| 释义 |
X|ɛks|
pl. X's, Xs |ˈɛksɪz|, the twenty-fourth letter of the modern and the twenty-first of the ancient Roman alphabet, corresponding in form and position to the Greek Χ. The early Greek forms {egxi1} {egxi2} represented the aspirated voiceless velar |kh| in the Ionian alphabet, and |ks| in the Chalcidian alphabet. (In the former, |ks| was denoted by {egxi3}, in the latter, |kh| was denoted by {egchi}.) Χ was adopted by the Latins with the value |ks| from the Greek alphabet introduced into Italy. The ancient Roman name of the letter was ix, which is that given by ælfric in his Grammar (c 1000).
Words having initial x (pronounced as z) in English are nearly all of Greek origin; a few, as xebec, Xerez, have x representing early Sp. x (now j). In OE. x was used medially and finally as a variant spelling of cs (whether original or standing for sc), e.g. æx, eax = æcus, acus, æsc axe, áxian = ácsian, áscian to ask, fixas, pl. of fisc fish, fixian = fiscian to fish, waxan = wascan to wash. Other variants are cx, hx, xs, cxs, hxs, as meohx, micxen mixen, axsan ashes. Similar spellings occur in the Cotton MS. of Cursor Mundi, e.g. flexs(s flesh, wexs wash, fixses fishes; the same MS. has the unexplained spellings fux(o)l, foux(u)l, etc. of fowl n. In East Anglian texts of the 14th to the 16th century x is frequently written for initial sc, sch in xal shall, xuld should; xsal also is found in the Paston Letters; instances of other words so written are only occasional, e.g. xad shed (pa. pple.), xowyn shove, xuldrys shoulders. Initial x stands for sh (or s) in early forms of some oriental words, as xerif shereef (after early Sp. xerife), xaraffe, -aff saraf, and Xinto Shinto. Other temporary uses of x, but with its normal value |ks|, are found in the once general axes, axis access, hunx hunks, and the less common exelent excellent, exite excite; on the other hand pox = pocks has become permanent, and sox has been adopted, orig. in the hosiery trade, as a convenient shortening of socks.
The phonetic values of x in English are three, of which the commonest is |ks|, as in axis |ˈæksɪs|, buxom |ˈbʌksəm|, doxology |dɒkˈsɒlədʒɪ|, excuse |ɪkˈskjuːs|, expense |ɪkˈspɛns|, oxen |ˈɒks(ə)n|, proximity |prɒkˈsɪmɪtɪ|, tax |tæks|. The pronunciation of the prefix ex- followed by a vowel or h varies according as it bears the stress or not, the general rule being that ˈex— = |ɛks| and ex—ˈ = |ɪgz|, as exile |ˈɛksaɪl|, exact |ɪgˈzækt|, exhort |ɪgˈzɔːt|; but there is considerable variety in individual words and individual usage: see ex- prefix1 1 note. The same general principle governs the pronunciation of anxious |ˈæŋkʃəs|, anxiety |æŋgˈzaɪɪtɪ|, luxury |ˈlʌksjʊərɪ, ˈlʌkʃərɪ|, luxurious |lʌgˈzjʊərɪəs, lʌgˈʒʊərɪəs| Alexander |ælɪgˈzɑːndə(r), -æ-|, Alexandrine |ælɪgˈzɑːndrɪn, -æ-|; but here also individual usage varies. The third value |z|, arising from a reduction of |gz|, is given in all cases to initial x, as Xerxes |ˈzɜːksiːz|; this value is shown in many instances in the 17th and 18th centuries by the spelling with z, as Zanthian, zebeck, Zerez, and instances are not uncommon in the 19th century of zantho- and zylo- for xantho- and xylo-; early examples are Zanctus Xanthus (Lydg. Troy Bk. ii. 731 rubric, 15th cent.), zyphe xiph (1572). Cf. Santippa Xanthippe (Chaucer), Cerses Xerxes (Wyntoun Chron., S.T.S., III. 54). A similar reduction of x took place in French:
x, if he be the fyrste letter of a worde, as xenotróphe, xylobalsóme, whiche they sounde but s, sayenge senotrophe, sylobalsome, for they can nat gyve x, whiche is also a greke letter, is true sownde. (1530 Palsgr. Esclarc. i. xxv.)
I.
