belittle — to make small，unimportant

[00:00.06]Today’s word is belittle.#
今天要和大家分享的词是贬低(belittle)，#

[00:03.45]It was first used by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.#
由美国第三届总统托马斯.杰斐逊首度使用。#

[00:11.54]Many years ago, a French naturalist, the Count de Buffon, wrote some books about natural history.#
多年以前，法国自然学家布丰伯爵著成几本自然史书籍。#

[00:21.50]The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them.#
尽管有些评论家不喜欢它们，这些书热销一时。#

[00:28.13]Some critics said, “Count Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist.”#
有评论家说道，“与其说布丰伯爵是科学家，不如说他是诗人。”#

[00:36.76]Thomas Jefferson did not like what the Count had said about the natural wonders of the New World. #
杰斐逊不喜欢伯爵对新大陆的自然奇观所作的描述。#

[00:45.02]It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had gone out of his way to speak of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant.#
在杰弗逊看来，伯爵对美洲自然奇观的描述背离了应有的方式，显得它们似乎无足轻重。#

[00:57.06]This troubled Thomas Jefferson.#
这一点让杰弗逊颇为不快。#

[01:00.63]He too was a naturalist, as well as a farmer, inventor, historian, writer and politician.#
他也是自然学家、同时还是农民、投资家、历史学家、作家和政治家。#

[01:12.24]He had seen the natural wonders of Europe.#
他曾游览欧洲的各处自然奇观。#

[01:16.11]To him, they were no more important than those of the New World.#
但是，对他来说，那些奇观并没有比新大陆的自然奇观更具重要性。#

[01:22.86]In 1788, Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state, Virginia.#
1788年，杰弗逊写了一本关于他的家乡弗吉尼亚州的书，#

[01:32.04]While writing, he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Count de Buffon.#
写作时，他想起了家乡的自然美景，又想到了布丰伯爵的那些作品。#

[01:40.84]At that moment, Jefferson created a new word, belittle.#
在那一瞬间，杰斐逊创造了一个新词轻视（belittle）。#

[01:47.67]He said, “The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic.”#
他说：“布丰伯爵认为，大自然贬低了其在大西洋彼岸的作品。”#

[01:57.68]Noah Webster, the American word expert, liked this word.#
美国词语专家诺亚韦伯斯特非常喜欢这个词。#

[02:04.98]He put it in his English language dictionary in 1806.#
1806年，他将这个单词收入他的英语词典。#

[02:11.13]”Belittle,to make small, unimportant.”#
贬低 （Belittle）的意思是“小看，轻看（to make small，unimportant）。