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descriptionn. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French description; Latin dēscriptiōn-, dēscriptiō. Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman descripcioun, Anglo-Norman and Middle French descripcion, description (French description ) action of describing (c1165 in Old French), enumeration, census (c1230; compare also Anglo-Norman descrision (1190 in this sense)), inscription (13th cent.), delimitation (c1300), written definition, explanation, or analysis (of an object, process, concept, etc.) (c1370), piece of writing, text (c1372–4), picture, diagram, figure (in geometry), act of representing in such a figure (both 1377), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin dēscriptiōn-, dēscriptiō (in post-classical Latin also discriptio) drawing of a diagram or plan, (with crīminis ) setting out or recording of a charge or indictment, transcript, descriptive narrative, in post-classical Latin also census (Vulgate) < dēscript- , past participial stem of dēscrībere describe v. + -iō -ion suffix1. Compare Old Occitan descriptio (c1350), Catalan descripció (15th cent.), Spanish descripción (1562 or earlier), Portuguese descrição (15th cent.), Italian descrizione (beginning of the 14th cent.).For β. forms in dis- see discussion at describe v. and compare classical Latin discriptiō process of dividing up, distribution, allocation, arrangement in space, disposition. 1. the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > [noun] > a description c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Macc. ii. 13 These same thingis weren born in discripciouns [L. descriptionibus]. c1400 ( G. Chaucer (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §21. 11 Shapen in maner..of a lop-webbe aftur the olde descripcioun. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Ellesmere) (1877) §741 Auarice, after the descripcion of seint Augustyn, is likerousnesse in herte to haue erthely thynges. c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1195 Now to the temple of Diane the chaste..I wol me haste To telle yow al the discripsioun. a1425 (a1400) (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 8875 Bot alle-if I kan noght descryve þat stede, Yhit wille I ymagyn, on myne awen hede, Ffor to gyf it a descripcion. a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville (Vitell.) l. 4965 (MED) Synderesys..Ys as myche for to seyn, By notable descripcioun, The hiher party of Resoun. 1488 (c1478) Hary (Adv.) (1968–9) x. l. 1217 Thai send..the discripcioune Off him tane thar. 1535 Ezek. xliii. 11 Shewe them the fourme and fashion of the temple: the commynge in, the goinge out, all the maner and descripcion therof... This is the descripcion of the house: Aboue vpon the mount rounde aboute all the corners, it shalbe ye holiest of all. 1553 T. Wilson 95 A description or an evident declaration of a thyng as though we sawe it even now doen. 1600 J. Pory in tr. J. Leo Africanus To Rdr. We haue brought our whole descriptions to an end vpon the most southwesterly parts of Barbarie. 1647 M. Hudson ii. 66 Monarchie is described to be a Politick Government, wherein one person is supream and chief, and this indeed is the vsuall description approved by most Authors. 1676 J. Ray (1848) 122 Clusius..had..better descriptions of them [sc. species of birds]. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu 17 June (1965) I. 365 This place..perfectly answers the Description of the Elysian fields. 1725 sig. A6v Wherein also we have interspersed, under the several heads of villains, such descriptions and cautions as may better serve to promote this good end. 1794 R. J. Sulivan II. 186 Polybius..takes notice of Vesuvius, in his description of Italy. 1820 Countess Granville (1894) I. 171 He..gave a droll description of himself as old and fairly yellowed out of the service. 1834 T. Medwin II. 108 An old man answering the description of Humphrey. 1878 30 Jan. 5/3 General Borel's description of the ‘Marseillaise’ as a party song not to be tolerated in the Army has given offence to the Extreme Left. 1878 J. Morley Carlyle in 1st Ser. 198 The more correct description of what has happened. 1904 July 844/2 You will find further descriptions of this little plant in the botanies under the name dwarf Canadian primrose. 1955 P. Larkin Let. 8 Jan. in (2010) 137 His description of the book—9ʺ × 6ʺ, either Garamond or Ultra Bodoni type—doesn't sound very appetising. 1978 D. S. Wilson 201 I am indebted to Robert Plant Armstrong..for his description of culture as ‘patterns-in-experience’. 2012 C. Fernyhough (2013) x. 212 Victims of gun crimes can often give very accurate descriptions of the weapon. the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > an explanation, definition > [noun] the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > term of a proposition > [noun] > definition 1574 tr. P. Ramus i. xxx. 63 The description [L. descriptio] is a definition which definethe the thing not only with the causes, but with other argumentes also: as, a Man is a reasonable thing mortall, and apte to learne. 