1. The letter or its sound. x- (rarely X-)X height (Typogr.), the height of a printed lower-case x, esp. as representative of the size of the fount to which it belongs.
c1000ælfric Gram. (Z.) 6, x ana ongynð of þam stæfe i æfter uðwitena tæcinge. 1530Palsgr. 38 Note that x shall never be sounded in frenche lyke as he is in latyn, or as we wolde do in our tonge, in no wyse, but lyke an z. c1620A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 12 The top of the tongue stryking on the inward teeth formes d, l, n, r, s, t, and z. The midle tongue stryking on the rouf of the mouth formes the rest, c, g, k, j, q, and x. 1636B. Jonson Engl. Gram. i. iv, X is rather an abbreviation, or way of writing with us, then a Letter;..It begins no word with us, that I know, but ends many. 1735Middleton Diss. Orig. Printing Eng. 7, I take the Date in question to have been falsified originally by the Printer,..and an x to have been dropt..in the Age of its Impression. a1845Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. iii. Lord of Thoulouse xxi, His cap, and his queer cloak all X's and Izzards. a1849Poe Tales, X-ing a Paragrab, When the exigency does occur, it almost always happens that x is adopted as a substitute for the letter deficient. 1864Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xxi. (ed. 3) 360 Az., on a cross arg. the letter X sa. 1878W. J. Cripps Old Engl. Plate 110 Much of the old..plate of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that is still to be found in the counties of Devon and Cornwall bears the old Exeter mark, which was a large Roman capital letter X crowned. 1945J. C. Tarr Printing To-day 177 x-height, the height of lower-case letters (excluding descenders and ascenders), i.e. the height of a lower-case x. 1959T. Harrod Librar. Gloss. (ed. 2), 99 Descender,..that part which extends below the ‘X’ height. 1964P. A. D. MacCarthy in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 160 Any attempt to preserve traditional usage by having only x-height letters for vowels. 1978J. Lewis Typography ii. 79 Typefaces with a large x-height are more suitable for an age accustomed to reading sans serif signs... VIP Palatino is another large x-height typeface.
b. The letter considered with regard to its shape: chiefly attrib. and Comb. Hence identified with a cross. X's and O's: the game of noughts and crosses. X chair, a chair in which the underframe resembles the letter X in shape; so X-frame (usu. attrib.).
1545Elyot, Decussis..is also a fourme in any thynge representynge the letter X, whiche parted in the myddell maketh an other figure called Quincunx, V. 1769in C. Welsh Bookseller of Last Cent. 354 Those [books] with an X. 1798Hull Advertiser 28 July 2/1 Chairs in sets..with W tableau and X backs. 1837L. Hebert Engin. & Mech. Encycl. II. 876 The said pin traverses the X groove from side to side. 1839Penny Cycl. XV. 176/1 Suppose a cross like an X or V to be cut out of brass-plate. 1861H. Hagen Synopsis Neuroptera N. Amer. 213 An x-shaped spot. 1866Blackmore Cradock Nowell xii, The boy leaped the new X fence very cleverly. 1893F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 402, I will write your name..on the paper..and you must make an ‘x’ behind your name. 1894Crockett Raiders 92 It wasna playing at x's and o's to be steering for that crossbones of a Dutchman. 1899Jesse L. Williams Stolen Story, etc. 54 Billy, reaching the end of the page, made a double X mark to show that it was the end of the story. 1904P. Macquoid Hist. Eng. Furnit. iii. 52 It is a very common error to assign all these ‘X’ chairs to foreign importation. 1911P. Bridges Green Wave of Destiny xiv. 211 There was just room between the humps for two narrow sacks placed X-wise. 1918[see Savonarola 2]. 1945Burlington Mag. May 110/2 These X chairs throughout the sixteenth century, when made for the homes of the wealthy, were covered with rich cloths of gold, velvets, and silks. 1955R. Fastnedge Eng. Furnit. Styles i. 33 (caption) Arm chair of X-frame construction... Early seventeenth century. 1961L. G. G. Ramsey Connoisseur New Guide to Antique Eng. Furnit. 20 Another form of chair, of different origin from the boxchair, was the X chair... Both chairs are assigned to about the same period—that is the middle of the sixteenth century. 1976X-frame [see saddle seat 3 b].
c. Used like other letters of the alphabet to denote serial order, as in the signatures of the sheets of a book, the batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery, etc.
d. Used to mark a location on a map or the like; esp. in phr. X marks the spot and varr.
1813M. Edgeworth Let. 16 May (1971) 59 The three crosses X mark the three places where we were let in. 1918J. M. Barrie Echoes of War 5 In the rough sketch drawn for to-morrow's press, ‘Street in which the criminal resided’..you will find Mrs. Dowey's home therein marked with a X. 1928R. Knox Footsteps at Lock iv. 36, I wish I could be there, to see you diving in the mud on the spot marked with an X. 1968B. Norman Hounds of Sparta ix. 64 A message from our alcoholic friend. X seems to mark the spot where he lives.
