区别辨析border、bounds、boundary、frontier与limit

这些名词均含有“边界,边境”之意。

border : 多指国与国之间或两地区的分界处,即分界线附近的边缘部分。

  • Were you stopped at the border?
    你在边界被拦住了吗?
  • The train crosses the border between France and Spain.
    火车穿过法国和西班牙之间的边界。
  • The two countries have had frequent border disputes.
    两国经常发生边界纠纷。

bounds : 常与boundary换用,指土地边界,但意思不如boundary明确,主要用于抽象事物和文学作品中。

  • The committee felt that newspaper coverage of the murder went beyond reasonable bounds.
    委员会觉得报纸对谋杀案的报道超出了正常的范围。
  • What you did was beyond/outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour.
    你的所作所为令人无法接受。
  • His desire for political power apparently knows no bounds (= seems to be unlimited).
    他对政治权力的欲望显然没有止境。

boundary : 侧重地图上正式标定的、双方遵守的边界,也可指较小行政单位间的界线。

  • The Ural mountains mark the boundary between Europe and Asia.
    乌拉尔山脉是欧洲和亚洲的分界线。
  • Residents are opposed to the prison being built within the city boundary.
    居民们反对把监狱建在市区。

frontier : 指两国接壤的前沿地区,属于各国的国境和边疆,多指设防的边界。

  • Some of the frontier between Germany and Poland follows the course of the river Oder.
    德国与波兰的部分边界是沿奥德河划分的。
  • Nepal has frontiers with both India and China.
    尼泊尔与中国和印度都接壤。
  • They lived in a town close to the frontier.
    他们居住在一个离边界很近的城镇。

limit : 含义广泛,常用作复数。指任何界限、范围、分界线外面的部分,可指有形或无形的东西。

  • We were reaching the limits of civilization.
    我们快到蛮荒地界了。
  • the city limits (= the imaginary line which officially divides the city from the area outside)
    市区范围