| 释义 |
▪ I. obsolete, a. (n.)|ˈɒbsəliːt|
Also 6–7 -let.
[ad. L. obsolēt-us grown old, worn out, pa. pple. of obsolēscĕre, or rather its primitive *obsolēre: see obsolesce. So mod.F. obsolète (Littré).]
1. That is no longer practised or used; fallen into disuse; of a discarded type or fashion; disused, out of date.
1579E. K. in Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Ep. Ded., Such olde and obsolete wordes are most vsed of country folke. 1598R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 635 A faithfull friend is hard to be found; the bare name onely remaineth; the thing is obsolet and growne out of use. 1663Flagellum, or O. Cromwell (1672) 158 Though many pretty stories shall happily be told of this obsolete Princess. 1780Harris Philol. Enq. (1841) 391 Of things obsolete, the names became obsolete also. a1847Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor I. ix. 366 Two female servants, whose prim and obsolete appearance were perfectly consistent with the venerable aspect of the place of their habitation. 1875Stubbs Const. Hist. II. xvii. 521 Another ancient impost was now becoming obsolete. 1884H. Arnold Forster in Pall Mall G. 14 Aug. 2/1 On the Pacific station..we have one obsolete ironclad, the Swiftsure.
2. Worn out; effaced through wearing down, atrophy, or degeneration.
1832G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 351 The so-called Tomb of Nero. It is embellished with carving, and bears a nearly obsolete inscription. 1843Sir T. Watson Lect. Phys. lvi. (L.), A puckering of the surface indicates that beneath it there is probably a shrunken or obsolete vomica. 1851Gosse Nat. in Jamaica 51 After a while, the cliff becomes gradually obsolete, and the beach of coral sand reappears. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 34 Cases of obsolete tubercle found in cancer..examined post-mortem.
3. Biol. Indistinct; not clearly or sharply marked; very imperfectly developed, hardly perceptible. Usually implying the absence or rudimentary development of a character which is distinct in other individuals, or in allied species.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. ii. xxxiii. (1765) 160 Carthamus, with an obsolete crown to the seeds. 1785Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxvii. (1794) 418 The middle lobe obsolete or so small as to be obscure. 1807J. E. Smith Phys. Bot. 377 Dorstenia, with its obsolete flowers, devoid of all beauty. 1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. 293 Obsolete,..when a spot, tubercle, punctum, &c. is scarcely discoverable... This term is often employed where one sex, kindred species, or genera, want, or nearly so, a character which is conspicuous in the other sex, or in the species or genus to which they are most closely allied. 1864F. O. Morris Nests & Eggs Brit. Birds I. 69 They [eggs of Long-tailed Tit] are sometimes entirely white, or with the spots almost obsolete.
B. absol. or n. One who or that which is out of date or has fallen into disuse.
1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) II. 17 We bandied it about among twenty of us as an obsolete. 1885Pall Mall G. 13 Oct. 4/2 Seniority is the rule of all the services..which fills the army with martinets, the navy with tubs,..the State generally with the amiable obsoletes. 1900Daily Express 28 June 4/4 Bringing out Obsoletes [the war-ships Sultan, Dreadnought, and Superb].
▪ II. obsolete, v. Now chiefly N. Amer.|ˈɒbsəliːt|
[f. obsolete a., or f. L. obsolēt-, ppl. stem of *obsolēre, obsolēscĕre: see obsolesce.]
trans. To render or account obsolete; to discard, or practise no longer, as being out of date; to disuse.
1640in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 133 But when Religion is innovated,..our modern Laws already obsoleted [etc.]. 1718J. Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. Ded., We are not to be justified in obsoleting so many of our Words and Phrases. 1873F. Hall Mod. Eng. vii. 261 note, And here I may mention sennight, for ‘week’, only recently obsoleted. 1944Amer. Speech XIX. 234/1 A number of new laws and regulations..will almost certainly obsolete anything we might have given you during the past couple of months. 1945in Amer. Speech (1948) XXIII. 70/1 The pressure of today's events has obsoleted many filing systems. 1960[see pre-teen a.]. 1961Flight 3 Feb. 154/3, I have read Sir Percy Hunting's paper... It is competent, commendable stuff, marred only by the inclusion of..some Americanisms... For example: obsoleting, envisioned, peppercorn rentals, fiscal, transportation. 1967Technology Week 23 Jan. 100/1 (Advt.), The new gas turbine engine that's out to obsolete the diesel. 1972Fortune Jan. 52/3 Increasing emphasis upon service and repair of existing equipment, rather than mindlessly obsoleting it. 1975Sci. Amer. Feb. 39/1 (Advt.), Our precoated sheet failed to obsolete the glass TLC plate. 1975Listener 11 Dec. 788/2 (American speaker) News reporting on the hour or the half-hour—when only part of the earlier news had been obsoleted—meant a great deal of repetition. 1977Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 1 May 13/1 Wire is being obsoleted in communication today.
Hence ˈobsoleted ppl. a.; ˈobsoleting vbl. n.
1657W. Morice Coena quasi κοινὴ Def. ii. 41 Fettering themselves with an oath..to the disparagement and obsoleting of the Scriptures. 1680Bolron Papist's Oath Secrecy in Select. fr. Harl. Misc. (1793) 452 The care of gaining souls became..obsoleted. |