| 释义 |
slowness|ˈsləʊnɪs|
Forms: α. Sc. and north. 4 slau-, 4–6 slawnes (5 slawe-), 5 slawnesse, 9 slawness. β. 4 slogh(e)-, 5 slouȝnes; 5–7 slownes, -nesse, 7– slowness.
[f. slow a.]
†1. Sloth, indolence, sluggishness. Obs.
αa1300Cursor M. 10110 Slaunes, and wreth, and pride. a1340Hampole Psalter iii. 5, I ristid me first in synful lyfe and in slawnes. 1435Misyn Fire of Love 88 Qwher lufe kelys not, nor vnto slawnes may not bowe. c1600A. Hume Chr. Precepts Poems (S.T.S.) 81 Thou knawes what hurt and grief thy slawnes and slouthfulnes hes wrought thee.
β1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4237 Now shul we speke of sloghnes; Among þe toþer ful wyk hyt ys. 1414Brampton Penit. Ps. (Percy Soc.) 62 Slownes is a cursid thing; For it is evere weri of weel doyng. 1736Ainsworth Lat. Dict. i. s.v., He reflected upon him by reason of his slowness and sluggishness.
2. Dullness of intellect or comprehension; lack of acuteness, promptitude, or readiness.
1495Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. (W. de W.) v. x. 115 Yf the forehede be tomoche, it tokenyth slownes that draweth to foly. 1601Shakes. All's Well i. iii. 10 The complaints I haue heard of you I do not all beleeue, 'tis my slownesse that I doe not. 1651Rec. Communion §2 Their slownesse and slendernesse..was very great. 1755Johnson, Dulness, stupidity;..slowness of apprehension. 1822Lamb Elia i. Old Actors, In expressing slowness of apprehension, this actor surpassed all others. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 527 The acknowledged slowness of men in putting two and two together.
†b. Bluntness of edge. Obs.—0
c1440Promp. Parv. 458/2 Slawnesse, or dulnesse of egge, ebetudo, obtusitas.
c. Lack of animation; dullness, tediousness.
1887Cassell's Encycl. Dict. s.v., The slowness of an entertainment.
3. The quality of being slow in respect of action, progress, or accomplishment.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxiii. (Bodl. MS.), Þe heuynes of voice folowith þe slownes þereof. Ibid. xxxvii, For slouȝnes of breeþ tokeneþ defaute of þe vertu of out putting. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 246 b, A pronite or redynesse to all vyce, and a slownesse to all goodnes. 1566Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 441 The greit delay and slawnes of justice within this realme. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋14 Fearing no reproch for slownesse, nor coueting praise for expedition. 1656Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. lii. (1674) 67 Slowness could not consist with swiftness. 1731Swift's Corr. (1766) II. 149 The slowness of my answers does not come from the emptiness of my heart. 1788Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 171 From the slowness I saw at first in the working I could scarcely believe that the work was done. 1857Miller Elem. Chem., Org. i. 30 The oxidating influence of which can be applied with sufficient slowness and regularity. 1879S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. xxvii. 541 Another lamented the slowness of the work.
fig.a1742Bentley Serm. (J.), Because of the hardness and slowness of their hearts.
4. The quality of being slow in motion.
c1440Promp. Parv. 458 Slawnesse, of mewynge, morositas, tarditas. 1611Shakes. Cymb. iii. v. 168 This Fooles speede Be crost with slownesse. 1653W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored 56 All Planets give unto him their light..by reason of his slowness. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Pulse, A Slowness of the Influxes of the nervous Juice from the Brain into the Villi of the Heart. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst Udolpho vi, The extreme slowness of his pace made St. Aubert look again from the window to hasten him. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxii. 158, I had descended with extreme slowness and caution for some time. 1886W. J. Tucker E. Europe 164 This beats any funeral procession for slowness.
b. A soft or heavy condition of ground or turf which does not permit of swift riding or running or of good play.
1881Chicago Times 4 June, Three well known and distinguished horsemen..are to adjudge the ‘slowness’ of the track. 1899Oakham School Mag. 29 The slowness of the ground quite precluded that possibility. |