| 释义 |
▪ I. triangle, n.|ˈtraɪæŋg(ə)l, traɪˈæŋg(ə)l|
Also 5 tri-, tryangyl, 5– 7 tryangle, 6 triangil, tryanghel, 6–7 triangill; 5–6 treangle, 6 treeangle, treangell.
[a. F. triangle (13th c. in Godef. Compl.), or ad. its source, L. triangulum, n. neut. from triangulus adj. three-cornered, f. tri-, tri- + angulus angle.]
1. Geom., etc. A figure (usually, a plane rectilineal figure) having three angles and three sides.
In mod. Geom. a triangle is regarded as a system of three points not collinear, together with the three straight lines joining them; or as a system of three straight lines each intersecting the two others at different points.
circular triangle, a plane triangle formed by three intersecting circular arcs. spherical triangle, a triangle formed by three arcs upon the surface of a sphere: see spherical. triangle of forces, the theorem in statics that if three forces in one plane, acting at one point, be in equilibrium, three straight lines in that plane parallel to their directions will form a triangle whose sides are proportional to their magnitudes.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cviii. (Tollem. MS.), Some [nuts] ben distinguid in þe cop as it were with þe schap of a triangle [orig. per formam trianguli]. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 258 Þe nose is maad of .ij. boones in þe maner of a triangle in þis manner. △△. 1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. Defin., A triangle is nothinge els to say, but a figure of three corners. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 451 Betwyxt Caleis, Arde and Grauelyn, Townes..set as it were a treangle. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 25 In every triangle, two sides which soever be taken are greater then the side remaining. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xvii. II. 3 The figure of the imperial city [Constantinople] may be represented under that of an unequal triangle. 1885C. Leudesdorf Cremona's Proj. Geom. 145 A series of theorems..relating to the inscribed pentagon, quadrangle, and triangle..a series of correlative theorems relating to the circumscribed pentagon, quadrilateral, and triangle.
b. A figure of this form used symbolically (e.g. an equilateral triangle as a symbol of the Trinity), or in magic or necromancy. In Her. a figure of this form as a bearing; in triangle, said of three or more bearings arranged in the form of a triangle.
1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xv. ii. (1886) 322 He is a lier, except he be brought into a triangle, and there he speaketh divinelie. 1766Porny Heraldry (1787) 175 Azure, three Trouts fretty in Triangle Argent. 1810Southey Kehama xix. viii, The sacred Triangle..Holding the Emblem which no tongue may tell. c1828Berry Encycl. Her. I. Gloss., Triangle, this sometimes occurs as a bearing in coat-armour. See Cross of Triangles, or twelve triangles in cross. 1864Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xix. §5. (ed. 3) 311 A nail in every point thereof, in triangle. 1894Parker's Gloss. Her. s.v., Charges may be described as fretted in triangle, e.g. in the arms of Troutbeck (under Salmon)... The insignia of the Isle of Man are sometimes blazoned as flexed in triangle.
c. fig. A group or set of three, a triad. Esp. a love-relationship in which one member of a married couple is involved with a third party; freq. as eternal triangle.
1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 129 In this sacred triangle is included the renouncing of our selues. 1659Whiting (title) Old Jacob's Altar, newly repaired; or, the Saints Triangle of Dangers, Deliverances, and Duties. 1907Daily Chron. 5 Dec. 3/4 Mrs. Dudeney's novel..deals with the eternal triangle, which, in this case, consists of two men and one woman. 1913Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 358 The couples had rearranged themselves or were re-crystallizing in fresh triangles. 1919G. B. Shaw in F. Harris Contemp. Portraits 2nd Ser. 332 For the modern drama, with its eternal triangle and so forth, he claims nothing, but that it proves adultery to be the dullest of subjects. 1938H. G. Wells Apropos of Dolores iv. 162 He was much more substantial than in the days of our romantic triangle. 1955H. Kurnitz Invasion of Privacy (1956) vi. 48 The details of the story, the way the husband and wife first met..the other woman in the triangle. 1963A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex iv. 39 Most examples of the ‘eternal triangle’ are produced by boredom and primitive misconduct. 1979J. Philips Why Murder? (1980) ii. ii. 90 A husband, a wife, a lover—the classic triangle.
d. North Atlantic Triangle: a name given to the tripartite alliance between Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.
