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外来词“大帝”的英文原单词是什么？翻译又是否贴切？

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“大帝”作为古代有大作为君主的称谓其实是源自英文单词“the great”。不过，在国外，the great虽然多冠名君主，但就本身而言仅有伟大的意思，并不单指伟大的君主，所以翻译为“大帝”并不贴切。
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“大帝”一词，中国自古有之，但在古代，它却主要用于对一些大神仙的称谓修饰，比如玉皇大帝，紫微北极大帝、关圣大帝、东岳大帝等等，用于对古代君王的称谓的场景则极为罕见，有据可查的仅有死后谥号大皇帝，被后续史学家称为“吴大帝”的三国之一吴国君主孙权，以及死后谥号“天皇大帝”的唐高宗李治。不过，孙权和李治虽然在中国的知名度都挺高的，但就以现代“大帝”的标准来看，他们两位显然还不够格。

现在，中文语境中形容古代有大作为君王的“大帝”一词，其实是外来词“the great”翻译的结果，比如马其顿的亚历山大大帝（Alexander the Great），威塞克斯王国的阿尔弗雷德大帝（Alfred the Great），波斯帝国的居鲁士大帝（Cyrus the Great），神圣罗马帝国的腓特烈大帝（Frederick the Great）… 

当英文的“the Great”被翻译成中文的“大帝”之后，由于“大帝”这词在中文中的强大语境气场，加上“the Great”在国外的高标准意涵，“大帝”很快被中国人活学活用应用到中国的几大大有作为的君主身上，于是像什么“汉武大帝”，“永乐大帝”，“康熙大帝”，“乾隆大帝”等等一系列古代从未出现的词汇就此诞生。

不过，“大帝”就中文字面意思来看，指代对象必然只能是一代帝王，那在西方被冠以“the Great”之名的人又是否全部都是帝王呢？事实上，并非如此。国外曾有人统计，西方被冠以“the Great”之名的人共有144人，其中93个君主，22个贵族，26个宗教人物（其中基督教23人，犹太教3人），还有3个军队将领。由此可见，在西方被冠以“the Great”之名的人虽然绝大部分是帝王级别的人物，但还是有很大一部分并不是。

其实，“the Great”在西方指的是“伟大的人”，也就是“the Great”在英文中的字面意思，只不过可能君王这一类绝对统治者对历史的影响太大，随便做出一点成绩就能推动历史正面发展，因此被“the Great”冠名的大部分都是君王级人物。

像那些被冠以“the Great”之名而又非君王级别的人物的人，比如巴西流（basil the great），他只是卡帕多西亚三教父之一，一个神职人员，因为生前曾著书论证了圣灵完全的神性，又建立起被后世一直沿用的修院制度，因此被被冠以“the great”之名，又因为被冠以“the great”之名，因此也被翻译成“大巴西流”。另外，像教皇大格里高利（Saint Gregory the Great）也并非君王级别，虽然教皇在地位上已经比君王更高了。

 

