| 释义 |
superfetation|ˌs(j)uːpəfiːˈteɪʃən|
Also -fœt- (7 -fæt-).
[ad. late or mod.L. superfētātio, n. of action f. superfētāre to superfete. Cf. F. superfétation, It. superfetazione, etc.]
1. Phys. A second conception occurring after (esp. some time after) a prior one and before the delivery; the formation of a second fetus in a uterus already pregnant: occurring normally in some animals, and believed by some to occur exceptionally in women.
1603Holland Plutarch's Mor 843 Erasistratus attributeth it [sc. engendering of twins] unto divers conceptions and superfætations, like as in brute beasts. 1615Crooke Body of Man 314 This superfætation is..a second conception, when a woman already with child..conceiueth againe. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Isag. b 2 b, The hare is often troubled with superfetation. 1754–64Smellie Midwif. II. 86 What you have writ me seems to favour the notion of superfoetation. 1836–9Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 469/1 The quadrupeds in which superfœtation..is said to occur possess a uterus with two horns. 1871A. Meadows Man. Midwifery (ed. 2) 103 Cases of double or bihorned uteri are probably quite as rare as genuine cases of superfœtation.
b. Bot. In early use, applied to processes supposed to be analogous to superfetation in animals, e.g. the growth of a parasite, or an excessive production of ears of corn; in mod. use, the fertilization of the same ovule by two different kinds of pollen.
1626Bacon Sylva §556 The Misseltoe..is a Plant, vtterly differing from the Plant, vpon which it groweth. Two things therfore may be certainly set downe: First, that Super-fœtation must be by Abundance of Sap, in the Bough that putteth it forth: Secondly, that that Sap must be such, as the Tree doth excerne, and cannot assimilate. 1651in Hartlib's Legacy (1655) 107 Such a super-fœtation of ears must necessarily proceed from an improvement by the Root. 1707Curios. Husb. & Gard. 156 'Tis a sort of Superfetation, by which one Grain of Corn conceives and brings forth several Young, that in the common Course..ought to be born successively. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v., We meet with something like a Superfetation in Plants too; there being a kind of Lemon found to grow inclosed in the Body of another. 1816Keith Phys. Bot. II. 368 The other species of superfetation in which one seed is supposed to be the joint issue of two males. 1885G. L. Goodale Physiol. Bot. (1892) 9 The formation of two or more embryos, occurs occasionally as a kind of superfoetation in some seeds. 1900B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms, Superfoetation, the fertilization of an ovary by more than one kind of pollen.
2. fig. Additional production; the growth or accretion of one upon another; superabundant production or accumulation.
1641H. L'Estrange God's Sabbath 13 Consider the Law it self, and you shall see the positive accrue to the naturall by way of superfœtation. 1675T. Plume Life Hacket in Cent. Serm. p. v, That one School [sc. Westminster] furnishing two entire Colledges of great size in Cambridg and Oxon, besides whom it does send to other places by way of Superfetation. 1684Case of Cross in Baptism 6 The Superfoetation of Ceremonies..began to be very burdensom. a1703Burkitt On N.T. Ded. to Ld. Fitzwalter, Plays and Romances, and such-like Corrupting and Effeminating Trash, which the Superfœtation of the Stage furnishes the Nation with. 1840De Quincey Mod. Superst. Wks. 1854 III. 341 Mark the superfetation of omens—omen supervening upon omen, augury engrafted upon augury. 1882Stallo Mod. Physics 114 In this endless superfetation of ætherial media upon space and ordinary matter.
b. In particularized sense: An instance of this; an additional product; an accretion, excrescence; a superabundant or superfluous addition.
1642Chas. I Answ. 19 Prop. 4 These humble Desires..are intended to make way for a Superfetation of a (yet) higher nature. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 6 Those dismall calamities which befel his son, were doubtlesse ampliated by a superfetation of causes. 1675V. Alsop Anti-Sozzo iii. ii. 257 This Distinction was but the Superfoetation of his own Parturient Brain. 1725Pope Shaks. Wks. I. Pref. 8 The most [of Shakespeare's errors] are such as are not properly Defects, but Superfœtations. 1817Coleridge Biog. Lit. xxiii. (1907) II. 206 The play may conclude as it began, viz. in a superfetation of blasphemy upon nonsense. 1820Lamb Elia Ser. i. South-sea House, Layers of dust have accumulated (a superfœtation of dirt!) upon the old layers. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 30 He has thrown this superfetation of his historical work into twelve essays. 1903Athenæum 28 Feb. 275/2 His..edition..suffered from a superfetation of notes.
Hence † superfeˈtatious a., of the nature of superfetation.
1673[R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 24 The superfetatious Miracles of Art. |