The noun "side" belongs to the category of words that foreigners don't like very much. The fact is that it is used in the Russian language in eight meanings. Understanding what exactly it means in this particular case is sometimes very difficult. Let's find out all these ways of interpreting this term.
Etymology and original meaning
The considered feminine noun came to Russian from Proto-Slavonic. It contained the word "storna", which later, except for Russian, was borrowed by almost all Slavic languages and has been preserved in most of them to this day.
In Ukrainian it's "side", in Bulgarian it's "country", in Polish it's "strona", in Czech, Slovenian and Slovak it's "strana", etc.
From this we can conclude that the original meaning of the word "side" was "area", "land" or even "country". By the way, the last noun was just formed from the "side" and gradually forced it out of the active lexicon.
Despite this, in this sensethe term in question continues to be used to this day, but more in colloquial speech.
For example, everyone is familiar with the expression "homeland", which is used in the sense of "fatherland/fatherland" or "native land/country". Unfortunately, today it is gradually being replaced in speech by more modern analogues, such as, for example, "homeland".
The scope of the use of the expression "native side" is increasingly becoming works of art in which the speech of the characters is stylized in the old days.
A side is… The second meaning of the word
Also, this noun refers to a certain space located in some direction or being this direction itself.
For example: "The eldest son went in one direction, and the youngest went in the opposite direction."
It is worth noting that some linguists believe that this was the first meaning of the term under study. They argue that at first the side was some kind of unlimited territory, and only over time (with the active settlement of Slavic lands and the creation of maps of the area) did certain settlements and entire countries begin to be called that way.
Third value
Quite close to the previous interpretation of the word "party" and the third. According to him, this is the name of the place located on the right / left side of the middle. The right/left direction from an object or person is also called a side.
For example: “In most countries of the world, road transportdrives on the right side of the street and only in the UK, Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Africa and India - on the left.”
Party as the name of the interaction participant
The above ways of interpreting this word consider it as a geographical or spatial concept. However, it can also be used in speech as the name of one of the participants in a communication, conflict or other interaction.
For example, people entering into a contract (trade, rent, provision of services) or suing each other on some issue are called parties.
For example: “According to criminal law, the injured party is the individual who has suffered moral/physical or material harm.”
The same applies to the participants in the military conflict.
For example: "After several years of war, neither side has been able to win."
The fifth way to interpret the word "side"
Modern progress has reached the point where even laser discs are already considered obsolete data transfer devices. What can we say about cassettes or records, which today are simply perceived as an element of retroculture. However, both of these media are associated with the fifth meaning of the word "side" - this is one of the surfaces of some thing or the side of something.
The above-mentioned cassettes and records had two of them, each of which recorded the necessary information. In the fifties of the pastcentury, when records were still new, their sides were called "A" and "B". A similar classification was inherited by cassettes.
The meaning of the division was that on side A, as a rule, more attractive information was recorded for buyers, often popular songs. And on the B-side - less popular audio materials that had yet to be "hyped".
This meaning of the term under study is associated with such a popular phraseological unit as “the other side of the coin”. Its meaning is that any thing, act or incident always has an unsightly side, which is often customary to hide.
For example, there is a company that produces light bulbs. Compared to competitors, their products are cheaper and more accessible to the average consumer. In this regard, the company becomes one of the leaders in its industry. However, this success has a downside.
To make a lower price, the manufacturer needs to save on something. For example, to buy cheaper, and, therefore, lower quality raw materials, because of which the quality of the final product will also suffer and such light bulbs will fail more often than competitors.
There is another way to reduce production costs - pay less to the workers of the enterprise or force them to work more than the legal time for the same money. Both options are the very unsightly reverse side of the coin.
By the way, the originthis phraseological unit is very interesting. As you know, only the outer side of coins and medals was made beautiful, and the reverse, as a rule, was very unsightly. Knowing this, the ancestors often compared the hidden part of the situation with a coin or a medal, but gradually this expression was fixed in speech by itself. Moreover, today it is customary to decorate most of the coins and medals in full.
Side in geometry
Among other things, the term under study is also used in geometry. In it, this is the name of a line segment, with the help of which neighboring vertices of any polygon are connected, and in addition, its length.
There are many types of it. For example, the base side of the top or bottom of a polygon, the side of a rectangle, the side of a corner, etc.
In this discipline, the concept being studied is quite important, just like a straight line, angle, segment, radius, diameter, bisector, etc.
As an example of the practical use of this word in a similar sense, consider the following problem: “The side of the base of a regular triangular prism is 4 cm, the side edge is 3 cm. Find the area of the section passing through the side of the upper base and the opposite vertex of the lower base "".
Portable values
The noun in question is actively used not only literally, but also figuratively.
This is the name of an element of something or its component part.
To better understand what is meant, it is worth quoting the following sentences with the word side:
- "Relieved, Boris decided to soberly assess the current situation and try to find at least some positive aspects in it."
- "Despite all his achievements in science, such a seemingly simple side of life as relationships with the fair sex remained a mystery to him."
The final, eighth way of interpreting the studied noun is this. A side is a certain line of kinship. For example: “On the front of the Great Patriotic War, his great-grandfather on his father’s side died.”