P.S. “大帝（the great）”的其他语言翻译

德语der Große

法语le Grand

罗斯Великий

拉丁Magnus

希腊Μέγας


以下引用自维基百科（List of people known as the Great）

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_known_as_the_Great

Monarchs（君主）

NameDescriptionDates
Abbas the GreatRuler of Safavid Iran1588 – 1629
Abgar VIIIKing of Osroene? – 212
Afonso I of PortugalFirst King of Portugal1139 – 1185
Akbar the GreatThird Mughal emperor of India1542 – 1605
Alan I, King of BrittanyDuke of Brittany? – 907
Alexander I of GeorgiaKing of Georgia1386 – 1446
Alexander the GreatKing of Macedonia and Persia. Pharaoh of Egypt.356 BC – 323 BC
Alfonso III of AsturiasKing of León, Galicia and Asturias848 – 910
Alfred the GreatKing of Wessex and the Anglo-Saxons848/849 – 899
Amenhotep IIIPharaoh of Egypt? – 1353 BC
Antiochus III the GreatRuler of the Seleucid Empire241 BC – 187 BC
Artaxerxes IFifth Shahanshah of Persia Achaemenid Empire, (in present-day Iran)465 BC – 424 BC
AshokaIndian Emperor of the Maurya dynasty268 BC – 232 BC
Ashot I of ArmeniaKing of Armenia820 – 890
Ashot I of IberiaFirst Bagratid king of Georgia? – 830
Askia Mohammad IRuler of the Songhai Empire1442 – 1538
Bagrat V of GeorgiaKing of Georgia? – 1393
Barnim IIIDuke of Stettin Pomeraniac. 1300 – 1368
BayinnaungKing of Toungoo Dynasty (in present-day Myanmar)1550 – 1581
Berengaria of CastileQueen of Castile and Toledo1179 – 1246
Bhumibol AdulyadejKing of Thailand1927 – 2016
Bogusław VDuke of Wolgast and Słupsk1317/18 – 1374
Bolesław I the BraveFirst king of Poland967 – 1025
Casimir III the GreatKing of Poland (1333–1370)1310 – 1370
Catherine the GreatEmpress of Russia1729 – 1796
Charlemagne ("Charles the Great")King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans800 – 814
Chlothar IIKing of Neustria and King of the Franks584 – 629
ChulalongkornKing of Siam (in present-day Thailand)1868 – 1910
Constantine the GreatRoman emperor272 – 337
Cnut the GreatKing of England (1016–1035), Denmark (1018–1035) and Norway (1028–1035)985 or 995 – 1035
Cyrus the GreatFounder and First Shahanshah of Persia Achaemenid Empire, (in present-day Iran)600 BC or 576 BC – 530 BC
Darius the GreatThird Shahanshah of Persia Achaemenid Empire, (in present-day Iran)550 BC – 486 BC
Eucratides IRuler of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdom170 BC – 145 BC
EwuareFounder and Oba (king) of the Benin Empire (in present-day Nigeria)? – 1473
Farrukhan the GreatIspahbadh of Tabaristan712 – 728
Ferdinand I of LeónKing of León and Count of Castile1015 – 1065
Frederick the GreatKing of Prussia1712 – 1786
Genghis KhanFounder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire1162 – 1227
Gwrgan FawrKing of Ergyngc. 619 – 645
Gustavus Adolphus of SwedenKing of Sweden (1611–1632), founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader1594 – 1632
Gwanggaeto the GreatKing of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea374 – 413
Henry IV of FranceKing of France and King of Navarre1553 – 1610
Herod the GreatKing of Judea73 BC/74 BC – 4 BC
Hugh III of CyprusKing of Cyprus and Jerusalem1267 – 1284
Hugh MagnusCo-King of France1007 – 1025
Inal the Great of CircassiaSupreme Prince of Circassia? – 1453
Ivan III of RussiaGrand Prince of Moscow1440 – 1505
Iyasu IEmperor of Ethiopia1654 – 1706
John I of PortugalKing of Portugal and the Algarve1358 – 1433
John II of Aragon and NavarreKing of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre1398 – 1479
Justinian IRoman Emperor (Eastern)483 – 565
Kamehameha IFirst king of Hawaii1758 – 1819
Kangxi EmperorEmperor of Qing China1654 – 1722
KanishkaEmperor of Kushan Empire, ruled at Central Asia and parts of India127 – 150
KarikalaEarly Chola Emperor of IndiaMultiple
Kvirike III of KakhetiKing of Kakheti in eastern Georgia1010 – 1029
Kublai KhanMongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty1215 – 1294
Leo I the ThracianRoman emperor457 – 474
Llywelyn the GreatKing of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales1172 – 1240
Louis I of HungaryKing of Hungary, Croatia, and Poland1326 – 1382