II. Symbolic uses.
2. The Roman numeral symbol for ten (or † tenth); so xx = twenty (in early use also for ‘score’, as iijxx = ‘three score’, 60; also occas. xxti = L. viginti), xxx, occas. xxxty = thirty, etc.
c1000O.E. Chron. an. 409 (Parker MS.) Þæt wæs embe .xi. hund wintra & x. wintra þes þe heo ᵹetimbred was. a1400Wyclif's Bible Prol. (1850) I. 17 There weren not left..no but v. hundrid horsmen, and x. charis, and x. thousind of footmen. 1426Audelay Poems (Percy Soc.) 71 Ȝour x. comawndmentis ȝe most con. c1450Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 146 The feest of kyng Aswere was ixxx dayes duryng. 1478W. Paston in P. Lett. III. 237 He seythe ye be xxtis. in hys dette. 1481Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 9 For j.m. jc iiijxx maryners. 1481–90Ibid. 451 The nombir of the horse ys vijxx iij. 1488Henry's Wallace v. 909 Xxxty with him off nobill men at wage. 1489Marg. Paston in P. Lett. III. 350 Wretyn at London, the x. day of Februar. 1535Bury Wills (Camden) 126 To my valentyn Agnes Illyon xs. 1537Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 53 Frome London the xth daye of Apryll. 1638Ford Fancies iii. ii, If my watch keep faire decorum, Three quarters have neere past the figure X. 1686Burnet Trav. 241 Pope Leo the Xs time.
†b. xr: abbreviation of December. Obs.
1624Sir W. Aston in Goodman Court Jas. I (1839) II. 369 Madrid, 24 of Xr 1624.
c. x: a ten-dollar note. XX: a twenty-dollar note. U.S. colloq.
1837Knickerbocker Mag. IX. 96 My wallet..distended with V's and X's to its utmost capacity. 1883F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius xx, The Custom-House officials..who know the green side of a XX.
3. In Algebra and Higher Mathematics used as the symbol for an unknown or variable quantity (or for the first of such quantities, the others being denoted by y, z, etc.); spec. in analytical geometry, the sign for an abscissa, or quantity measured along the principal axis of co-ordinates (hence called the † axis of x; now always x-axis; also transf.). X-cut adj. (Electronics), of, pertaining to, or designating a quartz crystal cut in a plane normal to its X-axis; X-plate (Electronics), each of a pair of electrodes in an oscilloscope that control the horizontal movement of the spot across the screen. Hence allusively for something unknown or undetermined (also attrib. and in Comb.). See also X-ray.
The introduction of x, y, z as symbols of unknown quantities is due to Descartes (Géométrie, 1637), who, in order to provide symbols of unknowns corresponding to the symbols a, b, c of knowns, took the last letter of the alphabet, z, for the first unknown and proceeded backwards to y and x for the second and third respectively. There is no evidence in support of the hypothesis that x is derived ultimately from the mediæval transliteration xei of ﺵ shei ‘thing’, used by the Arabs to denote the unknown quantity, or from the compendium for L. res ‘thing’ or radix ‘root’ (resembling a loosely-written x), used by mediæval mathematicians.
