| 释义 |
incapable, a. (n.)|ɪnˈkeɪpəb(ə)l|
[ad. med.L. incapābil-is, f. in- (in-3) + capābilis capable. (F. incapable is known from 1517 (Hatz.-Darm.); capable in Eng. from c 1560.)]
I. Not capable; the opposite of capable.
†1. Unable to take in, receive, contain, hold, or keep. Const. of. Obs.
c1600Shakes. Sonn. cxiii, Incapable of more, repleat with you, My most true minde thus maketh mine eye vntrue. 1628Hobbes Thucyd. (1882) 2 Attica being incapable of them itself, they sent out colonies into Ionia. 1683D. A. Art Converse 104 The Mobility of their Spirits, and the Volubility of their Tongues, make them incapable of a Secret. 1841L. Hunt Seer (1864) 2 This dandy would be incapable of his own wealth.
†b. Unable to receive or take calmly, put up with, or endure; impatient or intolerant of. Obs.
1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. Pref., Men of my condition may be as incapable of affronts as hopeless of their reparations. 1712Steele Spect. No. 438 ⁋4 Your Temper is Wanton, and incapable of the least Pain.
2. Unable or unfit to receive so as to be affected or influenced by; not open to or susceptible of; unable to ‘take in’ so as to realize, insensible to. Const. of. Obs. or arch.
1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 64 Plato deemed the Cyrenians incapable of discipline, by reason of their long prosperitie. 1602Shakes. Ham. iv. vii. 179 As one incapable of her owne distresse. 1644Quarles Barnabas & B. (1851) 11 Lord, wherein am I more incapable of thy indignation [than Babel's proud king]? 1683Sir W. Soames tr. Boileau's Art Poetry (R.), Decrepit age;—Incapable of pleasures youth abuse, In others blames what age does him refuse. 1830Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil. 81 If he refuse this, he is incapable of science.
3. Of such a nature, or in such a condition, as not to allow or admit of; not admitting or susceptible of. Const. of; also formerly with inf.
Equivalent to ‘that cannot’ with an infinitive passive; e.g. incapable of measurement, or incapable of being measured = ‘that cannot be measured’.
1712Budgell Spect. No. 401 ⁋3 His Person..might..make him believe himself not incapable to be beloved. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. viii. 219 The pearl oyster..was incapable of being eaten. 1871B. Stewart Heat (ed. 2) §289 Unavoidable loss of heat which is incapable of accurate measurement. 1872Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 430 Permanent, and incapable of being lost.
4. Not having the capacity, power, or fitness for a specified function, action, etc.; unable. Const. of; also formerly with inf.
With verbal nouns, or infinitives, equivalent to ‘that cannot’ with an infinitive active; e.g. incapable of aspiration, or incapable of aspiring = ‘that cannot aspire’.
1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 111 Of temporal royalties He thinks me now incapable. 1611― Wint. T. iv. iv. 408 Is not your Father growne incapeable Of reasonable affayres? 1674tr. Scheffer's Hist. Lapland 34 Their understanding..incapable of discerning between true and false. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxix. III. 124 A claim, which they were incapable of supporting, either by reason, or by arms. 1783Hist. Miss Baltimores I. 179, I..was almost incapable to utter a syllable. 1839Hallam Hist. Lit. i. iii. §95 Incapable, in the infancy of criticism, to discern authentic from spurious writings. 1842Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 149, I am still incapable of much exertion. 1895Bookman Oct. 22/2 Louis [XIV.]..was also quite incapable of appreciating genius in others.
b. In a good sense: Not having the depravity, effrontery, or moral weakness for a specified act, etc.
1755Young Centaur ii. Wks. 1757 IV. 136 The world..was incapable of so great a guilt. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxvii, My foes..have laid things to my charge whereof I am incapable, even in thought. 1870Bryant Iliad I. v. 147 The valiant Diomede replied, Incapable of fear.
5. absol. Destitute of, or deficient in, ordinary capacity or natural ability; incompetent; without natural qualification.
In phr. drunk and incapable (in police reports), i.e. so drunk as to be incapable of taking care of himself.
1594Shakes. Rich. III, ii. ii. 18 Incapeable, and shallow Innocents, You cannot guesse who caus'd your Fathers death. 1623Cockeram, Incapable, which cannot conceiue, a foole. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 158 That the finances might not be ruined by incapable and inexperienced Papists. 1883C. J. Wills Mod. Persia 139 In a few days he was found..drunk and incapable in the street.
6. Not having some external, esp. legal, qualification; not legally qualified or entitled; disqualified. Const. of; also formerly with inf.
1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xix. 100 They are incapable of Election of any new Monarch. 1712Addison Spect. No. 495 ⁋8 The Jews..are in most, if not all, Places incapable of either Lands or Offices. 1769Resol. Ho. Commons 17 Feb., John Wilkes Esq.:..was and is incapable of being elected a Member to serve in this present Parliament. 1818Hallam Mid. Ages (1872) I. 199 Incapable of property, and destitute of redress. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 518 That every person who..should presume to take any such office..should be for life incapable of holding any public employment whatever.
II.
†7. In passive sense = med.L. incapābilis that cannot be taken in or comprehended: That cannot be received or apprehended. Const. to. Obs. rare.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. 162 God, of himselfe, incapable to sense In's Works reueales him t'our intelligence. a1625Boys in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xix. Introd., God is incapable to sense, yet he makes himself..visible in his works.
B. n. A thoroughly incompetent person; one without capacity or ability.
1809Bentham Plan Parl. Reform (1817) 25 Many opulent, and thence idle incapables..crowd the list. 1838Lytton Alice xi. iv, Saxingham and his friends were imbeciles—incapables. 1861J. G. Sheppard Fall Rome vii. 360 The guidance of an Incapable like Radagasius. |