| 释义 |
▪ I. structure, n.|ˈstrʌktjʊə(r)|
[ad. L. structūra, f. struct-, struĕre to build: see -ure. Cf. F. structure, Sp., Pg. estructura, It. struttura.]
1. The action, practice, or process of building or construction. Now rare or Obs.
c1440Pallad. on Husb. ix. 134 This doon, the sidis [of the tank] make vp with structure [L. quo facto latera puteorum structura suscipiat]. 1613R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Structure, building, setting in good order. 1624Wotton Elem. Arch. i. 48 This is yet a weake piece of Structure, because the Supporters are subiect to much impulsion. 1693J. Dryden Jr. tr. Juvenal xiv. 116 His Son builds on, and never is content, Till the last Farthing is in Structure spent. a1704T. Brown Praise of Drunkenness Wks. 1730 I. 32 If we look back into the primitive history of the first ages,..from the very first structure of the world, we shall find [etc.]. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit., Life 5 A Florentine, who had worked for him..in the structure of the Choir. 1770Luckombe Hist. Printing 292 Presses of his structure became..general throughout the Low Countries. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. Pref. p. v, A distinct account of the progress and structure of the Edystone Lighthouse. 1844Disraeli Coningsby vii. iii, The scarcity of brick and stone at the period of its structure.
2. Manner of building or construction; the way in which an edifice, machine, implement, etc. is made or put together.
1650Fuller Pisgah iii. ii. 317 The structure of this City was beautifull and high. 1695tr. Misson's Voy. Italy II. 158 The structure of the Cathedral is not much unlike to that of the Church of Siena. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 72 He can spy out the Faults in the Structure of a Boat, sooner than those of himself. 1772Pennant Tours Scot. (1774) 1 Chester; a city without parallel for the singular structure of the four principal streets, which are as if excavated out of the earth. 1826Art Brewing (ed. 2) 149 There are variations in the structure of these mills—some are worked by hand, others by horse and water. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. iii. iv, They..show purchased dirks, of an improved structure, made to order. 1908Animal Managem. (War Office) 176 In speaking of the structure of the saddle.
3. The mutual relation of the constituent parts or elements of a whole as determining its peculiar nature or character; make, frame.
a. gen.
1615Chapman Odyss. iv. 1075 An Idoll, that Iphthima did present In structure of her euery lineament [marg. δεµας membrorum structura]. 1657J. Cooke Hall's Cures Englisht 203 My Lady Rainsford beautifull and of a gallant structure of body. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 262 The admirable structure of this part of the Country. 1757R. Price Review Morals i. (1769) 13 Then..it [morality] has no other measure or standard, besides every one's private structure of mind and sensations. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. I. 51 Of the internal Structure of the Earth. 1803Brougham Colon. Policy I. 50 The structure of society..is the same in all those settlements. 1814Brewster in Phil. Trans. CIV. 438 The interior part of the drop had a structure similar to that of fluid glass. 1839Carlyle Chartism iii. (1858) 12 With a feeling of thankfulness rather that there do exist men of that structure too. 1872Morley Voltaire (1886) 2 Men..became conscious of new fibre in their moral structure. 1880Haughton Phys. Geog. ii. 20 The structure of the Southern Hemisphere.
b. Anat., Biol., etc.
1615H. Crooke Body of Man viii. iv. (1631) 730 Of the Vse, Figure and Structure of the Hand. 1725N. Robinson Th. Physick 49 This imperfect Sketch,..concerning the Structure, Mechanism, Laws, Properties, and Motions of that System of Matter, that compose a human Body. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VIII. 11 Many philosophers..have..minutely examined their [sc. caterpillars'] structure and internal conformation. 1814Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. 56 Every plant examined as to external structure, displays at least four systems of organs. 1835J. Duncan Beetles (Nat. Libr.) 142 An exotic group, very closely related to the Gyrini, but offering so many minute modifications of structure as to warrant their separation into a distinct genus. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. v. (1873) 114 Variations of structure arising in the young or larvæ naturally tend to affect the structure of the mature animal. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 88 The secretion of dermal glands..always appears first in the walls of the cells, and gives them a peculiar structure.
c. Geol., Min., etc.
