| 释义 |
trifurcate, a.|traɪˈfɜːkət|
[f. L. trifurc-us three-forked, f. tri-, tri- + furca fork + -ate2. Cf. mod.F. trifurqué (Littré), trifourche (Cotgr.), also F. trifurcation (Bonnet).]
Divided into three branches like the prongs of a fork; three-forked, three-pronged, trichotomous. Also fig. So triˈfurcal a. (rare—1); ˈtrifurcate v., intr. to divide or branch into three; ˈtrifurcated a. = trifurcate adj.; also, having some part, as a fin, trifurcated, as the trifurcated blenny or trifurcated hake; ˈtrifurcating vbl. n., in trifurcating box (see quot. 1940); trifurˈcation, division into three branches, or the point at which this takes place; † triˈfurcous a. Obs. rare—0 = trifurcate adj.
1716M. Davies Athen. Brit. III. Suppl. Diss. Drama 8 Whether he took himself to be affronted..and consequently that he deserv'd such *Trifurcal Repartees.
1811–31Bentham Logic App., Wks. 1843 VIII. 291/2 Instead of bifurcate, two-pronged, suppose the plan of division, for example, *trifurcate, three-pronged. 1866R. M. Ferguson Electr. (1870) 97 Occasionally when darting between the clouds and the earth, it breaks up near the latter into two or three forks, and [lightning] is then called bifurcate or trifurcate.
1887Sollas in Encycl. Brit. XXII. 417/1 (Sponges) The arms of a triæne may bifurcate..or they may *trifurcate. 1894Geol. Mag. Oct. 438 The primary ribs of the Australian fossil..trifurcate more regularly.
1727Bailey vol. II, *Trifurcated,..three-forked. 1769Pennant Zool. III. 131 A very singular trifurcated spine. 1836–9Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 933/2 The antenna on one side..was trifurcated.
1922B.I. Handbk. (Brit. Insulated & Helsby Cables Ltd.) (ed. 3) 447 (Index), *Trifurcating boxes. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 864/2 Trifurcating box, a cable dividing box for enclosing the joints between a three-arc or triple concentric cable and three single-core cables or conductor terminals.
1884M. Mackenzie Dis. Throat & Nose II. 224 In two cases there was *trifurcation of the trachea.
1656Blount Glossogr., *Trifurcous,..three-forked. |