Exhibit展品
astrolabe
/ˈæstrəleɪb/
How do you take hold of a star?怎样才算捉住一颗星？
Today此刻
A historical instrument for measuring the height of a star or the sun.一种历史上用来测量星或太阳高度的仪器。
Historical历史形态
Take it apart拆开来看
Formed in Greek from astron and lambanein, to take. Borrowed into English through Medieval Latin, already built.在希腊语里由 astron 和 lambanein（取得）构成。经中古拉丁语借入英语时，词已经造好。
Travel through time穿过时间
Greek希腊语
astron
star星
Greek希腊语
lambanein
to take取得
Greek希腊语
astrolabos
star-taker取星者
Medieval Latin中古拉丁语
astrolabium
the instrument这件仪器
English英语
astrolabe
the instrument这件仪器
How the meaning moved意义如何移动
01 · the Greek name01 · 希腊语名称
a taker of stars取星的人
02 · medieval and later02 · 中世纪及以后
an instrument for measuring the sky测量天空的仪器
Story故事
The star-taker取星的人
Greek astrolabos joins a star to the verb lambanein, to take. An astrolabe takes a star: it measures where the star stands, so a traveler, a scholar, or a keeper of prayer times can know a position.
The instrument passed through Medieval Latin astrolabium into English. By then it was a disc of brass and engraved lines, a handheld model of the sky. It belongs to the same root as astronomy, and to a different desire. Astronomy names the order. The astrolabe tries to hold a piece of that order in the hand.
Disaster reads a star as a cause. The astrolabe reads a star as a measurement. The museum keeps both, because the sky was asked to do both jobs.
希腊语 astrolabos 把一颗星和动词 lambanein（取得、抓住）接在一起。星盘取得一颗星：它测量星站在哪里，好让旅行者、学者或守祷告时刻的人知道一个位置。
这件仪器经中古拉丁语 astrolabium 进入英语。那时它已是一面黄铜圆盘和刻好的线，一个可以握在手里的天空模型。它和 astronomy 同根，欲望却不同。天文学为秩序命名。星盘试着把那秩序的一小块握在手里。
disaster 把星读成原因。星盘把星读成测量。本馆把两者都留下，因为天空曾经被请来做这两件事。
Keep wandering继续漫游
Research notes研究笔记
Confidence · High把握 · 高
The outline is the ordinary account in historical dictionaries.轮廓与历史词典里的通行说法一致。
Sources出处
An outline for the visitor, not a critical edition.给访客的纲要，不是校勘本。