1660J. Moore Arith. ii. i. §19. 16 (Algebra) Note alwayes the given quantities or numbers with Consonants, and those which are sought with Vowels, or else the given quantities with the former letters in the Alphabet, and the sought with the last sort of letters, as z y x, &c. lest you make a confusion in your work. 1709J. Ward Yng. Math. Guide iv. iii. (1713) 380 Let y = As the Abscissa, and z = SP, put x = Aa the Distance between the two Semi-ordinates; which we suppose to be infinitely near each other. 1726E. Stone New Math. Dict. s.v. Conoid, If a be equal to the Transverse Axis of the Hyperbola, generating a Conoid, and x be the Heighth of the Conoid, or the Absciss of the Hyperbola. 1771Encycl. Brit. II. 269 The equation of any curve, is an algebraic expression, which denotes the relation betwixt the ordinate and abscissa; the abscissa being equal to x, and the ordinate equal to y. 1839Penny Cycl. XIII. 175/2 (Kant) What is that unknown principle (= X) on which the understanding relies, when of the subject A it finds a foreign predicate B, and believes itself justified in asserting their necessary connexion? 1885J. Casey Treat. Analytical Geom. ii. 22 If the equation of the line contains no x, it is parallel to the axis of x; and if it contains no y, it is parallel to the axis of y. 1886W. B. Smith Elem. Co-Ordinate Geom. i. i. 10 OX, OY, are called Co-ordinate Axes, or axes of X and Y, or X- and Y-axes. 1893F. Adams New Egypt 29 The x of the Egyptian equation being pretty obviously the Egyptian people. 1898W. T. Stead in Daily News 8 Nov. 5/4 What manner of man is its author? He is the X in the equation. 1898A. Lang Making Relig. ii. 15 Research in the X-region is not a new thing under the sun. 1903Greenough & Kittredge Words v. 53 To make fun of the x's and y's of the algebraist. 1906Daily Chron. 12 May 4/3 There is ‘a wholesome distrust,’ says Professor Ewing, ‘of what may be called x-chasing.’ 1929Internat. Critical Tables (U.S. Nat. Res. Council) VI. 211/1 The z-axis coincides with the crystallographic c-axis of 3-fold symmetry, the y-axis is ⟂ to a face of the hexagonal first order prism, and, in dextro crystals, the + direction of the x-axis is outward through one of the faces..of the trigonal pyramid. 1930W. G. Cady in Proc. IRE XVIII. 2139 We consider first the manner of indicating the orientation of the more common ‘cuts’ [in quartz crystals]... In the first case, we have the cut variously referred to in the literature as ‘Curie cut’..or ‘normal cut’... However, a still more concise term would be the ‘X-cut’, denoting a plate the normal to whose face, and hence for which the applied electric field, is parallel to an X-axis. Similarly, the term ‘Y-cut’ would apply to the second type of quartz plate, which has hitherto been referred to as the ‘30-deg. cut’ or ‘parallel cut’. 1933J. H. Morecroft Electron Tubes xii. 337 The velocity of [compression] wave travel is different in the Y axis direction from that along the X axis. Ibid. 338 An X-cut plate has a negative temperature coefficient, i.e. the frequency of oscillation decreases as the temperature rises... The Y-cut plates have a positive coefficient. 1934J. H. Reyner Television vii. 71 We then apply a suitable periodic voltage across the X plates which spreads the trace-out at right angles and produces a pattern on the screen. 1945Electronic Engin. XVII. 723 These two equations define the components of the velocity of the spot along the X and Y axes. 1946Ibid. XVIII. 23/1 A D.C. connexion must be made between the output of the time base and the X plates of the tube. 1969Funk & Wagnalls Dict. Electronics 170/1 X-axis, in a quartz crystal, a reference axis chosen so as to connect two opposite vertices of its hexagonal cross section; one of the axes showing the greatest electrical activity. 1973S. K. Stein Calculus & Analytic Geom. ii. 26 Far to the right and to the left the graph gets closer and closer to the x axis without ever touching it. 1978D. T. Rees Cathode Ray Oscilloscope 9 A voltage applied to the X-plates will deflect the beam sideways. 1982IEEE Trans. Industr. Electronics XXIX. 158/1 The rotated X-cut orientation has been found to be optimum from the viewpoint of its frequency versus temperature and pressure characteristics. 1983V. M. Ristic Princ. Acoustic Devices vi. 180 The relationship between the natural axes a, b, c and the crystallographic axes X, Y, Z must be known in order to use the proper constants. These relationships, for each crystal system, have been adopted by convention. Various piezoelectric, elastic, and other constants of a particular crystal specimen are evaluated in terms of X, Y, Z axes.
b. Hence used attrib. as an indeterminate numeral adj. = ‘an unknown number of..’ Chiefly humorous.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair xi, The black porker's killed—weighed x stone. 1904Brit. Med. Jrnl. 15 Oct. 965 In the union of egg and sperm we witness the joining together of but two sets of characters and not that of ‘x’ sets derived from as many ancestors.
c. Put for a person's name when unknown or left undetermined. Also X. Y. (See also 5.)
1797in Corr. Pinckney, Marshall & Gerry (1798) 36 We have promised Messrs. X. and Y. that their names shall in no event be made public. 1798Ibid. 23 The names designated by the letters W. X. Y. Z. in the following copies of letters from the Envoys of the United States to the French Republic. 1810Bentham Packing (1821) 125 As to Mr. x, I borrow, on this occasion for his use, one of the names employed by mathematicians for the designation of their unknown quantities. 1848Thackeray Ballads of Policeman X, Bow Street ad fin., Pleaceman X 54. Ibid., Three Christmas Waits 1 My name is Pleaceman X. 1853Lytton My Novel xii. iv, The house-steward..was in fact the veritable XY of the Times [newspaper], for whom Dick Avenel had been mistaken. 1857Dickens Dorrit ii. xii, The son of P. Q...whom we would call X. Y. 1873H. Drummond New Evangelism etc. (1899) 199 X won't be preached to along with Y and Z and Q; that won't do X any good, for he thinks it is all meant for Y, Z, and Q. 1899O. Seaman In Cap & Bells (1900) 47 For terror of the Law and him that waits Outside, the unknown X, to hale us hence. 1901E. Glyn Visits Elizabeth (1906) 70 You feel obliged to ask the X's, the Y's, and the Z's from duty, and so you do... This is the kind of assortment that arrives: Papa X, Mamma X, and two girl X'es; Papa Y, Mamma Y, and Master and Miss Y; Papa Z, Mamma Z, Aunt Z, and Midlle. Z—such a party!
