80482
The sentence in question is

> 「いずれにしても、強大な力を秘めていたことは間違いない」

For me, this would mean something like

> "In any case, there is no doubt it was hiding its mighty power." (a)

However, Google translate gives the following sentence:

> "In any case, there is no doubt that he had a great power." (b)

Now, normally, I don't take stuff from Google translate at face value but in
this case, I've seen other people translating this sentence both ways (both
(a) and (b)).

Context-wise, the sentence appears as part of the following dialogue,

> 「ミュウです」  
>  発掘隊員が石版を指すと、博士は感嘆の表情を浮かべた。  
>  「神秘の力を持ち、大洪水を引き起こしたとか••••••荒地に作物を実らせ、人々に分け与えたとか••••••」  
>  「天使か悪魔か」  
>  「気まぐれなだけか」  
>  研究員たちが後に続くと、博士は笑みを浮かべた。  
>  「いずれにしても、強大な力を秘めていたことは間違いない」

and it translation (b) can fit too. According to
[Jisho](https://jisho.org/search/%E7%A7%98%E3%82%81%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B)
though, 秘める only has the meaning "to hide".

That being said, is (a) the correct translation? Is (b) possible as well?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-02T21:51:49.693
79931
2020-09-04T01:02:05.453
32479
question
translation nuances
Can 秘める mean to have?
To me, both (a) and (b) are correct though I feel (a) sounds more accurate as
the letter 秘 itself means a secret so with める it sort of becomes a verb
meaning "to secretly possess" or "to have something (that usually refers to
something spiritual or a special power) without anyone's knowledge" so "to
hide" in this instance and in my opinion is more accurate.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-04T05:43:39.967
79964
2020-08-04T05:43:39.967
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79931
answer
Three monolingual dictionaries I checked have both of the following
definitions:

  1. to conceal, to hide
  2. to have within itself, to possess (if not showily)

So how secretive it is depends on the context, but it's somewhere between
強大な力を宿している and 強大な力を隠している. I think "had a great power" is a reasonable
translation in many cases.

Reference: <https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%A7%98%E3%82%81%E3%82%8B-612565>
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-04T01:02:05.453
80482
2020-09-04T01:02:05.453
5010
79931
answer