| 释义 |
smoothness|ˈsmuːðnɪs|
Also 4 smoþe-, 5–6 smothnesse.
[f. smooth a.]
1. The quality of being smooth or of having a smooth, level, or even surface; calmness (of water).
c1374Chaucer Boeth. v. met. 4 (1868) 166 Lettres emprentid in þe smoþenesse or in þe plainesse of þe table of wex. 1495Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xvii. xx. (W. de W.) 615 Boxe..for smothnesse of matere..is able to receyue wrytynge of letters. 1548Elyot, Lævitas, playnnesse or smothnesse. 1586Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. ii. i, His lofty browes in foldes do figure death, And in their smoothnesse, amitie and life. 1656tr. Hobbes' Elem. Philos. (1839) 405 Smoothness, roughness,..refer to figure, and are therefore common both to touch and sight. a1688Cudworth Immut. Morality (1731) 61 Democritus..makes one of them to consist in Roughness and Ruggedness, the other in Smoothness and Evenness of Parts. 1774M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 86 If the Card of the Compass can be made to stand at Rest in the Boat, either by Art, or the Smoothness of the Sea. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 31 The last degree of smoothness can only be obtained by grinding. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xv. 101 The water was of a glassy smoothness.
b. fig. or in fig. context.
1593Shakes. Lucr. 1247 Their [sc. women's] smoothness, like a goodly champaign plain, Lays open all the little worms that creep. 1663S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xv. (1687) 124 The roughness of your way, and the asperities of mens manners, must not spoil the smoothness of your soul. 1845Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 3 A deficiency of moral energy, arising chiefly from the smoothness with which the current of social life runs down.
c. The fact of having a smooth or hairless skin.
1626Bacon Sylva §680 The Cause of the Smoothness in Men, is not any Abundance of Heat and Moisture, though that indeed causeth Pilositie.
d. A smooth place or part.
1674N. Fairfax Bulk. & Selv. 86 The pieces of a body..are only clapt together at their little smoothnesses.
2. Easy flow, elegance, or polish (of language, diction, etc.).
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. vii. (Arb.) 93 The smoothnesse of your words and sillables running vpon feete of sundrie quantities. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 9 In the verie Torrent..and (as I may say) the Whirle-winde of Passion, you must acquire and beget a Temperance that may giue it Smoothnesse. 1666Dryden Pref. Ann. Mirab. 42, I affected the softness of expression and the smoothness of measure. 1781Cowper Table-talk 513 That verse, whatever fire the fancy warms, Without a creamy smoothness has no charms. 1836Random Recoll. Ho. Lords xvi. 385 His sentiments and arguments flow from his lips with a smoothness and facility..seldom witnessed. 1885Manch. Exam. 30 Mar. 5/4 The Cabinet, lulled to repose by the smoothness of Lord Clarendon's flowing periods.
b. Polish, refinement, ease (of manners, bearing, etc.).
1832Lytton E. Aram i. vi, Judge for yourself if I be fit for the smoothness, and confidence, and ease of social intercourse. 1838― Alice 60 She acquired self-possession and the smoothness of society.
3. The quality of being bland, ingratiating, or plausible; assumed or simulated friendliness, civility, or amiability.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. i. iii. 79 She is too subtile for thee, and her smoothnes.., and her patience, Speake to the people. 1611Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. iv, I want smoothness To thank a man for pardoning of a crime I never knew. 1845James Arrah Neil iv, Dry, of Long-soaken, was all smoothness and civility. 1858W. Arnot Laws fr. Heaven ii. 22 Smoothness is not an equivalent for truth.
4. Easiness, facility (of working).
1893Hodges Elem. Photogr. (1907) 133 Many such devices work with great smoothness and certainty. |