d. In wireless telegraphy (also in comb. x-stopper): see quot.
1906J. A. Fleming Princ. Electric Wave Telegr. ix. 611 The electric discharges due to atmospheric electricity create electromagnetic waves of an irregular type, which interfere with wireless telegraphy by causing irregular signals. These are technically termed X's... Means have been devised for sifting out the waves due to these irregular atmospheric disturbances... One of these devices, due to Mr. Marconi, has received the name of an X-stopper.
e. Genetics. (Now always as a capital.) [First used in German by H. Henking 1891, in Zeitschr. f. wissensch. Zool. LI. 706.] The symbol of the X chromosome. So X-linked (stress variable) a., being or determined by a gene that is carried on the X chromosome.
1902T. H. Montgomery in Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. XX. 177 One of these three [chromosomes of Protenor belfragei], that designated x in Figs. 119–123, imposes by its relatively very large volume... We shall call this the ‘chromosome x’. 1902Biol. Bull. Dec. 29 (caption) All the chromosomes including the accessory (x), show indications of a longitudinal split. 1909E. B. Wilson in Science 8 Jan. 57/1 In all the species half the spermatozoa are characterized by the presence of a special nuclear element which I shall call the ‘X-element’, while the other half fail to receive this element. 1910[see heterogametic a.]. 1911Biol. Bull. Jan. 118 The case of the aphids and phylloxerans has been the strongest argument for the hypothesis that two X chromosomes [in mosquitoes] give a female and..XY a male. 1949Darlington & Mather Elem. Genetics ii. 49 The tortoiseshell cat is heterozygous for the X-linked gene, one allelomorph of which gives black, the other yellow, when homozygous. 1968M. W. Strickberger Genetics xii. 216 In some instances, both compound X's and compound Y's may be found together in the same species. An extreme example of compound sex chromosomes occurs in the beetle Blaps polychresta, where the male has 12 X's and 6 Y's in addition to 18 autosomes. 1977N. V. Rothwell Human Genetics iv. 83 One important point to note is that a male never passes an X-linked gene to his sons. 1983Oxf. Textbk. Med. I. iv. 16/2 The triple X female with 47 chromosomes shows very little physical abnormality... It is possible that only one X is working in any cell at a given time. 1983[see Y chromosome].
f. x-chaser, etc.: a naval officer proficient in examinations or good at his work (see also quots. 1946, 1962). slang.
1904‘Vanderdecken’ Mod. Officer of Watch vi. 64 To get on at sea it is not necessary to be an X hunter, a man may be a smart officer without ever having been near enough to an X to drop salt on its tail. 1912‘Aurora’ Jock Scott, Midshipman i. 4 He was what we called an x catcher; in fact, he passed out of the Britannia a midshipman and was wearing his patches the day he left. 1916‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin v. 71 He was an x-chaser, in that he had done remarkably well in all his different examinations. 1946J. Irving Royal Navalese 190 X chaser, a mathematically minded man; a theoretician. Also, a navigating officer who has qualified..as the navigator of a First Class ship. 1962A. G. Course Dict. Naut. Terms 215 X chaser, a meticulous navigator in the Royal Navy.
g. In the analysis of games of Bridge x represents a card between 2 and 9, inclusive.
1920A. G. L. Owen Mod. Bridge ii. 56 A similar position is this:—Z xxx A King xx BJ 10 xx YAQ. If A leads his King, Y makes Ace and Queen. 1933C. Vandyck Contract Contracted i. 10 x = any small card... An easy way of remembering the Kx and Qx in different suits is to think of it as the Grand Marriage. 1959Reese & Dormer Bridge Player's Dict. 14 East holds..Kxxxx. 1972Country Life 4 May 1119/3 The trump finesse could not gain, even if East held Q xx.
h. x-question (Linguistics) (see quots.).
