ネイティブに聞いても分かりませんでした。。。
以下の質問をネイティブに聞いたところ、分からないとのことでした。
It rained practically all day.
I think "practically" in this sentence means "almost." I know it. but I DO NOT know why "practically" means "almost." I think this word comes from "practice", which means custom, exercise, profession, action and so on. And I can't imagine at all how in the world the meaning of "almost" derived from it. Could you tell me if possible? I welcome ANY guesses from any native English speakers in the world. I ain't a native...
(回答)
This is an example where words take on popular meaning that cannot be explained etymologically. You're right; it's a native speaker thing. You just have to accept it, and congratulate yourself that you figured it out! Your example was excellent.
"Practically" is an adverb that can (and usually) means "almost."
A -- "I worked all weekend but made almost no money."
B -- "Really?"
A -- "Yeah. Practically nothing."
You will also find that we use "virtually" in place of "almost."
Hope that helps!
(質問1)
どなたか、お詳しい方、この単語の語源を教えていただけますか。
(質問2)
私は、最近単語の語源に興味あります。もし大学(院)で学ぶとしたら、どの大学の何先生がこの分野で権威なのですか?
質問はどちらか、答えられたらそれで良いです。
よろしくお願いします。