| 释义 |
▪ I. impost, n.1|ˈɪmpəʊst|
[a. OF. impost (1429 in Hatz.-Darm.), now impôt = Sp. impuesto, Pg. imposto, ad. med.L. impostus or impostum (1272 in Du Cange) from L. impostus, impositus, pa. pple. of impōnĕre to impose. The corresponding It. imposta represents the fem. of the same pple. (cf. mille equi de imposta, an. 1302 in Du Cange).]
1. A tax, duty, imposition, tribute; spec. a customs-duty levied on merchandise. Now chiefly Hist.
The distinction suggested by Cowell, that impost properly denotes a duty on imported goods, and custom one on goods exported, is repeated by later dicts.; but there is no evidence that it was ever in accepted use.
1568Grafton Chron., Hen. II, II. 81 He neuer put any tribute, impost, or taxe vpon his subiectes. 1570Act 13 Eliz. c. 4 §1 Customs, Subsidies, Imposts or other Duties within any Port of the Realm. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 124 Keeping garrison there to receive the impostes, and customes of the ariving vessels. a1618Raleigh Prerog. Parl. (1628) 51 The great taxe vpon wine is still called Impost, because it was imposed after the ordinary rate of payment had lasted many years. 1726Cavallier Mem. iv. 274 That the Inhabitants of the Cevennes, whose Houses have been burned in the Wars, shall pay no Imposts for the Term of seven Years. 1789Const. U.S. i. §10 The net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States. 1861Goschen For. Exch. 20 Import duties, or transit dues, and the whole range of Government imposts. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. §5. 513 A bench of Judges..declared the new impost [ship-money] to be legal.
fig.1702Eng. Theophrast. 236 Confidence is not the favour but the impost of a prince.
b. attrib., as impost-fine, impost-law; also impost-taker (see quot. a 1700).
1588Acc.-Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 54 Payd..vjs. viijd. for an Impost Finne to the quens maiestie of xv. akers lande. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Impost-taker, one that stands by and Lends Money to the Gamester at a very high Interest. 1804J. Grahame Sabbath (1808) 25 Ye who sit..divising impost-laws.
2. Racing slang. The weight which a horse has to carry in a handicap race.
1883Daily News 25 June 2/1 The horse..has such a lenient impost that it will be easy to make him first favourite. 1887Ibid. 7 Feb. 2/6 His light impost might enable him to win.
▪ II. impost, n.2 Arch.|ˈɪmpəʊst|
[a. F. imposte (1545 in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. It. imposta, of same derivation as prec.]
1. The upper course of a pillar or abutment, frequently projecting in the form of an ornamental moulding or capital, on which the foot of an arch rests.
Where there is no projection, the impost is said to be continuous.
1664Evelyn tr. Freart's Archit. 130 Imposts..are nothing but their Capitels or more protuberant heads, upon which rest the ends of the Arches. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 74 An Arch adorn'd with Imposts. 1845Petrie Eccl. Archit. Irel. 178 Round pilastres, or semi⁓columns with flat imposts or capitals. 1850J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Grecian, Roman, Italian, & Gothic Archit. (ed. 5) I. 258 It is better..to designate the mouldings as impost mouldings. c1863Dict. Archit. (Archit. Publ. Soc.) III. 15/1 The decorative impost, or point at which the ornamental impost moldings are placed, is frequently below the springing... In some archways the impost point is ornamental with horizontal moldings. 1901R. Sturgis Dict. Archit. II. 464 Impost block, a member which gives direct support to one side of an arch, or to the adjoining parts of two arches.
†2. The hanging stile of a door or gate; hence, the leaf of a door or gate. Obs. rare.
1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 295 Of these three Gates, the first..has no Marks of ever having had Imposts,..the other..has two round Holes in the Stone of the Threshold..in them the Hinges of two parts of the Gates..turned round, causing the Imposts to play [facendo giocar le imposte]. By this we discover the manner of the ancient Imposts, called Postes by the Latins.
3. A horizontal block supported by upright stones, as at Stonehenge. Also attrib.
1768G. White Selborne xxi. (1875) 74 These birds [daws] deposit their nests in the interstices between the upright and the impost stones of that amazing work of antiquity. 1769De Foe's Tours Gt. Brit. I. 296 The outer Circle of Stone⁓henge..in its Perfection, consisted of 60 Stones, 30 Uprights, and 30 Imposts. 1852T. Wright Celt, Roman & Saxon ii. 59 Thirty upright stones sustaining as many others placed horizontally, so as to form a continuous impost.
▪ III. † impost, v.1 Obs. rare.
[app. ad. It. impostare ‘to set on the impost or case to a door or window’.]
1. trans. To set or base on imposts.
1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 327 The..Wall..has no Thickness..sufficient to impost another Roof of the Wall a-new. Ibid. 407 There being no Marks of Vaults on..the Wall, in which they may have been inlaid or imposted.
2. intr. To begin to curve inward; to spring, as an arch.
1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 285 The Roofs do impost, or draw in above the thickness of the Arches.
▪ IV. ˈimpost, v.2 U.S. Customs.
[f. impost n.1]
trans. To classify (imported goods, etc.) according to their tariff designations and the rate of duties paid on them. Hence ˈimposter; ˈimposting ppl. a.
1884Harper's Mag. June 57/2 (New York Custom Ho.), The entry papers..are..sent to an official who imposts them, or, in other words, classifies the articles therein described in separate columns according to the rate of duty that each is liable to pay. Ibid., From the imposter the entries pass to other hands. Ibid., Again they pass into the hands of the imposting and statistical clerks. |