| 释义 |
interminable, a.|ɪnˈtɜːmɪnəb(ə)l|
[a. F. interminable (14th c., Oresme), or ad. late L. interminābilis (Tertull.), f. in- (in-3) + termināre to terminate: see -able.]
That cannot be bounded or ended; boundless; endless. (In mod. use freq. exaggerative, implying impatience or disgust at the length of something.)
c1374Chaucer Boeth. v. pr. vi. 133 (Camb. MS.) Eternite..is parfyt possession..of lyf Intermynable. c1450tr. De Imitatione iii. lxi. 143, I am þe wey undefoulid, þe trouþe infallible, þe lyf intermynable. 1520–30Skelton Prayer to the Father 1 O radiant Luminary of lyght interminable Celestial Father. 1681J. Flavel Meth. Grace viii. 175 Your fellowship with Christ is interminable, and abides for ever. 1727–46Thomson Summer 691 Plains immense Lie stretch'd below, interminable meads And vast savannahs. 1830D'Israeli Chas. I, III. xi. 227 Two able men arguing by two opposite standards of judgment, may open an interminable controversy. 1860Motley Netherl. (1868) I. i. 2 A writing⁓table covered with heaps of interminable despatches.
b. absol. the Interminable, the Infinite.
1671Milton Samson 307 As if they would confine the Interminable, And tie him to his own prescript, Who made our laws to bind us, not himself. |