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約定俗成
Established Through Popular Usage / Accepted Through Common Practice
名稱按約定確立并成為習慣。荀子提出“約定俗成”的觀念，用以描述事物的命名方式。荀子認為，人們所使用的名稱有著不同的種類，每個名稱適用于指示特定的對象。但具體用哪個名稱來指示某一事物或某類事物，則是由人們共同約定的。約定的名稱用法逐漸為人們所習慣，那么這一名稱也就確定下來了。“約定俗成”后來也被用以泛指一般社會規則的形成。
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：
◎名無固宜，約之以命。約定俗成謂之宜，異于約則謂之不宜。名無固實，約之以命實，約定俗成謂之實名。（《荀子·正名》）
名稱沒有本來就合適的，而是由人們約定而加以命名的。按照約定確立并為人們所習慣的名稱就是適宜的，有別于約定的名稱則稱之為不適宜的。名稱沒有本來就指稱某一對象，而是按照約定去指稱特定的對象，名稱按約定確立并成為習慣，就稱之為某一對象的名稱。
There is no such thing as a name that 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)
推薦：教育部 國家語委
供稿：北京外國語大學 外語教學與研究出版社
責任編輯：錢耐安
