Exhibit展品
candidate
/ˈkændɪdeɪt/
Why does a candidate have anything to do with white clothes?候选人为什么和白衣服有关？
Today此刻
A person seeking office, or being considered for a post.寻求职位的人，或正在被考虑担任某一职位的人。
Historical历史形态
Take it apart拆开来看
Derived in Latin from candidus, white. English borrowed the finished noun. This is not a compound you can extend by bleaching other clothes.在拉丁语里由 candidus（白）派生。英语借入的是完成的名词。这不是一个能靠漂白别的衣服继续扩展的复合词。
Travel through time穿过时间
Latin拉丁语
candēre
to shine发光
Latin拉丁语
candidus
bright white明亮的白
Latin拉丁语
candidatus
clothed in white, an office-seeker穿着白衣，求官的人
English · early 1600s英语 · 十七世纪初
candidate
a seeker of office求官的人
How the meaning moved意义如何移动
01 · Latin01 · 拉丁语
dressed in white穿着白衣
02 · Latin, then English02 · 拉丁语，然后是英语
a seeker of public office寻求公职的人
03 · later English03 · 较晚的英语
a person considered for a post or a prize被考虑担任职位或获奖的人
Story故事
The white toga白色托加
Latin candidus means bright white, from candēre, to shine. Candidatus is a person clothed in white. The historical dictionaries attach that whiteness to Roman public life: a seeker of office wore a whitened toga, the toga candida, so the candidacy was visible in the street.
English borrowed the political person, not the dye. By the early seventeenth century a candidate could be someone standing for office. Later the word widened to almost any person under consideration, for a job, a degree, a prize. The white cloth dropped out of view. The public offering of oneself stayed.
The museum is not staging an election day. It is standing by the ordinary account: the Latin word names the white-clad seeker of office, and English kept the seeker.
拉丁语 candidus 是明亮的白，来自 candēre（发光）。Candidatus 是穿着白衣的人。历史词典把这白色接到罗马的公共生活上：求官的人穿一件漂白的托加，toga candida，好让候选人的身份在街上看得见。
英语借入的是那个政治人物，不是染料。到十七世纪初，candidate 可以是站出来求官的人。后来这个词放宽到几乎任何被考虑的人：一份工作，一个学位，一项奖。白布从视野里掉了出去。把自己公开交出来这件事留下了。
本馆不是在排演一个选举日。它站在通行的说法旁边：拉丁语这个词命名穿着白衣求官的人，英语留下了求官的人。
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。