| 释义 |
▪ I. † litre1 Obs. rare—1.
In 7 lytre.
[ad. late L. litra, a. Gr. λίτρα a pound.]
A pound.
1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 432 One silver boul, weighing fiue lytres [marg. or pounds].
▪ II. litre2
(ˈliːtə(r), Fr. litr)
Also U.S. liter.
[a. F. litre, first formed in 1793; suggested by litron, the name of an obsolete Fr. measure of capacity, app. f. late L. litra, a. Gr. λίτρα pound.]
a. The unit of capacity in the metric system, represented by a cube whose edge is the tenth of a metre, and equivalent to rather more than 13/4 pints.
In 1901 the litre was redefined as the volume of a kilogramme of water under specified conditions (see quot. 1957), which made it equal to approximately 1·000,028 cubic decimetres; this definition was abandoned in 1964 in favour of the original one (see quot. 1965).
1797Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Aug. 197 A vessel of a cubical form, having for its side one decimetre, or a cylindrical vessel of the same solid contents, has received the name of litre. It contains about two pounds of water, or twenty-five ounces of wheat. 1810Naval Chron. XXIV. 301 Littre, Decimeter cube. 1839Penny Cycl. XIV. 56/1 Four litres and a half make, roughly speaking, an imperial gallon. 1866Odling Anim. Chem. 6 If we take..a litre of hydrogen and a litre of chlorine, we obtain exactly two litres of hydrochloric acid. 1886W. J. Tucker E. Europe 336 The farmers..strike bargains over a couple of ‘liters’ of wine with the Hebrew corn, cattle, or pig dealer. 1902Nature 10 Apr. 538/1 Annexe iv..recapitulates the decisions of the Troisième Conférence Générale held at Paris last October, as to the definitions of the metric units, metre, kilogramme and litre. 1923Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics III. 777/2 The definition of the litre has no reference to the units of length, and the original intention that it should be equal to 1 cubic decimetre has been quite abandoned. Ibid. 778/2 In his final résumé of the whole observations M. Benoit gives 1 litre = 1000·027 c.c. as the most probable value. 1957E. R. Cohen et. al. Fund. Constants Physics ii. 5 The liter is defined as the volume of a kilogram of water, at standard atmospheric pressure and at the temperature of its maximum density, approximately 4°C. On a level of sufficient precision this is an ambiguous definition, since it does not specify the isotopic constitution of the water... We adopt..1 liter = 1000·028 {pm}0·004 cm3. 1965Nature 6 Feb. 553/1 The twelfth General Conference of Weights and Measures was held..during October 6–13, 1964... Resolution 6 (the litre) abolished the definition of the litre established in 1901 by the third General Conference, declared that the word ‘litre’ can be used as a special name given to the cubic decimetre and recommended that the name ‘litre’ shall not be used to express the results of volume measurements of high precision... It now reverts to its original meaning. The intention is that this litre shall only be used for ordinary transactions in trade and not for scientific purposes. 1969Physics Bull. Feb. 58/2 It was a regrettable international decision in 1964 which reinstated the name litre for a cubic decimetre.
b. Preceded by a number or a word denoting a number so as to form adjs. denoting the capacity (i.e. the inside volume of the cylinders) of a motor vehicle or its engine, and used ellipt. for a vehicle having the specified engine capacity.
1927A. Huxley Let. 25 Feb. (1969) 284 We have gone and bought a really rather tremendous car—an Itala six cylinder two-litres. 1951Engineering 26 Oct. 533/2 It is a full six-seater, powered by a new 3-litre six cylinder engine developing 90 brake horse-power at 4,100 r.p.m. 1955Times 3 May 10/5 Bruigi, driving a three-litre Ferrari, crashed into a cement road sign near Teramo. 1974Country Life 17 Jan. (Suppl.) 34/1 Put the Triumph 2000 beside any other 2-litre in its class and there's very little in it for mpg. |