中华文化专词全文 中华文化专词双译约定俗成

来源：中华思想文化术语

作者：《中华思想文化术语》编委会

约定俗成

Established Through Popular Usage / Accepted Through Common Practice

图片来源：学习强国

名称按约定确立并成为习惯。荀子提出“约定俗成”的观念，用以描述事物的命名方式。荀子认为，人们所使用的名称有着不同的种类，每个名称适用于指示特定的对象。但具体用哪个名称来指示某一事物或某类事物，则是由人们共同约定的。约定的名称用法逐渐为人们所习惯，那么这一名称也就确定下来了。“约定俗成”后来也被用以泛指一般社会规则的形成。

Names are established through popular usage. Xunzi proposed this idea to describe how things are named. Xunzi believed that names fall into different categories, and every name is used to indicate a particular object. Which name is used to describe what or what kind of things is decided by the popularity of its use. When everybody accepts a name established by popular usage, it has become a fixed name for the particular object. This idea has also been used to describe the establishment of social norms.

引例 Citation：

◎名无固宜，约之以命。约定俗成谓之宜，异于约则谓之不宜。名无固实，约之以命实，约定俗成谓之实名。（《荀子•正名》）

名称没有本来就合适的，而是由人们约定而加以命名的。按照约定确立并为人们所习惯的名称就是适宜的，有别于约定的名称则称之为不适宜的。名称没有本来就指称某一对象，而是按照约定去指称特定的对象，名称按约定确立并成为习惯，就称之为某一对象的名称。

There is no such thing as a name matches an object from the very beginning. All things are named in accordance with the popularity of their use by people. When everybody accepts a name, it is proper for the thing it refers to. Names that are not accepted or commonly used are not appropriate. Names are not originally meant to refer to a particular object; it is through popular use that a name comes to designate a particular thing. Once accepted through popular usage, a name has established its fixed association with the object it refers to. (Xunzi)

（推荐：教育部 国家语委 供稿：北京外国语大学 外语教学与研究出版社）

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