| 释义 |
amorphous, a.|əˈmɔːfəs|
[f. mod.L. amorphus, a. Gr. ἄµορϕ-ος shapeless (f. ἀ priv. + µορϕή form) + -ous. Cf. mod.Fr. amorphe.]
Not in J.
1. Having no determinate shape, shapeless, unshapen; irregularly shaped, unshapely.
1731Bailey, Amorphous, without form or shape, ill-shapen. 1791D'Israeli Cur. Lit. (1866) 148/1 An amorphous hat, very much worn. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 178 The enormous, amorphous Plum-pudding, more like a Scottish Haggis. 1870Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. i. (1873) 203 That quality in man which..gives classic shape to our own amorphous imaginings. 1878Black Green Past. xxxviii. 301 All three wore heavy and amorphous garments.
b. Belonging to no particular type or pattern; anomalous, unclassifiable.
1803Phil. Trans. XCIV. 38 This kind of attraction is either regular, irregular, or amorphous. 1845Carlyle Cromwell (1871) I. 63 A morose, amorphous, cynical Law-pedant.
2. Min. & Chem. Not composed of crystals in physical structure; uncrystallized, massive.
1801Bournon Arseniates in Phil. Trans. XCI. 171 The matrix..siliceous; sometimes crystalline; and sometimes in an amorphous mass. 1842W. Grove Corr. Phys. Forces (ed. 6) 84 An opaque amorphous state, as graphite or charcoal. 1870Tyndall Heat xiii. §639 A fragment of almost black amorphous phosphorus. 1879Rutley Stud. Rocks x. 123 Augite often contains inclosures of amorphous glass.
3. Geol. Occurring in a continuous mass, without stratification, cleavage, or other division into similar parts.
1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 346 An amorphous mass passing downwards into lava, irregularly prismatic. 1853Phillips Rivers, etc. Yorksh. iv. 124 These perishing cliffs show at the bottom the amorphous boulder-clay.
4. Biol. Without the definite shape or organization found in most higher animals and plants.
1848Dana Zoophytes 711 The structure was completely amorphous. 1868Wright Ocean W. iv. 74 A sort of animated jelly, amorphous and diaphanous. 1877Roberts Handbk. Med. I. 51 Coagulated fibrin, either amorphous or fibrillated.
5. fig. Ill-assorted, ill-digested, unorganized.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. (1872) III. iii. v. 121 An amorphous Sansculottism taking form. 1869Lecky Europ. Mor. I. i. 247 [Rome's] population soon became an amorphous, heterogeneous mass. |