| 释义 |
diminished, ppl. a.|dɪˈmɪnɪʃt|
[f. as prec. + -ed1.]
1. a. Made smaller, lessened: see the verb. († In quot. 1607, Lowered in condition, weakened, wasted, emaciated.) diminished return (cf. diminishing ppl. a. 1 b).
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 532 For the encouraging of a feeble and diminished horse Eumelius reporteth the flesh of swine..mingled in wine and given to drink, to be exceeding good. 1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 1715 How swift I mount! Diminish'd Earth recedes. 1817D. Ricardo Princ. Pol. Econ. ii. 61 On the best land, the same produce would still be obtained with the same labour as before, but its value would be enhanced in consequence of the diminished returns obtained by those who employed fresh labour and stock on the less fertile land. 1843J. R. McCulloch Princ. Pol. Econ. (ed. 3) iii. vii. 494 The greatest amount of capital and labour may be employed in fashioning raw produce and adapting it to our use, and in transporting it from where it is produced to where it is consumed, without a diminished return. a1850J. C. Calhoun Wks. (1874) VI. 140 Rays of sovereignty..to be reflected back, not in diminished, but increased splendor.
b. diminished responsibility: a state of mental disturbance or abnormality, not classifiable as insanity, but recognized in law as a ground for exempting a person from full liability for criminal behaviour.
1957Act 5 & 6 Eliz. II c. 11 §2 Persons suffering from diminished responsibility. Where a person kills..he shall not be convicted of murder if he was suffering from such abnormality of mind..as substantially impaired his mental responsibility. 1958Spectator 31 Jan. 126/1 Suppose that at his trial Taper should plead diminished responsibility, alleging that Sir Reginald's speeches had driven him..barmy. 1963Times 6 Feb. 6/2 Found Not Guilty of murdering the girl but Guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of his diminished responsibility.
2. Lowered in importance, estimation, or power (see diminish v. 3).
1667Milton P.L. iv. 35 O thou [sun]..at whose sight all the Starrs Hide their diminisht heads. 1698Congreve Birth of Muse 119 She feels..the Shame, Of Honours lost, and her diminish'd Name. 1840E. E. Napier Scenes & Sports For. Lands I. p. xxxv, Crest-fallen and dejected..[they] hide..their diminished heads. 1925Belloc Mr. Petre i. 22 A diminished man. One who had ‘had an accident’. 1932A. Huxley Brave New World xii. 204 Bernard had to slink back, diminished, to his rooms. 1960Woman's Own 3 Dec. 18/3 Amy hated..to have him look like that, diminished and remote.
3. Arch., etc. (See quots.)
1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 53/2 The imperfect, or diminish'd Arch..is not a compleat Semi-circle, but a determinate part less. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 584 Diminished Bar, in joinery, the bar of a sash that is thinnest on the inner edge. 1876Gwilt Archit., Gloss., Diminished Column, a column whereof the upper diameter is less than the lower.
4. Mus.
a. Of an interval: Less by a chromatic semitone than a perfect, or than a minor, interval of the same name: opp. to augmented. diminished triad, a triad containing a diminished (instead of a perfect) fifth.
b. diminished subject, a subject repeated in diminution (see diminution 5 a).
c. diminished chord, a chord containing a diminished interval or intervals.
d. diminished seventh (chord), a chord in which the interval between the outer notes is a diminished seventh.
1727–51Chambers Cycl., Diminished interval, in music, is..an interval which is short of its just quantity by a lesser semitone. 1753Ibid. Supp. s.v. Interval, A Table of Musical Intervals..Diminished Fourth..Diminished Fifth..Diminished Seventh. 1839[see seventh n. 2]. 1855Browning Toccata of Galuppi's vii, Those lesser thirds so plaintive, sixths diminished, sigh on sigh. 1880C. H. H. Parry in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 448 The diminished seventh..is a semitone less than the ordinary minor seventh. 1920P. C. Buck Unfigured Harmony (ed. 2) 12 Diminished sevenths are extremely useful, though more liable to be over-used than any other chord. 1926A. Niles in W. C. Handy Blues 16 The device..of ending up the tune on the diminished seventh chord. 1949L. Feather Inside Be-Bop ii. 71 The diminished chord, for no apparent reason, is used less frequently in bebop than in earlier jazz. 1953R. Vaughan Williams Some Thoughts on Beethoven's Choral Symphony 49 So is the diminished seventh of Bach's Barabbas a well-worn device. 1955G. Abraham in H. van Thal Fanfare for E. Newman 14 Equally characteristic of the more mature Wagner is the lightening of the diminished sevenths.., leaving a purely string chord. 1958C. Wilford in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz ii. 32 The harmonies of ragtime..are made distinctive by very wide use of diminished chords. |