| 释义 |
constitutional, a. (n.)|kɒnstɪˈtjuːʃənəl|
[f. prec. + -al1; prob. of English formation; the F. constitutionnel appears in Dupré in 1801.]
A. adj.
1. Of, belonging to, or inherent in, a person's constitution (of body or mind).
1682J. Flavel Fear 119 Our constitutional strength is not to be made the measure of our passive fortitude. 1739Sharp Surgery (J.), It is not probable any constitutional illness will be communicated with the small-pox by inoculation. 1834Macaulay Ess., Pitt (1854) I. 288 His constitutional malady. 1880L. Stephen Pope iv. 88 Pope's constitutional irritability kept him constantly on the wing.
2. Affecting the (bodily) constitution; beneficial to, or designed to benefit, the constitution. Cf. B. 1.
1750G. Hughes Barbadoes 32 The Trade-wind is..constitutional to the inhabitants. 1860All Year R. No. 71. 484 Satisfied with constitutional walks and gymnastic drill. 1875H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 376 What may be termed the constitutional action of arsenic.
3. Belonging to the very constitution or composition of anything; forming an essential part or element; essential.
1750Warburton Doctr. Grace i. x. Wks. (1811) VIII. 300 The difference..between things natural and things positive, between constitutional and arbitrary. 1779–81Johnson L.P., Dryden Wks. II. 412 The original incongruity runs through the whole..But when this constitutional absurdity is forgiven, the poem must be confessed to be written with great smoothness of metre, etc. 1850Daubeny Atom. Th. x. (ed. 2) 332 The sulphates of magnesia, of zinc, etc., contain, besides their water of crystallization, a proportion of constitutional water, which may be replaced by sulphate of potass..This constitutional water..is expelled with more difficulty than the water of crystallization. 1872Mozley Mirac. Pref. (ed. 3) 25 Antecedent probability is a constitutional element of evidence.
4. a. In harmony with, or authorized by, the political constitution.
1765Blackstone Comm. i. iii. 191 To trace out the constitutional doctrine of the royal succession. Ibid. (T.), The long parliament..while it acted in a constitutional manner, with the royal concurrence, redressed many heavy grievances. 1777Hurd Serm. bef. Ho. Lords (R.), Tending..to improve establishments themselves; but by degrees only, and by constitutional means. 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 101 This, though a legal, cannot, with any propriety, be called a constitutional proceeding. 1874Green Short Hist. iii. §7. 153 The constitutional restrictions on the royal authority.
b. Of a sovereign: Ruling according to a constitution or constitutional forms which limit his arbitrary power; said also of sovereignty or government so exercised.
1801W. Dupré Neol. Fr. Dict. 62 La monarchie constitutionnelle, the constitutional monarchy. Un roi constitutionnel, a constitutional king. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 127 The only powers which recognised the new constitutional government. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xvii. 10 According to the pure idea of constitutional royalty, the prince reigns and does not govern.
c. French Hist. Said of ecclesiastics who adopted the civil constitution of the clergy in 1790.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. ii, What endless jarring, of Refractory hated Priests and Constitutional despised ones. 1884B. M. Gardiner Fr. Rev. iv. 76 Here nonjurors were regarded as enemies to the State; there the constitutional clergy as enemies to religion.
d. Adhering to or supporting the existing (or any specified form of) political constitution.
Hence, employed from time to time as a party designation; e.g. after c 1870 by English Conservatives, whence Constitutional party, Constitutional club, and the like: cf. constitutionalist 2, constitutioner 2.
5. Of, pertaining to, or dealing with the political constitution.
1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. II. 126 The constitutional history of the principal towns in Lombardy. 1845Polson in Encycl. Metrop. 811/1 In the mind of no constitutional lawyer, can a doubt exist as to the soundness of Mr. Pitt's positions. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 456 Best qualified to discuss constitutional questions. 1875Stubbs (title), Constitutional History of England.
6. constitutional diagram, = equilibrium diagram (equilibrium 4).
1929Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXIX. 449 Constitutional diagrams have consequently been constructed for cast iron. 1960Ibid. CXCIV. 134/3 In many cases no constitutional diagrams are given.
B. n.
1. A constitutional walk; a walk taken for health's sake, or for the benefit of the constitution. (App. this originated at the English Universities.) colloq.
1829Darwin Life & Lett. (1888) I. 176 An occasional ride with Simcox, and constitutional with Whitley. 1836[E. Caswall] Pluck Exam. Papers (Oxf.; ed. 3) 41 He taketh a constitutional of forty minutes every day. 1852Bristed 5 Years Eng. Univ. (ed. 2) 45 The Cantab's constitutional of eight miles in less than two hours. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. iv, And recognises Holmes and Diggs taking a constitutional.
2. = constitutionalist 2. In the end of the 18th c., an adherent of the French constitution or of political principles in accord with it.
1793F. Burney Diary VI. 14 Whether the Constitutionals in England will be employed or not. 1881Athenæum 20 Aug. 233/1 The one is the ideal of modern Liberalism, and the Constitutionals of 1789 who pursued it were only mistaken in thinking it much nearer, much more easily attainable, than it really was. |