1813Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 27 Fragments of stone broken from simple rocks display the structure of the internal parts. 1822Cleaveland Min. & Geol. (ed. 2) I. 58 The structure of a mineral undoubtedly depends on the shape, size, and arrangement of the minute parts, of which it is composed. 1879A. Geikie in Encycl. Brit. X. 229/1 There are two leading types of structure among rocks—crystalline or massive, and fragmental.
d. With reference to a literary composition, a verse or sentence, a language, etc.
1746Francis tr. Hor., Epist. i. xix. 37, I fear'd to change the Structure of his Line. 1749Power & Harmony Prosaic Numbers Pref. 3 A critical Regard to the Structure of their Periods. 1789New Lond. Mag. July 361/1 A new farce..was presented last Saturday at this theatre. The structure is light and pleasant. 1814Keble Occas. Papers (1877) 154 There remain two sorts of imitation instrumental to Poetry: indirect, by which the style and structure takes the colour of the subject; and direct. 1823Thomasina Ross Bouterwek's Hist. Sp. Lit. I. 260 Combining the unity of ideas, which ought to distinguish that species of composition [sc. the sonnet], with the most elegant rounding and regularity of structure. 1833J. Rush Philos. Human Voice xlv. (ed. 2) 313 When the structure of a sentence is so much involved as to produce a momentary hesitation in an audience, about its concord or government. 1857J. D. Morell Gram. Engl. Lang. 49 The Structure of Words. i. Roots and Derivatives. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xix. 371 The Apocalypse is..thoroughly poetical in structure. 1887Spectator 23 July 996/1 The story itself is in structure extremely simple.
(b) spec. in Linguistics. deep structure: see deep a. IV. c; surface structure: see surface n. 6 d.
1961Y. Olsson On Syntax Eng. Verb ii. 27 Both collocation and colligation operate syntagmatically... They are examples of structures constituted by elements. 1965Language XLI. 73 The nested structures are phrase types which are in clear structural contrast in the language.
4. The coexistence in a whole of distinct parts having a definite manner of arrangement.
1873Spencer Study Sociol. iii. (1880) 63 Though structure up to a certain point [in the animal organism] is requisite for growth, structure beyond that point impedes growth. 1876[see structure v.].
5. concr. That which is built or constructed.
a. A building or edifice of any kind, esp. a pile of building of some considerable size and imposing appearance.
1615R. Brathwait Strappado 104 Her structures ruin'd are, and there doth grow, A groue of fatall Elmes. 1631Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 707 The bodies..were buried in the Abbey Church,..in Saint Peters, and in other religious Structures. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. 297 Dilichius..not onely mentions the seven Hills, but tells also what magnificent structures stand upon them. 1739Gray Let. Poems (1775) 69 A church..which is, indeed, a most stately structure. 1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. i, I saw from out the wave her structures rise As from the stroke of the enchanter's wand. 1853Phillips Rivers Yorks. viii. 202 Of these humble structures we have only the foundations. 1879Tourgee Fool's Errand viii. 34 This log house had in time given way to a more pretentious structure of brick.
transf.1671Milton Samson 1239 [Spoken to the giant Harapha.] Go baffl'd coward, lest I run upon thee,..And with one buffet lay thy structure low.
b. fig.
1637Saltonstall Eusebius' Constantine 49 Your contentions doe arise from points not concerning the maine structure of Religion. 1660R. Coke Power & Subj. 269 The whole structure of his civitas might bee dissolved. 1694Prior Hymn to Sun viii, Eternal Structures let Them raise, On William's and Maria's Praise: Nor want new Subject for the Song. 1892Westcott Gospel of Life 256 Christianity..is not a structure of institutions.
c. Buildings collectively.
1671Milton P.R. iii. 286 Ecbatana her structure vast there shews.
