Frankensteinとは 意味・読み方・使い方

発音

• IPA: /ˈfɹæŋ.kən.staɪn/, /ˈfɹæŋ.kən.ʃtaɪn/, /-kɪn-/
• 韻: -aɪn

固有名詞

Frankenstein (countable and uncountable, plural Frankensteins)

1. Various small towns in Germany.
2. (historical) A former name of Ząbkowice Śląskie, a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland.
   • 1998, Akira Kudō, chapter 5, in J.A.A. Stockwin, editor, Japanese-German Business Relations: Co-operation and Rivalry in the Interwar Period‎, London: Routledge, published 2001, →ISBN, page 90:

     In the same year, a kiln of the same size was built in Frankenstein in the Silesian region, but the purpose of this kiln was to treat low-grade nickel ore, and it had a capacity for treating 80,000 tons a year.

3. (countable) A surname from German.
4. (fiction) Victor Frankenstein, a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

   Synonyms: Franky / Frankie, Doctor Frankenstein / Dr Frankenstein

5. (fiction, sometimes proscribed) The unnamed monster created by Victor Frankenstein: a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus as the main antagonist.

使用する際の注意点

• Frankenstein was the name of the scientist in Shelley's novel, and the monster was unnamed. Use of Frankenstein as a proper name for the monster is sometimes proscribed as a mistake, although it developed from greater use of the common noun below and from the monster's appearance in other media, usually without the Shelley backstory.

派生語

名詞

Frankenstein (plural Frankensteins)

1. (sometimes proscribed) A monster composed of body parts from various corpses attached and brought back to life by a mad scientist, typically strong, unable to speak clearly, and misunderstood.

   Synonyms: Frankenstein's monster / Frankenstein monster / frankenstein monster, Frankensteinian monster / frankensteinian monster, franky / frankie, monster

   • 1961, Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach:

     "Such loveliness as I possess can only truly shine In Hollywood!" Aunt Sponge declared. "Oh, wouldn't that be fine! I'd capture all the nations' hearts! They'd give me all the leading parts! The stars would all resign!" "I think you'd make," Aunt Spiker said, "a lovely Frankenstein."

2. Synonym of mad scientist

   Synonyms: Dr Frankenstein / Dr. Frankenstein / Doctor Frankenstein, frankenstein doctor / Frankenstein doctor, frankensteinian doctor / Frankensteinian doctor

使用する際の注意点

• Generally, Frankenstein or frankenstein is used for monsters similar to the one in Shelley's novel. The prefix franken- only refers to misbegotten creations of careless scientists, not the scientists themselves, and use for mad scientists typically needs to be clarified by context or through additional terms like Doctor Frankenstein, Frankenstein doctor, etc. Some speakers, however, sharply disagree and insist that, because Frankenstein was the name of the scientist in the original story, it can only be used for others like him and the monster should only ever be called Frankenstein's monster etc.

別の表記

• frankenstein

動詞

Frankenstein (third-person singular simple present Frankensteins, present participle Frankensteining, simple past and past participle Frankensteined)

1. (transitive, colloquial) To combine two or more similar elements into a consistent entity, or a cohesive idea.
   • 2005, Neal Pollack, Chicago Noir‎:

     In the middle of the Formica-topped table, on the other side of Kimball's oatmeal but still at arm's length, was an approximation of a laptop Kimball had Frankensteined from computers so obsolete that cash-strapped schools wouldn't even accept them as donations.

別の表記

• frankenstein