cheat

詞源小故事
[14] Cheat is a reduced form of escheat, a legal term for the reversion of property to the state on the death of the owner without heirs. This came from Old French escheoite, a derivative of the past participle of the verb escheoir ‘befall by chance, happen, devolve’, from Vulgar Latin *excadēre ‘fall away’, a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and Latin cadere ‘fall’ (source of a wide range of English words from case ‘circumstance’ to occasion). The semantic steps leading to the modern English sense of cheat seem to be ‘confiscate’; ‘deprive of something dishonestly’; ‘deceive’.

cheat是escheat的簡化版。英格蘭封建社會時，如果一個人去世時沒有合法的繼承人，他的財產會被國家所擁有。這個財產轉移的過程叫做escheat，而escheat實際就是ex+cad=to fall經歷變體后得來的，字面意思就是“to fall out”，可以理解為財產“落”到了國家手里。本來事情發展成這樣是合乎法律依據的，但是對于那些聲稱自己是合法繼承人的人來說，政府的“沒收”和“充公”，使自己失去了“繼承”逝者遺產的可能，就覺著政府是在“非法剝奪”自己的權益，就是在“欺騙”！

escheat
Reversion of land held under feudal tenure to the manor in the absence of legal heirs or claimants.
Law. Reversion of property to the state in the absence of legal heirs or claimants. Property that has reverted to the state when no legal heirs or claimants exist.
To revert or cause to revert by escheat.
v.【律】把(無繼承人的土地或財產)歸屬國家[國王, 領主]; 充公
n.
1. (土地或財產的)歸還國家, 充公
2. 歸還的土地及其它財

cadence
A falling inflection of the voice, as at the end of a sentence. General inflection or modulation of the voice.
Balanced, rhythmic flow, as of poetry or oratory.
The measure or beat of movement, as in dancing or marching.
Music. A progression of chords moving to a harmonic close, point of rest, or sense of resolution.
n.
1. 韻律; 聲調
2. 聲音的抑揚頓挫
3. 節奏, 拍子; 步調信號
4. 【音】樂章的結尾
vt. 使成節奏

例句：
He liked the relaxed cadence of his retired life.
他喜歡退休生活的悠閑的節奏。
There was an unfamiliar cadence in her voice.
她說話時帶有一種不常聽到的抑揚頓挫的聲調。

趣味單詞

languid 懶鬼的
Lacking energy or vitality; weak: a languid wave of the hand.
Showing little or no spirit or animation; listless: a languid mood.
Lacking vigor or force; slow:
adj.
1. 倦怠的；萎靡不振的；無活力的
2. 無精打采的，懶洋洋的
3. 缺乏興趣的，不關心的
4. 懶散的，遲緩的

例句：
The incredible summer heat and humidity made us all feel languid.
夏天超乎想像的熱氣與濕度讓大家都覺得無精打采。