6. In a wider sense: A fabric or framework of material parts put together.
1677T. Jordan Lond. Triumphs title-p., Illustrated with many Magnificent Structures & Pageants. 1728Pope Dunc. i. 247 Then [he] lights the structure with averted eyes, The rolling smoke involves the sacrifice. 1788Cowper Gratitude 25 This moveable structure of shelves,..charg'd with octavos and twelves. 1841Whewell Mech. Engin. 1 Combinations of material parts,..when constructed with a view to support weights, or to resist forces, without being moved,..are termed Structures. Ibid. 51 Structures are of various kinds, as Frames, which have their parts connected by pins or mortises; and Arches, in which the parts are connected only by contact. 1883W. J. M. Rankine in Encycl. Brit. XV. 750/1 The principles of the support of a floating structure form an important part of Hydromechanics.
7. An organized body or combination of mutually connected and dependent parts or elements. Chiefly in Biol., applied to component parts of an animal or vegetable organism.
1830J. G. Strutt Sylva Brit. 6 Each stage of the existence of these wonderful vegetable structures. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. vi. (1873) 140 When we see any structure highly perfected for any particular habit, as the wings of a bird for flight. 1876Spencer Princ. Sociol. §254 (1885) I. 526 The general law of organization..is that distinct duties entail distinct structures. 1882Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 1 The substance of plants is not homogeneous, but is composed of small structures, generally indistinguishable by the naked eye... These structures are termed Cells.
8. attrib. and Comb. structure-dependence, structure dependency, structure formula, structure mill, structure sensitivity; structure-borne, structure-dependent, structure-independent, structure-sensitive, etc. adjs.; structure-function attrib. phr., pertaining to both structure and function; structure plan Local Government, a plan drawn up by a local planning authority for the development, use, conservation, etc., of a prescribed area of land; hence structure planning, the preparation of such a plan; structure word = structural word s.v. structural a. 5 b.
1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ii. 38 Structure-borne noises are almost impossible to eliminate and rebuilding work is complicated by the need to avoid all noisy work when nearby studios are recording. 1972Lebende Sprachen XVII. 37/2 Structure-borne noise, a condition when the sound waves are being carried by a solid material.
1976N. Chomsky Reflections on Lang. i. i. 33 The principle of structure-dependence is not learned, but forms part of the conditions for language learning. 1976Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Dec. 1590/4 By structure dependency he [sc. Chomsky] means, and I mean, that the significance of any feature is determined by its position in a structure.
1965Structure-dependent [see analysability]. 1978Logophile VIII. 5/2 All syntactic operations in language are structure-dependent.
1879Amer. Jrnl. Sci. May 405 On the Structure-formulas of Aromatic Compounds.
1963Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics VIII. 59 (heading) A structure-function description of Terena phrases. 1977Dædalus Fall 115 For the moment I want to draw the kind of structure-function distinction we might adopt, say, in discussing walking: what it is versus where it might take you.
1964E. A. Power Introd. Quantum Electrodynamics i. 5 Also even the structure-independent radiation damping term depends on the arrow sign of time—unlike the fundamental equations themselves—because in calculating the radiation field boundary conditions at infinite time are involved. 1976N. Chomsky Reflections on Lang. i. i. 33 Construct a structure-dependent rule, ignoring all structure-independent rules.
1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xxvii. 386 All the ice that forms the lower portion of this glacier has to pass through the structure-mill at the bottom of the fall, and the consequence is that it is all laminated.
1971Act 19 & 20 Eliz. II c. 78 §7 The local planning authority shall..prepare and send the Secretary of State..a structure plan for their area. 1980Oxford Times 12 Dec. 10/4 Policy E1 of the Structure Plan says that the Council will restrain growth of employment in the county as a whole.
1973Times 8 Sept. 14/6 He made it plain that he did not expect an end to the structure planning process, the framework for regulating development which every local planning authority is expected to prepare. 1976Alyn & Deeside Observer 10 Dec. 16/1 The strange spectacle of two Conservative councils locked in a fierce exchange over structure planning.