1945J. B. Brebner (title) North Atlantic Triangle. 1957H. Heaton in L. B. Pearson Where do we go from Here? 2 Canada was one of the three points in ‘the North Atlantic Triangle’—the others were Great Britain and the United States. 1978J. Hutcheson Dominance & Dependency i. 12 The nationalistic position..has been complicated by Canada's location in the North Atlantic Triangle.
2. Something having the form of a triangle; any three-cornered body, object, or space.
a1618Sylvester Mem. Mortalitie ii. lx, Th' Earth cannot fill thy heart's unequall Angles, Thy heart's a Triangle, the earth's a Round. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. l. (1846) V. 2 The Arabian peninsula may be conceived as a triangle of spacious but irregular dimensions. 1791T. Newte Tour Eng. & Scot. 120 The present fort, which is a triangle, has two bastions. 1843Carlyle Past & Pr. ii. i, In what wig and black triangle dost thou walk abroad? 1847Mrs. A. Kerr tr. Ranke's Hist. Servia i. 13 The Servians..in the first half of the 14th century..formed the strongest power of the Illyrian triangle. 1895R. W. Chambers King in Yellow, Demoiselle D'Ys i, A long wavering triangle of water-fowl drifted southward over our heads.
(b) the Bermuda Triangle or Devil's Triangle: a name given to an area of sea between Bermuda and Florida credited with a high number of unexplained disappearances of boats and aircraft; hence used allusively; the golden triangle, an area at the meeting-point of Burma, Laos, and Thailand, where much opium is grown.
1964V. Gaddis in Argosy Feb. 28 (heading) The deadly Bermuda triangle. Ibid. 116/2 Draw a line from Florida to Bermuda, another from Bermuda to Puerto Rico, and a third back to Florida through the Bahamas. Within this area, known as the ‘Bermuda Triangle’, most of the vanishments have occurred. 1973Bangkok Post 22 Apr. 1 Both the opium and the morphine base almost certainly originated in the so-called ‘golden triangle’ where the opium poppy grows in abundance. 1975Collier's Encycl. Year Bk. 1976 161 The Atlantic region known as the Bermuda, or Devil's, Triangle. 1978Times 23 Jan. 2/6 The increasing importance of South-East Asia's ‘golden triangle’ as a source of narcotics. 1979A. Price Tomorrow's Ghost vi. 99 [She] had stepped out for a breath of fresh air..and she hadn't been seen again... She had turned a quiet piece of English countryside into a Bermuda Triangle. 1983Times 12 Feb. 4/8 Drugs from the Golden Triangle were in heavy demand in Europe before 1979.
spec. * natural objects. b. Palmistry. A triangular figure made by three of the lines of the hand: see quot. 1653.
c1460J. Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 86 A tryangyl that ys off one length, evyn on alle partys..betokynnyth bodyly strengh and bold off herte. Ibid., The fyrste lyne ys the fyrst parte off the tryangyl, and yt gothe aboute the hylle of the thombe. 1653R. Sanders Physiogn. 58 This Triangle is made in the hand by three Lines, that of Life, the middle natural Line, and that of the Head.
c. Astron. (With capital initial.) The constellation Triangulum, north of Aries, characterized by three stars in the positions of the angular points of an isosceles triangle.
Also, Triangulum minus, the Lesser Triangle, a constellation immediately south of this, introduced by Hevelius in 1690, but now disused; Triangulum australe, the Southern Triangle, a modern constellation near the South Pole.
1551Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 265 By hir [Andromeda's] lefte foot is ther a small constellation..commonly called the Triangle. 1868Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 334 The Altar and the Southern Triangle, which lie along the Milky Way in looking towards the pole.
d. Anat. Applied, with defining words, to the triangular areas bounded by certain muscles: as
triangles of the neck, anterior (subdivided into the submaxillary triangle and the superior triangle and inferior carotid triangles) and posterior triangle (subdivided into the occipital triangle and subclavian triangles); triangle of Petit, above the crest of the ilium; Scarpa's tr., in the upper part of the thigh.
1846F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 147 The inferior triangle of the popliteal space is bounded on each side by the heads of the gastrocnemius. 1876Clin. Soc. Trans. IX. 41, I removed all the enlarged glands in front of the sterno-mastoid, and thus cleared the anterior triangle of the neck. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 418 [An abscess] may open superficially in the loin through the triangle of Petit.
e. Entom. A triangular marking or space on an insect's wing.
1832[see 4]. 1891Cent. Dict., Triangle... In entom. a large three-sided cell found in the wings of many dragonflies..often called the discoidal triangle, to distinguish it from the internal triangle, which adjoins it on the inner side, and the anal triangle, which lies close to the anal border of the wing.
f. A species of box-fish of triangular form, as Ostracion trigonum.
