The word "represent" appeared in the Russian language as early as the 19th century, but came into widespread use only in the 20th century. And today it does not lose its popularity in use. You can meet him in university textbooks, in important documents, hear in official or almost any public speech. What does the concept of "represent" mean? About this and much more in the article!
Etymology of the word
With minimal acquaintance with at least one of the Indo-European languages (for example, English, German, French, etc.), guessing the meaning of the word may not be so difficult. After all, all of the languages listed above is based on Latin, and the sought-after basis of the word "represent" lies in it - this is Latin repraesentare. The word in Latin has quite a few meanings:
- Represent someone / anything.
- Perform, actuate, execution.
- Pay, return (for example, debt).
- Lead, present (arguments, arguments).
- Implement, implement (any plan).
- To be equal to someone / something, to replace someone / something.
The meaning of the word in modern Russian
As for the existence of this word in modern Russian, it can be said that, after centuries, it has somewhat moved away from its dead parent language. Although its ambiguity in some form has survived to this day. So, to "represent" is, firstly, to be a representative of something (for example, the social layer, class, slice).
Secondly, the word "represent" can mean the action of reflecting something, one or another object or form in the perception of consciousness, thinking, etc.
Speech use
As mentioned above, the word "represent" can be attributed to such functional styles of the Russian language as official business and scientific. That is why to show off the knowledge of this word in a relaxed and informal atmosphere can sometimes seem quite inappropriate.
So, in the first of the two given meanings in many dictionaries we find the mark "book". The second meaning is close to the environment of education and science. Quite often it can be found in the scientific works of linguists and psychologists, in these areas the term is especially popular.
As examples of use, we will present one sentence with a given word in each of its meanings, respectively:
- Australia represents a wide variety of flora and fauna.
- The individual "dialect" of each person is formed from the way in which this individual represents his own way of thinking and seeing the world in his speech.