| 释义 |
punctual, a. (n.)|ˈpʌŋktjuːəl|
[ad. med.L. punctuāl-is (Grosseteste c 1210), f. L. punctu-s (u- stem) a pricking, a point: see -al1. Cf. F. ponctuel (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
I.
†1. Surg.
a. Of the nature of a point or puncture: = punctal a. a.
b. Used for making punctures, sharp-pointed, as a cautery or other surgical instrument. Obs.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurgie 271 Sum men maken punctual cauterijs in þe maner of a cros vpon dindimum, & þan aftirward heliþ it vp. 1541R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. P iij, The fourth [cautery] is named punctuall, which hath the poynte sclendre and rounde. 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 20 b/1 We may, in steade of the crooked lancet, vse our punctuall instrument.
II.
2. a. Of, pertaining to, or made by, a point or dot; of or belonging to punctuation.
1609J. Dowland Ornith. Microl. 54 If you finde two Semibreefe Rests after a perfect Breefe, it shall remaine perfect, vnlesse punctuall Diuision come betweene. 1818Coleridge in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. Introd. §2 His days, months, and years, as the stops and punctual marks in the records of duties performed. 1904T. Hutchinson in Shelley Wks. p. iv, Amongst the Editor's Notes at the end of the volume the reader will find lists of the punctual variations in the longer poems. 1930Bookman's Jrnl. XVIII. xiv. (Second Supplement) 15 Both books have been entirely reset for this edition, and in addition to many minor alterations, mainly punctual, there is a new preface. 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Apr. 305/3 A punctual variation (which is also a misprint) between the publisher's imprint in the first two and in the third volume is not recorded.
b. Geom. Of or pertaining to a point: as punctual co-ordinates, the co-ordinates of a point.
†3.
a. Of the nature of or resembling a point or speck; small, minute (lit. and fig.). Obs.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. iii. §8 Many may be well seene in the passages of governement and policie, which are to seeke in little and punctuall occasions. 1613R. Cawdrey Table Alph. (ed. 3), Punctuall, small, or of no great force. 1639Fuller Holy War iii. xxiv. (1647) 154 The infinitenesse of punctual occurrences. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 23 This Earth a spot, a graine, An Atom, with the Firmament compar'd And all her numberd Starrs, that seem to rowle Spaces incomprehensible..meerly to officiate light Round this opacous Earth, this punctual spot.
†b. as n. A minute point, a subtlety. rare.
1610G. Fletcher Tri. over Death xii, Let the..schools these punctualls Of wills, all good, or bad, or neuter diss.
III. †4. a. Bearing directly on the point; to the point, to the purpose, apposite, apt. Obs.
1612Bacon Charge touching Duels Wks. 1879 I. 680/2 It is so punctual, and hath such reference and respect unto the received conceits. 1616Bullokar Eng. Expos., Punctuall,..short, and direct to the purpose. 1629Prynne Ch. Eng. 59 Nothing can be more full and punctuall to our present conclusion. 1642Rogers Naaman 347 If a man would compile a story..for the demonstration of Providence, could he frame a more punctuall one?
b. Express, direct; explicit, definite. arch.
1615T. Adams Spir. Navig. 33 The sea is full of monsters. Innumerable and almost incredible are the relations of Travellers in this punctuall demonstration. 1624Bp. R. Montagu Gagg. Pref. 5 Saint Augustine is punctuall..that the severall Latine Translations in his time, could not be numbred. 1699Bentley Phal. 179 A plain and punctual testimony. 1862Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xii. i. III. 169 The Polack King..left his Dominions shared by punctual bequest among his five sons.
IV.
5. a. Exact in every point; precise, accurate. Now rare or arch.
1620E. Blount Horæ Subs. 536 If any do not find so punctual an agreement as hee expects. 1630Davenant Cruel Brother iv. H 2 b, Be nimble then: and tell me punctuall truth. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vi. §8 Those predictions..have had their punctuall accomplishment. 1752Sir H. Beaumont Crito 5, I should as soon think of dissecting a Rainbow..as of forming grave and punctual Notions of Beauty. 1852Sir W. Hamilton Discuss. Philos., etc. 436 The punctual accuracy of our statement.
b. Of time or date: Exact or precise. Now rare or arch. Cf. 8.
1639Fuller Holy War iv. ix. (1647) 183 About this time (though we find not the punctuall date thereof) happened the death of Reinoldus Fredericks. 1657W. Morice Coena quasi κοινὴ ii. 130 We doe not binde..ourselves to a precise and punctual instant. 1710Wheatley Ch. of Eng. Man's Comp. §23 As to the punctual time when the posture of kneeling [at Holy Communion] first began, it is hard to determine. 1826–7De Quincey Lessing Wks. 1859 XIII. 258 Nothing obliges the poet (like the painter) to concentrate his picture into one punctual instant of time.
c. Occurring at a precise point of time; exactly or aptly timed; timely. rare.
1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xx. (1623) 974 Sir William Stanley Lord Chamberlain to King Henry (by whose punctuall reuolt from K. Richard he had principally achieued the crown). 1816Wordsw. Ode Thanksgiving Day i, Hail, orient Conqueror of gloomy Night!.. Whether thy punctual visitations smite The haughty towers where monarchs dwell; Or [etc.].
d. Of or belonging to a precise place. rare.