1628 T. Spencer 193 A description is a sentence which setteth out a thing, even by other arguments. 1751 S. Johnson No. 143. ⁋3 Descriptions..are definitions of a more lax and fanciful kind. 1843 J. S. Mill I. i. viii. §5 The second kind of imperfect definition, in which the name of a class is defined by..attributes which are not included in its connotation..has been termed Description. 2001 J. M. M. H. Thijssen & J. Zupko p. xi The final version of Buridan's lectures on De anima treats Aristotle's first definition of the soul as a mere description and the second as a causal definition. the mind > language > linguistics > linguistic unit > phrase > [noun] > term or expression 1826 Nov. 353 As there is a fine name, now-a-days, for every thing, I suppose that ‘Hygeist’ is the polite description of quack doctor. 1909 C. R. Henderson Mar. 265 It is time..to adopt some such description as ‘social insurance’ to cover the methods of guaranteeing income to wage earners and their families in case of sickness, accident,..and unemployment. 1924 R. S. Rait 286 The eldest sons of Scottish peers..were known as ‘Masters’, a courtesy description still in use where a Scottish peerage has no second title. 1979 14 June 1910/3 Corner chair appears to be the usual description nowadays: they used to be known as writing chairs. 2010 9 Aug. 37/4 I..dried my hair naturally (technical description: air drying). 2. the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > [noun] a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 29 Wiþ descripcioun [L. descriptione] of the lasse world. c1400 (1840) p. xxvi Þis also [he] schewiþ openly bi discripcioun of tyme. 1447 O. Bokenham (Arun.) (1938) l. 407 If the crafth of descrypcyounn I cowde as weel both forge and fyle As cowd Boyce. 1559 W. Cuningham 6 Geographie is the..discriptioun of the face, and picture of th' earth. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. ii. 205 For her owne person, It beggerd all discription . View more context for this quotation 1695 J. Dennis sig. a2v The wantonness of description is to be accounted at all times (and more especially in a grave way of writing) a most intolerable fault. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Introd. sig. d2v When I consider..of how tedious, and often unintelligible, a load of description it [sc. drawing] would rid them. 1781 J. Moore I. i. 4 A rapidity which baffles all description. 1806 ‘P. Pindar’ 153 Description on your pencil waits. 1845 M. Pattison in Jan. 67 Writers..gifted with strong imaginations, are masters of description. 1914 1/2 A manner which may, for convenience of description, be classified by analysis under three heads. 1938 B. F. Skinner ii. 44 It confines itself to description rather than explanation. 2000 19 47/2 Use many more adjectives in description to convey complex detail. 1613 S. Purchas ix. xv. 751 Those former tyrannies vpon the Indians, are beyond all oratory and description. 1650 T. Hawkins et al. tr. N. Caussin (new ed.) ii. vii. 245/2 Constantine amazed beyond description at so prodigious an accident, had neither reply, nor sense of a man, so much wonder had rapt him from himself. 1704 42 Some of them [sc. physicians] I know are ignorant beyond Description. 1725 J. Morgan tr. M. Rabadan II. xxiii. 76 I could plainly see the Hosts of Cœlestial Potentates, with Legions of immortal Nymphs, lovely beyond all Description. 1807 Sir R. Wilson Let. 19 Oct. in (1862) II. viii. 374 The road..being made of putters or young trees a great portion of which had rotted, it was dreadful beyond description. 1864 1 June 452/2 A mingled crowd of army wagons and ambulances, stragglers and walking wounded, has passed.., forming a spectacle beyond description. 1901 135/1 The fascination of this bazaar is beyond all description. 1922 2 Dec. 19/1 An all-embrasive discussion..would necessitate entering into long lists of statistical notations that would undoubtedly bore you beyond description. 2015 (Nexis) 3 May 31 After the publication of my letter.., I was moved beyond description by the positive reactions of tens of thousands online. †3. society > communication > record > written record > register or record book > [noun] > registration a1425 J. Wyclif (1869) I. 316 Syryne..bigan to make þis discripcion. c1450 Three Kings Cologne (BL Add.) l. 48 in (1912) 129 52 (MED) At þat tyme was made discripcyoun Thurgh alle þe worlde be Cesar The Emperour, For he wolde wote in euery nacyoune What lordschippe longede vn-to his honour. 1583 T. Tymme tr. A. Marlorat 78 This Description was made to the ende it might be known how much euery one was worth. 1609 I. 2 Sam. xxiv. 9 Joab gave the number of the description [L. descriptionis] of the people to the king. society > communication > writing > [noun] > setting down in writing ?a1425 (a1400) (Corpus Cambr.) 294 (MED) Þe Kyng..commaunnded forþwiþ his coigne of gold, vnder descripcioun of the name of Engelond and of Fraunce, to be made. