| 释义 |
obverse, a. and n.
(see below)
[ad. L. obversus, pa. pple. of obvertĕre to obvert.
Single instances of the adj. and n. are known in 17th c.; otherwise the word is not exemplified till end of 18th c.; neither Johnson nor Todd has it, though giving obversant; under reverse, of coins, Chambers Cycl. (1727–41) and Johnson, in speaking of the other side, do not use obverse; both adj. and n. are in Webster 1828.]
A. adj. |ˈɒbvɜːs, ɒbˈvɜːs|.
1. Turned towards or against; opposite.
a1656Ussher Ann. (1658) 876 They fought..until Carrhenes having overcome his obverse wing, wheeled about with a circumference and came upon the back of his enemies. 1840S. R. Tickell in Jrnl. Asiat. Soc. IX. 706 The obverse manners of the Oorias.
2. Of a figure: Narrower at the base or point of attachment than at the apex or top; spec. in Nat. Hist., a general term comprising the various forms severally called obconic, obcordate, oblanceolate, obovate, etc. Also in Comb. = obversely, ob- 2, as obverse-lunate.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxiv. 508 When there are three of these organs [stemmata] they are arranged in an obverse triangle in a space behind the antennæ. Ibid. IV. 299 Obverse..When an object is viewed with its head towards you. 1866Treas. Bot. 799/2 Obverse, the same as Ob. Obverse-lunate, inversely crescent-shaped. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1543/2 An obverse tool has the smaller end towards the haft or stock.
3. Answering to something else as its counterpart.
1875Poste Gaius iv. (ed. 2) 443 To every mode of obligation there is an obverse mode of liberation. 1881A. Austin in Macm. Mag. XLIII. 401, I felt sure I should come to the other side of the shield, the obverse hollows of all this embossed and..somewhat turgid appreciation.
4. Logic. Of a proposition: obtained from another proposition by the process of obversion.
1870A. Bain Logic i. 110 To each of the four Propositional Forms..there is an obverse form. 1917J. Welton Groundwork of Logic v. 79 In no case is there any loss in the range of application in the obverse proposition.
B. n. |ˈɒbvɜːs|.
1. That side of a coin, medal, seal, etc., on which the head or principal design is struck; the opposite of reverse. Also attrib.
1658Sir T. Browne Hydriot. 16 Silver peeces..with a rude head upon the obverse,..and an ill formed horse on the reverse. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XI. 41/1 On the obverse of this piece there are portraits of Francis and Mary, face to face. 1823Crabb Technol. Dict., Reverse, the back side of a medal, as opposed to the obverse. 1837Penny Cycl. VII. 330/2 The noble..The obverse represents the king standing in a vessel. 1864Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xxiv. 401 The equestrian figures of the obverse of the Great Seals. 1895Proclam. Bronze Coinage 11 May, Every Penny should have for the obverse impression Our Effigy with the Inscription ‘Victoria’ [etc.].
2. a. The face or side of anything intended to be presented to view; front as opposed to back.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. x, In looking at the fair tapestry of human life..he dwells not on the obverse alone, but here chiefly on the reverse. 1847Emerson Repr. Men, Montaigne Wks. (Bohn) I. 335 Nothing so thin, but has these two faces; and, when the observer has seen the obverse, he turns it over to see the reverse.
b. fig. The counterpart of any fact or truth.
1862W. M. Rossetti in Fraser's Mag. Aug. 199 To say No, and stick to it, is a necessary obverse of the power of saying Yes to some purpose. 1862W. W. Story Roba di R. xv. (1864) 325 Here you have the two sides—the science of medicine, and its obverse, the practice of witchcraft. 1874H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. viii. 512 Sin cannot be explained away as a mistake, as an illusion, as the obverse of good.
3. Logic. A proposition obtained as the result of obversion.
1870A. Bain Logic i. 110 No men are gods. The obverse is..all men are no-gods. 1896[see obversion 2]. |