** artificial objects. g. A small ornament or piece of jewellery of a triangular form.
1528Will of W. Mores (Somerset Ho.), A triangill of siluer and gilte. 1529Will of Leigh (ibid.), My corsse gurdell wt the Treeangle of flowres of silver and golde. 1531Rec. St. Mary at Hill 48 A demysent [girdle] with..a pendantte a treangell of selver and gelt. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 120 This Iewell..a triangle of three rich diamonds, each angle..enriched with a great pearle.
†h. Eccl. A stand or frame on which copes were hung up. Obs.
1532in Archæol. Cant. (1872) VIII. 124 Item a treangle for copys, a presse [Editor's Note, a crane or stand for hanging copes]. 1538in Archæologia XLIII. 226, ij chestes and the tryangle for the same ornaments to be hengyd. 1849Rock Ch. of Fathers II. vi. 43 [A doubtful statement].
†i. (More fully triangle virginal), an early kind of keyboard stringed instrument. Obs.
[1661Pepys Diary 14 June, I sent to my house by my Lord's order his shipp and triangle virginall.] 1662–3Ibid. 18 Mar., This day my tryangle which was put in tune yesterday, did please me very well.
j. A musical instrument of percussion, consisting of a steel rod bent into a triangular form, but open at one corner; it is struck with a small straight steel rod. Also transf. = triangler.
1801in Busby Dict. Mus. 1811Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 21 We play upon the..guitar, triangle, and castagnettes. 1878F. Hueffer in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 28/1 He is said to have accepted the appointment of supernumerary triangle at the Gymnase. 1913Times 14 May 8/5 The only percussion (even the usual drums are excluded) consists of triangle and cymbals.
k. Name for a kind of large tripod composed of three poles or spars joined at the top, bearing a pulley for hoisting heavy weights, or for weighing: see also quot. 1867.
1699Evelyn Kal. Hort. (ed. 9) 63 If the Tree be too ponderous to be lifted perpendicular by the Hand alone, by applying a Triangle and Pully..draw out the Tree. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 187 Set up three Poles (like unto a Triangle wherewith they usually weigh heavy Ware) spreading at the Bottom. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Triangle,..a machine formed by spars for lifting weights, water-casks, &c. Also, a stage hung round a mast, to scrape, paint, or grease it. 1873in 5th Rep. Dep. Kpr. Irel. 26 The Records were lowered through the aperture in the centre of the floor by means of a rope, supported by a triangle raised over the opening.
l. Mil. (Usually pl.) A tripod, orig. formed of three halberds stuck in the ground and joined at the top, to which soldiers were formerly bound to be flogged; a structure resembling this.
[1796Grose Dict. Vulg. T. s.v. Halbert, Soldiers of the infantry, when flogged, being commonly tied to three halberts, set up in a triangle, with a fourth fastened across them.] 1847in Webster. 1853Stocqueler Milit. Encycl., Triangles, a wooden instrument consisting of three poles so fastened at top that they may spread at bottom in a triangular form... An iron bar, breast high, goes across one side of the triangle. The triangles were used in some regiments for..inflicting military punishments. 1871G. Lawrence Anteros i. (1872) 11 He was unsparing both of his tongue and of the lash—the triangles were an honoured institution in those days. 1897P. Warung Tales Old Regime 29 Already, at Molong [Australia], there is one military-post and a triangles, and at Wellington Valley there is another military-post and another triangles.
m. Pottery. A triangular piece of baked ware, with points projecting from the angles, placed between pieces of biscuit ware to prevent their adhering to each other when baking.
1877in Knight Dict. Mech.
n. Angling. A set of three hooks fastened together so that their barbs are at the angular points of a triangle.
1867F. Francis Angling iv. (1880) 116, I had used a single flight of small brazed triangles. 1904W. M. Gallichan Fishing Spain 145 The flying triangles are to blame. It is not often that one loses a fish hooked on the tail triangle.
o. A drawing-instrument in the form of a right-angled triangle of wood, vulcanite, etc.; a set square.
1877Knight Dict. Mech., Triangle... A three-cornered straight-edge,..for drawing parallel, perpendicular, or diagonal lines. It has one right angle, the two others being each of 45°, or one of 30° and the other of 60°.
p. A triangular warning sign placed on the road to mark the presence of a broken-down vehicle or vehicles.
