| 释义 |
incomprehensible, a. (n.)|ɪnkɒmprɪˈhɛnsɪb(ə)l|
[ad. L. incomprehensibil-is, f. in- (in-3) + comprehensibilis comprehensible. Cf. F. incompréhensible (13–14th c. in Littré).]
1. That cannot be contained or circumscribed within limits; illimitable, boundless, infinite; immense. (Chiefly Theol.) arch. (Now chiefly in allusions to the use in the Athanasian Creed.)
a1340Hampole Psalter cxliv. 3 He is incomprehensibil, for na stede na thoght may vmlouke him, bot all he passis. 1382Wyclif Jer. xxxii. 19 Gret in counseil, and incomprehensible in thenking. 1538Starkey England ii. i 143 We cal to Hym who, by Hys incomparabul gudnes and incomprehensybyl wisdome, made..and rulyth al thyngys. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Athan. Creed, The father incomprehensible [L. immensus], the sonne incomprehensible: and the holy gost incomprehensible. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. ii. 209 The vertue of this Iest will be, the incomprehensible lyes that this fat Rogue will tell vs, when we meete at Supper. 1596Nashe Saffron Walden 42 He is asham'd of the incomprehensible corpulencie thereof [i.e. of his book]. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 20 The Firmament..And all her numberd Starrs, that seem to rowle Spaces incomprehensible. 1772Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) II. 113 The incomprehensible greatness and perfection of the divine being. 1865Morn. Star 23 May, The principal word in this well-abused creed..is ‘immensus’, translated ‘incomprehensible’.
2. That cannot be grasped by the understanding; beyond the reach of intellect or research; unfathomable by the mind. Obs. or arch. exc. as in b.
a1340Hampole Psalter cxxxviii. 5 Incomprehensibile it is made for my syn, swa that .i. may neuer wyn til contemplacioun of the thorgh my myght. 1382Wyclif Rom. xi. 33 How incomprehensyble ben his domes, and his weyis vnserchable. 1435Misyn Fire of Love 14 He treuly knawes god parfitly þat hym felys incomprehensibyll & vnabyl to be knawen. 1526Tindale Rom. xi. 33 Howe incomprehensible are his iudgementes. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. viii. 39 Incident to none but those, that converse in questions of matters incomprehensible. 1738Warburton Div. Legat. ii. App. Wks. 1811 II. 211 A God whose essence indeed was incomprehensible, but his attributes..discoverable by human reason.
b. In weaker or more general sense: That cannot be understood; inconceivable, unintelligible.
1604R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Incomprehensible, that cannot be conceiued, or vnderstood. 1638Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II) 217 The carriage at Cazal, is a thing incomprehensible. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 299 For so many to believe it redounds to the Good of this Kingdom..is to me incomprehensible. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. ix, She was perfectly incomprehensible to me. 1884L. Davies in Contemp. Rev. Mar. 306 He must be looked at as a ‘prophet’, or be put aside as an incomprehensible fanatic.
†3. That cannot be grasped or taken hold of (physically); incapable of being caught (quot. 1607); impalpable. Obs. rare.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 115 Jupiter, to avoid confusion, turned both the incomprehensible beasts into stones. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. i. ii, That the Diuell being a slender incomprehensible spirit, can easily insinuate and winde himselfe into humane bodies. 1745tr. Columella's Husb. x. Pref., Of the incomprehensible smallness of sand a rope cannot be made.
B. n. An incomprehensible thing or being (in sense 1 or 2).
[1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Athan. Creed, There be not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated: but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible.] 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. ii. §v. 63 That notion..is nothing but a bundle of incomprehensibles, unconceivables, and impossibles. a1711Ken Hymnarium Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 18 In the Incomprehensible I rest, By humble Ignorance we know the Godhead best. 1856Dove Logic Chr. Faith Introd. §5. 12 The incomprehensibles are the absolute and the infinite (to which in a secondary sense may be added the primary and the ultimate). |