| 释义 |
approximation|əˌprɒksɪˈmeɪʃən|
[n. of action f. L. approximā-re: see approximate and -tion.]
1. The action of bringing or coming near in place, time, or any conception to which ideas of space apply; approach; the state of being near, proximity. lit. and fig.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 283 Unto that position it had been in a middle point, and that of ascent, or approximation. 1664Power Exp. Philos. iii. 188 The World's decay and approximation to its period. 1794Sullivan View Nat. II. 417 The approximation of the comet..near to our earth. 1849Miss Muloch Ogilvies xxxvi. (1875) 273 Striving..to bring the young man in closer approximation to her chair. 1870H. Macmillan Bible Teach. xvi. 315 It is in diatoms and confervæ..that the vegetable kingdom makes an approximation to the animal.
†b. spec. in Med. Communication of a disease by contact;
c. in Hort. = approach n. 11. Obs.
1678Phillips, Approximation..in Natural Magick..see Transplantation. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Approximation..transplanting a disease into some other subject, whether animate or vegetable, by bringing it in immediate contact with the patient. 1765Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 111 Grafting by approximation.
2. The action of approaching in feeling or personal relations; advance towards union in sentiment or interests.
1824Southey Sir T. More (1831) I. 233 An approximation of feeling among those whom opinions have divided. 1850Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) II. xii. 38 The renewed approximation of Pompeius to the party from which he had been so long estranged.
3. A coming or getting near to identity in quantity, quality, or degree; an approach to a correct estimate or conception of anything. concr. The result of such a process.
1660H. More Myst. Godl. v. xvi. 199 The nearer approximation of the Root of 666 to 26 then to 25. 1672T. Jacomb Comm. Rom. viii. (1868) 56 The excellency of persons..to be measured by their..approximation to that which is most excellent. 1748Hartley Observ. Man. i. iii. §2 ⁋87 The true Root, or such an Approximation as is practically equivalent. 1854Sir G. Nicholls Eng. Poor Law I. 13 An approximation to the principle of a Poor Law. 1868Gladstone Juv. Mundi v. (1870) 143, I take them as very rough approximations to the truth. 1868Peard Waterfarm. vi. 73 How an approximation to the cost of construction may be obtained.
4. Math. A process of solving problems, wherein a continual approach is made to the exact quantity.
1695Wallis in Phil. Trans. XIX. 2 Mr. Newton's Method of Approximation for the Extracting of Roots. 1838–9Hallam Hist. Lit. II. ii. viii. §5 He devised a method of solving equations by approximation. |