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > [noun] > pictorial representation 1590 R. Hakluyt tr. T. de Bry True Pictures People Virginia To Rdr. in T. Hariot (new ed.) sig. d7 Maister Ihon White an Englisch paynter who was sent into the contrye by the queenes Maiestye, onlye to draw the description of the place [L. solummodo vt illius topographiam faceret]. 1620 366 The high Altar is set out by Michael Angeloes curious description of the day of Iudgement. a1646 J. Gregory (1649) 257 This Description is..of the Earth and Water both together, and it is don by Circles. 1659 F. Mortoft 9 Feb. (1925) 128 A discription of a Battell of the Rom[ans], made all of one stone. 1840 W. M. Thackeray in June 17/2 Let any man look at that second plate of the murder on the Thames, and he must acknowledge how much more brilliant the artist's description is than the writer's. 1853 J. Ruskin II. iv. 106 We look upon the picture as this or that painter's conception; the elder Christians looked upon it as this or that painter's description of what had actually taken place. 1908 J. C. Carrick viii. 118 ‘The Neophyte’..is a description in paint of the beginning and the ending of the friars. 2000 E. H. Boone 71/1 The set of graphic instructions..serves as a simple example, if we approach the images as a description of past actions. 5. 1600 W. Shakespeare iii. ii. 299 Pay him six thousand..before a friend of this discription shall lose a haire. View more context for this quotation 1637 tr. J. Rüff iii. iv. 93 Give her seven Pills of this description following. 1780 J. Bentham (1789) xviii. §10 Offences of this description may well be called anomalous. 1797 (Royal Soc.) 87 177 The rabbit keeper informing me that those which had already had a litter were more certain of breeding than those which had not; I determined to make a trial of one of this description. 1800 15 Apr. 1/2 It is particularly requested that no Place Broker, or any person of the like description, will answer this Advertisement. 1864 D. G. Mitchell 306 The man must be a roué of the worst description. 1879 I. 33 The drainings..are transferred to a pan similar in description to the mixing pan. 1901 Feb. 370/1 The rods and reels in tuna fishing are of the finest description. 1983 M. Nazir-Ali ii. 41 Even today there are many sincere followers of religious sects whose leaders are charlatans of the worst description. 2014 (Nexis) 10 July 83 There is a shortage of quality steers weighing more than 300kg, and that was reflected in the keen competition for the few cattle of that description penned. the world > relative properties > kind or sort > [noun] > a kind, sort, or class 1776 31 Oct. 1/4 Government was established for the good of the community, taking in every description of men, from the first Magistrate down to the Peasant. 1781 T. Gilbert 6 That all Descriptions of poor Persons should be sent thither. 1785 W. Paley iii. iii. ii. 250 The invitation, or voluntary admission of impure thoughts..falls within the same description. 1843 14 Oct. 396/1 There are several descriptions of plait made in England. 1844 Mrs. Houstoun II. 278 The Volante..is a description of vehicle, peculiar..to Cuba. 1891 M. M. Dowie 56 Water-worms, and newts of every description. 1905 4 Sept. 6/3 There is a description of tea sold in Japan at the average price the country over of 1½d. per pound. 1987 25 June 13/2 The Adelaide sales contained good topmaking Merino descriptions in the 21-23 micron range. 2008 M. O'Brien iii. 61 Used paper of all descriptions (including newspaper) was made to serve a variety of different purposes. 6. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > in specific manner 1655 T. Stanley I. i. 17 Whence may be deduced the description of a rectangle triangle in a circle. 1789 T. Taylor tr. Proclus II. 22 By a description of circles, the triangle, which is constituted, is shewn to be equilateral. 1831 P. Nicholson 230 The description of an ellipse with a beam compass may be put in execution in arches of any extent. 1999 D. M. Jesseph i. 26 The framework of Euclidean geometry permits..constructions involving only the description of circles and the drawing of straight lines. the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > [noun] > passing over a certain course or distance 1685 J. Turner 314 Those ten Months will be so many several Years, being so many several compleat and entire descriptions of the Lunar Circle. 1728 H. Pemberton 91 The time taken up in the description of the arch EF. 1858 J. F. W. Herschel (ed. 5) §490 Equable description of areas is itself the essential criterion of a continual direction of the acting force towards the centre. 2011 W. L. Harper i. 27 The planets move more swiftly in their perihelia and more slowly in their aphelia, in such a way that the description of areas is uniform. Derivatives the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > [adjective] 1593 T. Nashe f. 82 Sutable descriptionate politure. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.c1384 |
