| 释义 |
durable, a.|ˈdjʊərəb(ə)l|
[a. F. durable (11th c. in Littré) = It. durabile, Sp. durable, ad. rare L. dūrābilis lasting, durable, f. dūrāre to last, endure, hold out, f. dūrus hard, unyielding.]
1. Capable of lasting or continuing in existence; persistent, lasting; not transitory, permanent.
c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋965 To han thynges espiritueel and durable and somtyme temporele thynges. c1450tr. De Imitatione iii. xxxv. 103 Wiþoute me is noon availyng..ner durable remedie. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. xxvi. 65 b, They thought this kinde of weather was alwayes durable there. 1667Milton P.L. v. 581 Time..measures all things durable By present, past, and future. 1754Hume Hist. Eng. I. x. 204 The compunction of Richard for his undutiful behaviour was durable. 1839Alison Hist. Europe (1849–50) VII. xli. §58. 63 Comparing his durable designs with the temporary expedients of the statesmen who.. followed him.
2. a. Able to withstand change, decay, or wear.
1398Trevisa Barth. de P.R. xvii. lxxxiii. (Tollem. MS.) The tre þerof [of Ilex] is durable and stronge, and nyȝe nouȝt able to rote. 1470–85Malory Arthur xvii. vi, The best wood and moost durable that men maye fynde. 1555Eden Decades 42 To dye clothe with a more fayre and durable colour. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 134 Sun-burnt bricks, hard and durable. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 238 They make a good Pavement, and are very Durable. 1874J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 225 Inscriptions are more durable incised than in relief.
b. spec. Designating a class of goods the usefulness of which continues over a period of time, as distinguished from goods produced for immediate consumption. Hence as n. pl. (rarely sing.), goods of this kind (cf. consumer durable s.v. consumer 2 c).
1930Economist 31 May 1206/2 It includes an estimate of the value of services rendered to their owners by durable, direct or consumers' goods. 1948G. Crowther Outl. Money (rev. ed.) v. 142 Some of them are for immediate consumption, the rest are goods whose value will last beyond the immediate present. These two categories can be called current goods and durable goods. 1951N.Y. Times 14 Oct. F. 1 (headline) Production eases on some durables. 1957Economist 7 Sept. 777/2 One can trace the rapid growth of engineering exports in the immediate postwar years, while investment and consumption of metal ‘durables’ grew more slowly. 1958Spectator 12 Sept. 353/3 The spending on ‘durables’—cars, refrigerators, television and radio sets and household furniture—increased by 64 per cent. 1959Listener 15 Jan. 92/1 Bicycles, sewing machines, radio sets, three-piece suites, and all the various sorts of durable consumption goods that help to make life tolerable for Africans like the rest of us.
†3. Able to endure toil, fatigue, etc. Obs.
1540–1Elyot Image Gov. (1556) 4 Stronge and durable to susteigne peynes. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 63 Thair horses ar verie litle..bot in labour meruellous durable. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 708 French Goshawkes..are..neither so valiant, sound or durable, as those which are bred in Ireland.
†4. Capable of being endured, endurable. Obs.
1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 194 A small diseas which is ynoughe durable At the begynnynge. |