1805Wordsw. Prelude viii. 610 The human nature unto which I felt That I belonged..Was not a punctual presence, but a spirit Diffused through time and space. 1843De Quincey Ceylon Wks. 1859 XII. 10 Whereas human nature has ever been prone to the superstition of local consecrations..it is the usage of God to hallow such remembrances by removing..all traces of their punctual identities.
e. Gram. Of action: occurring at a point in time; of aspect or tense: relating to an action or event that occurs at a point in time. Also as n., the punctual aspect or tense of a verb.
1914L. Bloomfield Introd. Study Lang. v. 145 The Slavic languages distinguish..between..durative and iterative..action..and..punctual and terminative action. 1924[see aspect n. 9 b]. 1933L. Bloomfield Language xvi. 272 The English categories of aspect distinguish between ‘punctual’ action (some grammarians call it perfective), envisaged as a unit, and ‘durative’ action..which extends over a segment of time. 1956J. Gonda Character Indo-Europ. Moods iv. 44 The pronounced preference for the aorist may be understood from the predilection for the punctual aspect in formulating prohibitions. 1962― Aspectual Function of Ṛgvedic Present & Aorist i. 19 The aorist{ddd}is considered ‘punctual’, whether the initial moment (δακρῦσαι ‘burst into tears’), or the end (πεῖσαι ‘to persuade, talk over’) is indicated. 1971Archivum Linguisticum II. 112 This means that the ‘punctual meaning’ and the other meanings traditionally thought of as the aorist's are, as far as the sigmatic aorist is concerned, simply another specialization, restricted to a limited dialectal field. Ibid. 113 Gonda makes some criticism of the general statement..that VI class presents are ‘punctuals’, sometimes used to express punctual action, sometimes to describe actions indifferent to duration, but which sometimes can be thought of as punctual.
†6. Dealing with a matter point by point; minute, detailed, circumstantial. (Often with mixture of sense 5.) Obs.
1628P. Smart (title) The Vanitie and Downe-fall of Svperstitiovs Popish Ceremonies,..A Sermon..containing not onely an Historical relation of all those severall Popish Ceremonies and practises.., But likewise a punctual confutation of them. c1645Howell Lett. (1726) 40 A punctual relation of all the circumstances. 1772Nugent tr. Hist. Fr. Gerund. iv. v. 108 Having..given a punctual topographical description of Anthony Zote's house.
V.
7. (Of persons, or their actions or attributes.) Attentive to, or insisting upon, points or details of conduct; punctilious. a. Strictly or minutely observant of ceremony or convention; formal, ceremonious. Obs. or arch.
1609[implied in punctually adv. 5]. 1618Wither Motto Nec Curo Juvenil. (1633) 560 Stand upon their points of honour so As if their Credit had an overthrow..if in ought they misse Wherein the accomplisht Gallant punctuall is. 1626Meade in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 220 It was one of the most punctual coronations since the Conquest. 1631W. Saltonstall Pict. Loq. D v, [He] gives his words such a punctuall stiffe pronunciation. 1702Eng. Theophrast. 110 To have to do with a punctual, finical fop. 1725C. Pitt Vida's Art Poetry ii. (1726) 39 So much on punctual niceties they stand. 1866B. Taylor Serapion Poems 344 A hard cold man of punctual face.
b. Strictly or minutely observant of rule, principle, or obligation; attentive to duty; strict, precise, particular, scrupulous. Now rare or arch. exc. as implied in 8.
1598[implied in punctually adv. 5]. 1625Bacon Apophth. §294 A gentleman that was punctual of his word. 1668Dryden Ess. Dram. Poesy 44 We are not altogether so punctual as the French, in observing the lawes of Comedy. 1735Somerville Chase ii. 373 What these command, Those execute with Speed, and punctual Care. 1879Froude Cæsar iv. 37 His punctual discharge of his duties.
c. Precise, accurate, exact, careful of details (in statement or action). Obs. or arch.
1620Shelton Quix. ii. l. 332 Cid Hamete, the most punctuall Searcher of the very moats of this true History. 1636J. Pocklington Sunday no Sabbath (1637) 22 S. Nyssen is more punctuall and cleere: the Lords day (saith he) begins at cockcrowing. 1728Pope Dunc., M. Scriblerus on Title (1743) I. 39 n., That accurate and punctual man of letters. 1845Carlyle Cromwell (1871) ii. I. 190 n., The punctual contemporaneous Collector has named him with his pen.
8. spec. Exactly observant of an appointed time; up to time, in good time; not late. (Also of actions.) The prevailing current sense.
In punctual to this sense is a contextual use of 7 b.
1675Nevile tr. Machiavelli's Marr. Belphegor Wks. 527 He borrowed mony..but..he was not over-punctual to his day. 1694Congreve Double Dealer v. x, Mask. Madam, you will be ready? Cyn. I will be punctual to the minute. a1715Burnet Own Time iii. (1766) II. 41 He [Sir E. Godfrey] was a punctual man to good hours: so his servants were amazed when he did not come home. 1784Cowper Task vi. 127 The undeviating and punctual sun. 1815Jane Austen Emma i, Every body was punctual, every body in their best looks. 1875Mrs. Randolph Wild Hyacinth I. 54, I do wish you would be more punctual. |