1969B. Weil Dossier IX ii. 8 There's your red break⁓down triangle... They're obligatory in France. 1971H. Pacy Road Accidents i. 33 Utilize the special warning triangles larger trucks carry for this purpose. 1977‘J. Fraser’ Hearts Ease ii. 12 Superintendent Bill Aveyard braked his car when he saw the flashing torches and warning triangles at the side of the road.
3. Collectors' name for certain moths. See also 4.
1832Rennie Conspect. Butterfl. & Moths 55 The Triangle (Gr[aphiphora] Triangulum, Ochsenheimer) appears the end of July. Ibid. 164 The Triangle (P[seudotamia] trigonana, Stephens). Near London.
4. Comb., as (sense 1 c) triangle drama; (sense 2 j) triangle-player; triangle-marked adj.; triangle inequality Math., the statement that the modulus of the sum of two quantities is less than or equal to the sum of their moduli; (so called from the analogy with the distances between the vertices of a triangle); triangle moth, Limacodes asellus; triangle-ways adv. (rare) = trianglewise.
1931E. A. Robertson Four Frightened People i. 22 Just another triangle drama. 1961Times 13 May 5/2 In an all too successful attempt to turn Shakespeare's tragedy into a conventional triangle-drama, Rossini's librettist, Berio, built up Rodrigo.
1941Birkhoff & MacLane Survey Mod. Algebra vii. 183 In any Euclidian vector space, length has the following properties:..{vb}ξ + η{vb} ≤ {vb}ξ{vb} + {vb}η{vb} (the triangle inequality). 1972M. Kline Math. Thought xlvi. 1083 Schwarz's inequality and the triangle inequality are proved for the norm.
1832Rennie Conspect. Butterfl. & Moths 228 The Triangle-marked Purple (G[racillaria] purpurea, Haworth). Wings..purple, with a three-cornered central halfband... The Triangle-marked Red (G. stigmatella, Stephens)... The Triangle Marked Buff (G. ochracea, Haworth).
1906J. Joyce Let. 4 Oct. (1966) II. 170 AE ought now to write some..dreamy thing about a..Triangle-player. 1971D. E. Westlake I gave at Office 24 Arnold dropped an occasional word in, like the triangle player at the Philharmonic.
1689Lond. Gaz. No. 2485/4, 16 silver Trencher-Plates;..marked with a Cypher triangle-ways.
Sense 2 p in Dict. becomes 2 q. Add: [2.] p. Snooker, etc. The triangular wooden frame used in setting up the balls before the start of play. Cf. frame n. 11 g.
1890C. C. Moore Games of Pool xii. 79 These balls are placed in the form of a triangle upon the table, as in Pyramids, a wooden frame or ‘triangle’ being employed to save trouble and insure correctness. 1907Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 1025/2 Billiard accessories... Triangle..each 4/6. 1954Billiards & Snooker (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 23 A triangular wooden frame, the ‘triangle’, enables the reds to be set up as shown. 1983Harrods Mag. Christmas 168 Snooker..tables..complete with two cues, balls, triangle, chalk and scoreboard.
▪ II. † triangle, a. Obs.
[ad. L. triangulus, f. tri- + angulus corner.]
Having three angles; three-cornered, triangular. Also quasi-adv. In the form of a triangle, triangularly.
1474Caxton Chesse 136 In one of the corners was made a tour treangle as a shelde. 1525tr. Jerome of Brunswick's Surg. B ij/1 The bony part [of the nose] hath .ij. tryangle bonis. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 201 b, Three hilles, not in equal distaunce,..but liyng in maner although not fully triangle. 1660H. Bloome Archit. A j, Gutta, are drops sometime round, sometime in Triangle fashion. 1661[see triangle n. 2 i]. 1803Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 444 Triangle Sparus [a fish]. Mentioned by Cepede from Commerson: native of the Indian seas.
Comb.1655Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. §69 A little triangle scrued Key. Ibid. §71 A Key perfectly square,..no heavier then the triangle-scrued Key.
▪ III. triangle, v. rare.
[f. triangle n.]
†1. intr. ? To lie or extend in the form of a triangle. Obs.
1595Aberdeen Regr. (1848) II. 129 The said wmquhill Mr Androis yard dyk ascendis south eist..triangling throw an[d] athort the hedis of the yardis of the said vmquhill Badie.
2. trans. To flog at the triangles (triangle n. 2 l).
1879L. Wingfield Lords of Strogue III. iv. 110 His henchman had been well triangled..to extort evidence against his master. |