Lê Thánh TôngEmperor of Đại Việt, and the longest-reigning emperor of the Later Lê dynasty1442 – 1497
Louis XIV of FranceKing of France and Navarre1638 – 1715
Manuel I KomnenosByzantine emperor1143 – 1180
Marianus IV of ArboreaJudge of Arborea1319 – 1376
Miloš Obrenović I of SerbiaPrince of Serbia1780 – 1860
Mircea the ElderVoivode of Wallachia1386 – 1394, 1397 – 1418
Mithridates I of ParthiaFifth King of Parthia, (in present-day Iran)171 BC – 132 BC
Mithridates II of ParthiaEighth King of Parthia, (in present-day Iran)121 BC – 91 BC
Mithridates VI EupatorKing of Pontus120 BC – 63 BC
MongkutKing of Siam (in present-day Thailand)1804 – 1868
Mubarak Al-SabahRuler of Kuwait1840 – 1915
Mstislav I of KievGrand Prince of Kievan Rus'1076 – 1132
NaraiKing of Ayutthaya (in present-day Thailand)1633 – 1688
NaresuanKing of Ayutthaya (in present-day Thailand)1590 – 1605
Nebuchadnezzar IIKing of the Neo-Babylonian Empire642 BC – 562 BC
Otto the GreatHoly Roman Emperor912 – 973
Owain GwyneddKing of All Walesc. 1100/23 – 1170
PakalRuler of the Maya city-state of Palenque603 – 683
Parakramabahu IKing of Polonnaruwa1123 – 1186
Peter Krešimir IV of CroatiaKing of Croatia1059 – 1075
Peter the GreatTsar of Russia; founder of the Russian Empire1672 – 1725
Peter III of AragonKing of Aragon and King of Sicily1239 – 1285
Pharasmanes I of IberiaKing of Iberia1 – 58
Phutthayotfa ChulalokKing of Siam (In present-day Thailand)1782 – 1809
Ptolemy II PhiladelphusPharaoh of the Ptolemaic Kingdom284 BC – 246 BC
Qin Shi HuangFirst emperor of China, who unified China from Warring States259 BC – 210 BC
Radama IFirst king of greater Madagascar1793 – 1828
Radu IV the GreatVoivode of Wallachia1495 – 1508
Rajaraja Chola IImperial Chola Emperor of India947 – 1014
Rajendra Chola IImperial Chola Emperor of India979 – 1044
Ramesses IIPharaoh of Egypt known for his temples, monuments, and military feats.1279 BC – 1213 BC
Ram KhamhaengKing of Sukhothai (In present-day Thailand)1237/1247 – 1298
Reza ShahShah of Iran1925 – 1941
Rhodri the GreatKing of Gwynedd (in present-day Wales)820 – 878
Roman the GreatGrand Prince of Kiev1160 – 1205
Sancho III of PamplonaKing of Navarre992 – 1035
Sargon of AkkadRuler of the Akkadian Empire? – 2215 BC
Sejong the GreatFourth King of the Joseon Dynasty1397 – 1450
Shapur IITenth Shahanshah of Persia Sassanid Empire, (in present-day Iran)309 – 379
Simeon I of BulgariaTsar (emperor) of Bulgaria864 – 927
Simon I of KartliKing of Kartli1537 – 1611
Solomon I of ImeretiKing of Imereti1735 – 1784
Sonni Ali BerFirst Ruler of the Songhai Empire1462 – 1492
Stefan Uroš IKing of Serbia1243 – 1276
Stephen the GreatPrince of Moldavia (Romania)1457 – 1504
Svatopluk I of MoraviaKing of Moravia840 – 894
Świętopełk II the GreatDuke of Gdańsk Pomerania? – 1266
TaksinKing of the Thonburi Kingdom (in present-day Thailand)1734 – 1783
Tamar of GeorgiaQueen of the Georgian Empire1160 – 1223
Emperor Taizong of TangEmperor of Tang (China)598 – 649
Theoderic the GreatKing of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire454 – 526
Theodosius IRoman emperor347 – 395
Thoros II of ArmeniaLord of Armenian Cilicia? – 1169
Thutmose IIIPharaoh of Egypt1481 BC – 1425 BC
Tigranes the GreatEmperor of Armenia140 BC – 55 BC
Tiridates III of ArmeniaKing of Armenia285 – 339
Valdemar I of DenmarkKing of Denmark1131 – 1182
Valentinian IRoman emperor364 – 375
Vladimir the GreatKievan Rus' ruler; Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kiev958 – 1015
VytautasArchduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy1350 – 1430
Emperor Wu of HanEmperor of Han China, from whose reign dynasty the Chinese majority people are named156 BC – 87 BC
Xerxes IFourth Shahanshah of Persia Achaemenid Empire, (in present-day Iran)519 BC – 465 BC
Yuknoom Ch'een IIMaya king of Kaan600 – c. 680


大帝 相关知识
外来词“大帝”的英文原单词是什么？翻译又是否贴切？
相关词条
大帝 （大君主称谓）
大帝，即将大君主（原意为伟大者、大人物等，现代希腊语为Mégas，英语为the
great （英文单词）
adj.伟大的,大的,强烈的,非常的,主要的,大写的,重大的,崇高的adv.顺利
参考资料
1. the Great 翻译成「大帝」准确吗？一共有多少大帝？