1936Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XL. 593 The strength of a crystal across a crystal plane is a structure-sensitive property. 1970Language XLVI. 261 We demonstrate the use of transformational rules applied to the output of structure-free grammars as a means of generating symmetrical strings which are not only structure-sensitive but context-sensitive as well.
1976Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Dec. 1590/4 My emphasis on structure sensitivity in ‘natural’ situations leads me to look for leads in linguistics.
1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 670 They..turn it bodily over and over, with structure-straining bumps to the boat, and any amount of advice..to each other.
1956Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxvi. 59 A listing by parts of speech brings out the numerical superiority of nouns, and the relatively small number of structure words borrowed. 1965Structure-word [see functor 2].
▪ II. structure, v.|ˈstrʌktjʊə(r)|
[f. prec. n.: not common until the 20th c.]
a. trans. To build or form into a structure; to organize the parts or elements of (something) in structural form. Also, to establish a hierarchy of relationships or a pattern in (something). Hence absol. and loosely, to construct, form, or organize. So ˈstructuring ppl. a.
a1693Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xliv. 361 In which dangerous Opposition, Equity and Justice being structured and founded on either of the opposite Terms, and a Gap being thereby opened for the ushering in of Injustice and Iniquity. 1876Spencer Princ. Sociol. §186. (1885) I. 365 What degree of likeness can we find between a man and a mountain?..the one has little internal structure, and that irregular, the other is elaborately structured internally in a definite way. 1933Mind XLII. 176 It is the architectonic (supreme and structuring) principle or spirit regulating in their mutual relations all other structuring activities. 1949M. Mead Male & Female xv. 296 This has been an accurate picture of the way in which we have structured our society, with women as keepers of the house.., and men as keepers of women in the house. 1955Auden Shield of Achilles i. 16 When, on some windless day Of dejection, unable To name or to structure. 1960L. Pincus Marriage iii. 221 An inhibited response structured by..these unconscious dilemmas. 1962Amer. Speech XXXVII. 107 Bloomfield..calls /r/ a ‘vocaloid’ and says it may be syllabic..but he has it function as a consonant when structuring the final consonant clusters of English. 1971Sci. Amer. Aug. 91/1 Input/Output tables provide management..with a powerful new tool for forecasting and measuring the indirect as well as the direct inter-industry relationships that structure our industrial economy. 1974R. Helms Tolkien's World v. 98 The parallel plot-lines of Book III..are both structured by the laws of providential control and of the cause-and-effect morality. 1978Guardian Weekly 10 Sept. 17/4 A secret study memorandum..which helped structure Carter's decision last month to use trade restrictions. 1979Nature 23 Aug. 652/1 The chemical exchanges among uplands, marshes and coastal waters are important in structuring these ecosystems.
b. To give (someone or something) a place in a structure; to absorb or integrate into a pattern or system.
1954J. A. C. Brown Social Psychol. Industry vi. 174 Aggressiveness as a response to this has become structured into his basic personality. 1955C. Cherry in B. I. Evans Stud. in Communication iii. 60 The individuals were to be structured into social coherence. 1959M. Dolinsky There is no Silence iii. 44 You don't easily structure the unusual or the exotic. 1977A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory i. 70 Criticism thus cannot be terminated within the sphere of science itself, but must concern itself with the standards or values which structure science as one mode of activity among others.
c. To present or manipulate (a situation, etc.) in such a way as to elicit desired responses or effects.
1966Listener 10 Mar. 342/2 Parents who are trying to train their children make use of verbal explanations to structure the situation. 1971J. B. Carroll et al. Word Freq. Bk. p. ix, His assistance was also essential in..structuring the survey to reflect curriculum divisions and publications diversity. 1973Howard Jrnl. XIII. 282 Treatment..is a matter of so structuring the environment..that aversive consequences..follow unwanted or undesirable behaviour. 1975Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) x. 145 He must structure the learning so that the child becomes positively aware of the need for a complicated utterance. |