| 释义 |
alignment|əˈlaɪnmənt|
Also aligne-, alline-, alinement.
[a. Fr. alignement, f. aligner: see aline and -ment. The Eng. form alinement is preferable to alignment, a bad spelling of the Fr.]
1. a. Arrangement in a straight or other determined line; mode of arrangement in lines. concr. A line of things arranged.
1790Roy in Phil. Trans. LXXX. 133 The deviation from the allignement horizontally or vertically. 1809J. Barlow Columb. v. 93 The crossing streets in just allinement run. 1839Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxx. 401 Which range from N.E. to S.W. in allinement with the other ridges. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xli. (1856) 375 The alignment of the hills shows a northward drift. 1875Merivale Gen. Hist. Rome lxxviii. (1877) 661 It was for this and other sacred ceremonies that its width and straight alignment were maintained. 1881Nature XXV. 99 Archæological researches in the alignments or stone avenues of Kermario.
b. In various techn. uses (see quots.).
1892Perry & Co. Typewriter Prospectus 2 Alignment is the first quality to be considered in purchasing a typewriter. 1904Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 11/1 Alignment, the correct placing in line of the parts of a machine or apparatus—e.g. the mandrel and loose centre of a lathe, or the front and back wheels of a bicycle. 1940Gloss. Highway Engin. Terms (B.S.I.) 8 Alignment, the precise direction given to the centre line of a highway in plan. 1955Gloss. Acoust. Terms (B.S.I.) 29 Magnetic head alignment, the adjustment of the magnetic gap in relation to the magnetic medium.
2. spec. Arrangement of soldiers in a line or lines; concr. a military ‘line.’
1808Trial Gen. Whitelocke I. 28 We were obliged to re⁓occupy our original alinement and position for pickets. 1816James Milit. Dict. (ed. 4) 10 The alignement of a battalion means the situation of a body of men when drawn up in line: The alignement of a camp signifies the relative position of the tents, &c. so as to form a straight line from given points. 1829G. R. Gleig Chelsea Pensioners (1840) 80 We had not assumed our alignement many minutes. 1860Sir R. Wilson Invas. Russia 35 Its alignment had been pierced, and its communications obstructed. 1882Standard 20 Nov. 5/6 Getting the Guards into their places in the general alignement on the Mall.
3. The drawing of a straight line in such a position that it shall pass through a particular point.
1869Eng. Mech. 24 Sept. 6/1 What is known as allinement—drawing imaginary lines through two stars, and producing such lines until they pass close to, or through, others which we are seeking to identify. 1869Dunkin Midn. Sky 146 The stars..are very easily found by alignment.
b. concr. A line (of section) through fixed points.
1879C. King in Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 116/1 It adds much to the value of the plan if a section of the survey on any given alignment be given.
4. The action of bringing into line; straightening.
1879C. King in Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 149/1 The straight edge of the ruler being used to guide the alignment. 1881Daily News 15 Sept. 3/4 Between St. Mary-at-Hill and the Ship Tavern extensive alignments must take place.
5. Politics. The process or result of aligning (see align v. 4); the grouping or agreement of parties or powers. Also transf.
1933Planning 25 Apr. 2 Its approach is not partisan, but cuts across existing political alignments. 1940G. F. Hudson Turkey, Greece & E. Medit. 31 With Britain and France arrayed against Germany, and Italy neutral, the alinements in Western Europe are in the main those of the autumn of 1914. 1955D. Davie Articulate Energy xiii. 154 The alignment of forces, for and against authentic syntax in poetry, is particularly clear. 1957Times 11 May 6/3 The preservation of Jordan last month has bought time, and may have shifted the formal power of alignments of the Middle East.
6. Comb. alignment chart = nomogram; hence alignment diagram.
1910J. B. Peddle Constr. Graphical Charts ii. 15 A type of chart which has received considerable attention of late..is that known as the alinement chart. Ibid. iii. 31 So far the alinement charts as described have only taken account of three variables. This is not a necessary limitation and we will next consider a case in which the number of variables is four. 1915Trans. Amer. Soc. Civil Engin. LXXVIII. 1382 Nomographic solutions for formulas... The alignment diagram has all the advantages over diagrams plotted by rectangular co-ordinates. 1918J. Lipka Graphical & Mech. Computation iii. 44 The fundamental principle involved in the construction of nomographic or alignment charts consists in the representation of an equation connecting three variables, f (u, v, w) = o, by means of three scales along three curves (or straight lines) in such a manner that a straight line cuts the three scales in values of u, v, and w satisfying the equation. |