sense, was present in Old English. Meaning "solution of a problem" is from c. 1300.
answer (v.)
Old English answarian "to answer;" see answer (n.). Meaning "to respond in antiphony" is from early 15c.; that of "to be responsible for" is early 13c. Related: Answered; answering. The telephone answering machine is from 1961.
