| 释义 |
specialize, v.|ˈspɛʃəlaɪz|
[ad. F. spécialiser, = It. specializzare, Sp. and Pg. especializar: see special a. and -ize.]
1. trans. To mention or indicate specially; to specify, particularize.
1616Sheldon Mir. Antichr. 261 Our Sauiour specialising and nominating the places in which these false prophets should teach his presence to be. 1657J. Sergeant Schism Dispach't 66 The proper answer..is to specialize some plea for themselves, which will not as well excuse their Desertours. 1873Ferguson Discourses 23 Still less has he a right to specialise the sign from heaven by which the proof is to be established. 1874Blackie Self-Cult. 61, I will now specialise a few of those virtues the attainment of which should be an object of lofty ambition.
b. absol. To enter into particulars or details.
1613Wither Abuses Stript in Juvenilia (1633) 249 First lash the Great-ones; but if thou be wise, In generall and doe not speciallize. 1850Blackie æschylus I. 296 It is quite common with æschylus to give a general description first, and then specialise.
2. To render special or specific; to invest with a special character or function.
1628Earle Microcosm., Scept. in Relig. (Arb.) 67 He is at most a confus'd and wild Christian, not specializ'd by any forme, but capable of all. 1701Norris Ideal World i. vi. 321 The great difficulty is to specialize this account, to shew in particular what kind of thing truth is. 1850Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. v. 73 He specializes what is universal. 1874Mahaffy Soc. Life Greece xi. 339 A belief in some systematic ruler of the world,..not specialised in form or character. Ibid. xii. 362 The Attic legal system..by specialising its courts apparently provided for a prompt and accurate treatment of disputes.
b. spec. in Biol. In pa. pple.: Adapted to a special function or environment; modified by development tending towards this end.
1851S. P. Woodward Mollusca i. 32 Respiration is performed by the mantle, or by a portion of it specialized, and forming a gill. 1874Lubbock Orig. & Met. Ins. v. 86 The earliest known Neuroptera and Orthoptera, though in some respects less specialized than existing forms. 1881Tylor Anthrop. ii. 43 Man's upper and lower extremities have become differentiated or specialised in two opposite ways.
c. To develop (parts) by adaptation to surroundings.
1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 558 If this sort of weather goes on I expect I shall specialise fins and gills myself.
3. To make narrower and more intensive.
1855M. Pattison in Oxford Ess. 292 The very fact that the new statute has restrained and specialized the subjects in the School of Literae Humaniores. 1868― Academ. Org. v. 264 The principle I am now contending for goes further still in the direction of specialising study.
4. intr.
a. To engage in special study or some special line of business, etc.
1881Jrnl. Educ. 1 Mar. 51/1 They will not allow their scholars to specialize. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. cii. III. 442 Enabling men to specialize..in matters like history and Oriental or Romance philology. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 505 A certain set of men and women then specialise off to study how these spirits can be managed.
b. To develop in a special direction; to assume a special form or function.
1889Lancet 28 Sept. 635/1 That some cells have specialised on the amœboid character is seen in the so-called myeloplaxes. |