1924Jespersen Philos. Gram. xxii. 303 In the other kind of questions we have an unknown ‘quantity’... We may therefore use the well-known symbol x for the unknown and the term x-question for a question aiming at finding out what x stands for. 1957S. Potter Mod. Linguistics iii. 71 Tune 1 falls after the turn. It is used in completed statements, in direct commands, and in special or x-questions which cannot be answered by ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and which are generally introduced by an interrogative pronoun or adverb. 1964M. Chapallaz in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 306 X-questions, that is, questions beginning with a specific interrogative word.
i. Genetics. (Now written as lower case.) A symbol representing the lowest number of chromosomes which make up a genome; freq. with preceding number, designating the number of sets of these in a cell, or in each cell of an organism.
1924Hereditas V. 144 Summarizing our results on the chromosome set in C[arex] pilulifera, we may now state that this species has 9 chromosomes (X) of which there are 3 long, 4 medium and 2 short ones. Ibid. 161 In Triticum Sakamura..and Sax..found one species with 14 chromosomes (2X), four species with 28 and three with 42 chromosomes. 1932C. D. Darlington Recent Adv. Cytol. iii. 61 Since a zygote usually receives two similar sets of chromosomes from its two parental gametes, their number is conventionally referred to as 2n; where the chromosomes pair regularly at meiosis they therefore form n pairs. Now in a particular individual these 2n chromosomes may consist of three sets or four sets of chromosomes relative to its own parents or ancestors. In the present work, therefore, the ‘basic number’ of this ancestral set is distinguished by the sign x. Thus in Triticum vulgaer 2n = 42 and x = 7, the somatic chromosome number is therefore hexaploid (6x). 1979A. F. Dyer Investigating Chromosomes ii. 47/2 Rosa canina (2n = 5x = 35 = AABCD). 1980J. Schulz-Schaeffer Cytogenetics vii. 122 Very often, ploidy levels are erroneously reported for n-numbers. But the number reserved for ploidy levels is the x-number or basic genome number (x, 2x, 4x, 6x, etc.).
j. X factor (Mil. colloq.), the aspects of a serviceman's life that have no civilian equivalent; pay made in recognition of these.
1969Second Rep. Pay Armed Forces (Nat. Board for Prices & Incomes) vi. 21 in Parl. Papers (Cmnd. 4079) 517 There are special conditions of employment..common to all servicemen and which.. make it more uncertain and on occasions more hazardous than the normal..employment in civilian life... The elements..constitute, what we have termed the X factor. 1979Navy News May 48/3 The Ministry of Defence have proposed a substantial increase in the X factor across the board on the grounds that the elements that make up the justification for it have shifted to the disadvantage of the Services.
4. In designations of brands of ale, stout, or porter, XX or double X denotes a medium quality, XXX or treble X the strongest quality. Also in the marking of qualities of tin-plate.
1827Hone Every-day Bk. II. 11 A lover of the best London porter and double XX. 1828Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. (1863) 47 His best double X. 1839Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. i. St. Dunstan, Keep clear of Broomsticks, Old Nick, and three XXX's. 1839Ure Dict. Arts, etc. 1254 The following Table shows the several sizes of tin plates [and] the marks by which they are distinguished..Common, No. 1..c. 1... Two crosses, 1..xx. 1. Three crosses, 1..xxx. 1. Four crosses, 1..xxxx. 1. 1854R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. ix. (1901) 75 ‘And you musicians’, turning to the promenade band, who were hard at work with some XX, ‘be getting your instruments ready.’ 1856Geo. Eliot Ess. (1884) 87 Barclay's treble X. 1886A. G. Murdoch Sc. Readings Ser. 1. 98 The XXX stout was brought in.
5. XYZ: used to denote some thing or person unknown or undetermined (cf. 3).
1808Coleridge Lett. to J. P. Estlin (1884) 105, I use it rather as an X Y Z, an unknown quantity. 1813Byron Let. 23 Nov., Wks. 1832 II. 269 Junius was X. Y. Z., Esq. a1834Coleridge Ess. Faith in Lit. Rem. (1839) IV. 426 [This] determines whether X Y Z be a thing or a person. 1885J. K. Jerome On the Stage ii, Among the sham agents must be classed the ‘Professors,’ or ‘X. Y. Z.'s.’
6. Used to represent a kiss, esp. in the subscription to a letter.
1763G. White Lett. (1901) I. vii. 132, I am with many a xxxxxxx and many a Pater noster and Ave Maria, Gil. White. 1894W. S. Churchill Let. 14 Mar. in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill I. Compan. i. (1967) vii. 456 Please excuse bad writing as I am in an awful hurry. (Many kisses.) xxx WSC. 1951S. Plath Let. 7 July (1975) i. 72 Some gal by the name of Sylvia Plath sure has something—but who is she anyhow?..x x Sivvy. 1953Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954) 41 Yours for ever. Then twenty-one X's. 1982C. Fremlin Parasite Person vi. 40 A row of ‘X's’, hurried kisses, all he had time to scribble.
