單字講座 153：infer (v) / refer (v) / defer (v)

太神奇了！近日有對雙胞胎出生相差 111 天，創下國內延遲間隔生產的最久記錄。產科醫師指出，雙胞胎屬早產高危險群，若遇到早產，通常兩個寶寶會一起娩出。間隔 24 小時以上，才生出第 2 個寶寶的狀況相當罕見，成功機率甚至不到萬分之一。話說「延遲」是 infer、refer 還是 defer 呢？下方說分明。



▍infer (v) 推論
▶ 例 1：看到我爸的車鑰匙在桌上，我推論他已到家了。
Seeing my dad’s car keys on the table, I infer that he’s home.

▍refer (v) 提及；refer to N：提及N；refer to A as B：把 A 稱做 B
▶ 例 1：身為攝影師，他總是將相機稱為他的眼睛。
As a photographer, he always refers to his cameras as his eyes.

▍defer (v) 使延遲；defer to N：順（聽）從 N
▶ 例 1：畢業後，John 攻讀碩士學位，因而延後服役。
After graduation, John enrolled in a master’s program, which deferred his military service.

▶ 例 2：就像大多數病患一樣，她聽從醫生說的所有事項。
Like most patients, she deferred to anything her doctors said.