Each word or expression has a history of its appearance in the language. Some of them live for centuries, others die after only a few years. This is largely due to the level of development of society, culture, life of the people where the word lives. Many invisible threads link the words to each other.
What the dictionaries say
With the "biography" of the word can be found on the pages of dictionaries. They also turn there in order to reveal its lexical meaning.
For example, if you ask what the word revere means, you can easily notice that in the dictionaries of different authors it has basically a similar interpretation, although there is a difference. An analysis of the frequency of the use of the word shows that it is used in 90% of cases in general vocabulary, in 10% in church vocabulary. This can explain the fact of similarities and differences in the interpretation of the verb revere in dictionaries.
In the dictionary of T. F. Efremova, “to revere” stands on a par with the verbs to experience, to manifest. The noun reverence also has a connection with this set of words.
In the dictionary of S. I. Ozhegov, for explanation, the phrase is used: "to revere is to treat with reverence something or someone." Here the author gives a whole list of words related both to each other and to the verb to revere - reverence, grace, good, piety, blessed, bliss.
In the Dictionary of D. N. Ushakov, the explanation of the word is close to that presented by Ozhegov. And a number of antonyms contain such words as: to despise, not to put a penny.
In Dyachenko's dictionary, where Church Slavonic expressions are collected, a different interpretation of the verb piety is given. The meaning of the word, according to the author, follows from a whole chain of related words:
- reverence - fear of God, deep respect;
- reverent - zealous towards God, pious;
- revere - give great honor to God, be pious;
- reverence is the humility and fear that comes from devotion and love.
Etymology of the word
To understand what reverence means, or to discover the meaning of some other word, sometimes it is enough to figure out where and how it came into the language.
Scientists-linguists believe that most of the words like the verb to revere, appeared in the Russian language as a result of the educational activities of Cyril and Methodius. Their translation into Russian of Holy Scripture and other liturgical books allowed the Slavs who converted to Christianity to address God in their native language.
But initially many borrowings from ancient Greek and Hebrewlanguages were alien to the sound of Russian speech, and the meanings were incomprehensible. With the development of the literary Slavic language, borrowed words began to be forced out, as they were replaced by correspondences that arose in the native language. The verb to revere is one of the many words that are of Church Slavonic origin.
Trace Tracing
Not only individual words were borrowed, but also the ways of their formation. One of them is tracing. The translation of a word from a foreign language is carried out in parts, and then folded into a single whole.
This scientists explain a large number of complex words in the Russian language. For example, the morpheme "good" is noted in various dictionaries in more than 700 language units. It can be concluded that the word revere is the result of a similar way of word formation.
Associations
In the process of searching for the meaning of a word, a person's passive and active vocabulary expands significantly. And if you use the method of associations, then you can understand the meaning of a particular word much faster, while replenishing the dictionary will be guaranteed.
For example, a translation into English makes it clear that to revere is to tremble, worship, venerate, venerate. In modern Russian, the synonyms of the infinitive are such words as succeed, give, succeed, pray, worship, bow down, obey. The phrases “bow your head”, “look up from below”, “create an idol for yourself” complement and expand the meaning of the word revere.
The use of the word itself as part of phrases also reveals its meaning. Reverence can be respectfully, obviously, weakly, stupidly, naively, blindly, obsequiously. A woman, a man, an uncle, a teacher, a leader, people are in awe. The list goes on and on.
The list of words indicating the emerging associations associated with the verb revere can become just as long. Each person will have their own associations, as they depend on many factors - education, social status, age, life experience, etc.
Instead of a conclusion
Interest in the language is shown not only by people who study it professionally, but also by students, schoolchildren, as well as those who simply follow the development of the Russian language and are interested in its history.
A person's knowledge of linguistics, a rich vocabulary is an indicator of his level of literacy and general culture.