7. X-band: the range of microwave frequencies around 10,000 megahertz, used in radar transmission.
1946Radar: Summary Rep. & Harp Project (U.S. Nat. Defense Res. Comm., Div. 14) 144/2 X-band, refers to wavelengths around 3 cm. 1952[see S-band s.v. S 12]. 1976Sci. Amer. June 72/1 Most spacecraft now transmit to the earth a second radio signal at an X-band frequency (8·5 gigahertz).
8. Cinemat. X is used to denote films classified as suitable for adults only, or to which only those older than a certain age are to be admitted; so X-rated adj. (hence X-rate vb. trans.), X-rating vbl. n. Also fig.
In Britain replaced by 15 and 18 in 1983.
1950Rep. Departm. Comm. on Children & Cinema 64 in Parl. Papers (Cmd. 7945) VII. 238 We recommend that a new category of films be established (which might be called ‘X’) from which children under 16 should be entirely excluded. 1950Times 14 July 8/4 The X certificates..will cover films other than those of a ‘horrific’ character, which are ‘wholly adult in conception and treatment’. 1956‘M. Innes’ Appleby plays Chicken i. xvii. 139 ‘I'm going up.’ ‘You're doing nothing of the sort. It's X Certificate stuff, my boy, and not for general exhibition. There's a high-up copper who says so.’ 1958Times 9 July 6/3 Mr. Davie..has his ‘X’ certificate pictures..in which his obsessional imagery has taken on an existence, outside the vague allusiveness of the paint, which is too specific for comfort. 1970N.Y. Times Index 1248/2 Panel of 3 Fed judges rules Penna's new law forbidding showing of previews of x-rated movies. 1972Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 6 Feb. 2/3 There was only one explicit scene—the incest sequence—which caused the film to get an X (no one under 17 admitted). 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 136 Sebastian had gone into Oxford to see an X film (‘any X film’ he said) and to moon around looking for girls with his spotty mates. 1974Florida FL Reporter XIII. 35/3 ‘Community standards’ should determine whether X-rated movies should be allowed to be shown or not. 1974Newsweek 20 May 23 His communicators..kept insisting that the transcripts actually clear the President of any crime more grievous than using X-rated language and thinking unsavory thoughts. 1976Publishers Weekly 24 May 54/3 Most readers will surely X-rate the author's dicta; only the far-out minority will accept them. 1981TV Picture Life Mar. 6/1 For it was daytime TV shows, or ‘soaps’ as they are affectionately called, that first explored the ‘X’-rated areas of life. 1983Guardian 15 Oct. 10/7 In America..X-rating is used only for out-and-out porn.
9. X-C (or XC) skiing (N. Amer.) with pronunc. |krɒs|, cross-country skiing.
1972[see ski-touring s.v. ski n. 2 b]. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 13 Mar. 11/1 Alpine and XC skiing. 1977N.Y. Rev. Books 14 Apr. 42/4 (Advt.), Midwest Photographer, 33, likes bike rides, hikes, x-c skiing, concerts, theater,..seeks woman friend.
III. Abbreviations.
10. In writing the name Christ, esp. in abbreviated form, X or x represents the first letter |kaɪ| of Gr. ΧρΙϹτοϹ khristos, and XP or xp the first two letters |kaɪrəʊ|. Hence in early times Xp̄, in modern times Xt, Xt, and X, are used as abbreviations of the syllable Christ, alone or in derivatives; thus † Xp̄en, Xp̄n = christen, † Xp̄enned = christened; † Xpian, Xtian(ity) = Christianity); Xmas (Xstmas, Xtmas) = Christmas.
