1.
the marked passage; the underlined part (of a text)
The stretch of text singled out by a line drawn beside or under it. Standard wording in Japanese exam questions, which refer to a passage as 傍線部A or 傍線部(1) and then ask about it.
傍線 (a line drawn alongside text) + 部 (part). Japanese was traditionally written vertically, so an emphasis line runs down the side of the characters rather than under them — hence 傍 'beside'. In horizontal text the line appears underneath, and English 'underlined part' is the natural translation.
Common collocations
- 傍線部A: marked passage A (labels used in exam questions)
- 傍線部について答えなさい: answer the question about the marked passage
- 傍線部を引く: to draw a line beside a passage
Similar words
- 下線部: the underlined part — the same idea described as a line underneath; more common in horizontally written material
- 波線部: the part marked with a wavy line — used when a question distinguishes two marked passages