† Xp̄c stands for ΧρϹ contracted form of ΧρΙϹτοϹ; cf. IHS.
a1100O.E. Chron. an. 1021 On Xp̄es mæsse uhtan. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 337 In þis word Vix ben but þree lettris, V, and I, and X. And V bitokeneþ fyve; I bitokeneþ Jesus; and X bitokeneþ Crist. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 19951 Xp̄c þi sone, þat in þis world alighte, Vp on þe cros to suffre his passioun. 1485Rolls of Parlt. VI. 280/1 The most famous, blessed and Xpen Prince. Ibid. 336/1 Any Kyng or Prynce in England Xp̄enned. 1573Baret Alv. s.v. Y, The long mistaking of this woorde Xp̃s, standing for Chrs by abbreuation which for lacke of knowledge in the greeke they tooke for x, p, and s, and so like⁓wise Xp̃ofer. 1598Rowlands Betraying of Christ (Hunter. Cl.) 25 Xpian the outward, inward, not at all. 1634Documents, agst. Prynne (Camden) 33 Such right..as your Xtianity, place, and function joyntly require. 1685–6MS. in Bk. Com. Pr. 1662 (Bodl.), My first child..Xstened on thursday the 28 of the same month. a1697Aubrey Lives, Milton (MS. Aubrey 8. lf. 63), He was so faire, that they called him the lady of Xts coll. 1711Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 155 This Note I took out of a Book of Mr. Urry of Xt. Church. 1811Xtianity [see inerasable a.]. 1842Francis Dict. Arts, etc. s.v., Xmas. for Christmas, Xpher. for Christopher, &c. 1845M. Arnold Let. Mar. (1932) 55 When Tait had well observed that strict Calvinism devoted 1000s of mankind to be eternally,—and paused—I, with, I trust the true Xtian Simplicity suggested ‘—’. 1915A. Huxley Let. Oct. (1969) 79 The ethics are identical with Xtian ethics. 1940E. Pound Cantos lviii. 74 They drove the Xtians out of Japan. 1966D. Jones Let. 8–16 June in R. Hague Dai Greatcoat (1980) iv. 223 All chaps should be awfully good..is..more or less what the present notion of Xtianity boils down to.
11. Put for the initial syllable ex- of a word, or as an abbreviation for a word beginning with ex-. x's (slang): expenses. Also, in Stock Exchange quotations, xd = ex dividend, etc.
1838Manning Let. in Purcell Life (1896) I. xi. 230 All the ‘Xs’, I fear,..would go out. [Note. ‘X's and Peculiars’ were the nicknames given by the Tractarians to the Evangelicals..who called themselves Christians par excellence.] Ibid., He writes as tenderly as if he thought you a serious ‘X’. a1849Poe Tales, X-ing a Paragrab, One gentleman thought the whole an X-ellent joke. 1885Daily News 13 Mar. 2/1 New York Central Railway 925/8 927/8 xd. 1894L. J. Miln Strolling Players East xv. 132, I think we might clear our X.'s... Perhaps I should explain that ‘X.'s’ means expenses. 1910Encycl. Brit. V. 197/2 Canonists have continued to refer to the decretals of Gregory IX by the abbreviation X (Extra, i.e. extra Decretum).
b. In commercial and informal (esp. U.S.) use put for the final -cks (or -cs) of (esp. monosyllabic) words, as clox, pix2, snax, sox.
12. Chem. = xenon.
▸ X factor n. an indefinable but important element, esp. one that sets something or someone apart; (now) spec. star quality, special talent; cf. sense 3j.
1934A. G. Melvin Building Personality viii. 70 We may know the presence of the *x factor in personality if we discover phenomena which must be attributed to it. 1945Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 5 215 Relative location is of primary interest in the history of regional development to the extent that it inhibits or encourages cultural diffusion, which is the great ‘X factor’ in interpretation. 1972Times 14 Aug. 12/1 The ‘X’ factor that finally makes a man commit crime or become dangerously anti-social has yet to be fully explained. 1989S. Holbeche Power Gems & Crystals ix. 132 The X-factor in sharing healing energy with another person is love and caring. 2000F. Walker in J. Adams et al. Girls' Night In 50 The press love you. You have the X factor they can't get enough of. 2003N.Y. Times (National ed.) 16 Mar. ii. 20/2 Ms. Seidelman says she recognized Madonna's star quality the minute she met her. ‘She had that X factor,’ she says. ‘She had that street confidence.’
▸ XML n. Computing Extensible Markup Language, a standard for the mark-up of electronic documents for display on the Web, which is based on SGML and allows users to customize their own tags.
1996Series of Releases on SGML '96 in comp.text.sgml (Usenet newsgroup) 8 Oct. The W3C SGML Working Group will report on the status of *XML, eXtensible Markup Language, on Tuesday morning. XML, which is an outgrowth of an activity of the World Wide Web Consortium, is a subset of SGML designed to be Web-friendly. 1998New Scientist 7 Feb. 7/3 Some Web designers are already using XML to create pages, and the latest versions of Web browsers can make use of it. 2001Computer Weekly 1 Feb. 46/5 It is being enhanced, moving away from its Wireless Markup Language (WML) roots to take advantage of XHTML, the XML-based version of the popular HTML language from which most of the Web is built. |