pregnableadj.

Brit.

/ˈprɛɡnəbl/, U.S.

/ˈprɛɡnəb(ə)l/

Forms: late Middle English pregnabull, late Middle English–1500s preignable, late Middle English–1600s prenable, 1500s preinable, 1500s prennable, 1500s preygnable, 1500s prignable, 1500s– pregnable, 1600s praegnable.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French prenable.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French prenable that may be taken by force (c1155 in Old French; French prenable ) < the stem of prendre (see prend v.) + -able -able suffix. Compare pernable adj.On the development of forms with -g- see discussion at impregnable adj. and n. In sense 2 by confusion with pregnant adj.²

a. Of a fortress or other stronghold: that may be taken by force; vulnerable to attack. Now chiefly in extended use.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [adjective] > not

pregnable1387

unfortified1525

expugnable1570

unimmured1615

stormable1645

fenceless1740

vulnerable1790

1387-8 [see unpregnable adj. α. ].

?c1475 ( in J. Stevenson Lett. & Papers Illustr. Wars Eng. in France (1864) II. 581 Without that the saide chieftains shulde lay any siege or make any assautis, but if the placis were righte prenable.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cclv. 379 They thought well the towne was preignable.

1591 H. Unton Corr. (1847) 66 It is hardlie otherwise prennable.

1632 P. Holland tr. Xenophon Cyrupædia 107 Cyrus..desirous in very deed to see whether the Castle were any where prenable.

1676 R. Boyle Eng. Adventures ii. 53 You thought the Fort pregnable, but finding it was not, you would attack another that was.

1740 Duke of Richmond Let. 19 Sept. (1984) 44 Their design is to attack Gibralter,..for by sea it is certainly very pregnable.

1845 G. Petrie Round Towers Ireland 371 The door alone could be pregnable.

1880 Harper's Mag. Mar. 615/1 Its pregnable approaches are the portals of entrance and exit for the tube.

1942 E. Paul Narrow Street xxv. 224 I didn't think the bedbugs could get into my suitcase or typewriter.., but the duffle bag was pregnable.

1988 Times 12 Sept. 13/1 An Englishman's home is a structure pregnable by all sorts of officials.

b. figurative. Open to attack, vulnerable, assailable; accessible.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [adjective] > exposed to danger > vulnerable

openeOE

subjectc1384

pregnablec1475

opportunea1500

casuala1535

wide open?1544

obnoxious1572

assailable1589

liable1593

abnoxious1611

woundable1611

obnoxious1612

speeding1612

infectible1634

sufferable1651

attackable1656

vulnerable1678

prejudicial1682

threatenable1841

doable1849

infectable1860

c1475 (?a1440) B. Burgh Distichs of Cato (Rawl. C.48) 1080 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1906) 116 31 Fortune is vnstable. Aftir pouerte richesse is preignable.

1640 A. Hart Alexto & Angelica 126 Be not implacable for of none but thee one Is he now pregnable.

1783 H. Cowley Bold Stroke for Husband i. ii. 7 That humour.., like the works of Gibraltar, no Spaniard can find pregnable.

1837 Sir J. Paget in Mem. v. 100 A hard-headed English infidel, pregnable to neither religion nor common-sense.

1881 Appletons' Jrnl. May 430/1 He..cast his eye along the peopled sidewalk in search of some pregnable point from which the information might be gained.

1902 Daily Chron. 26 Apr. 3/1 He attacks Arnold's very pregnable idea that Christianity is only Stoicism ‘touched with emotion’.

1973 R. Stout Please pass Guilt xix. 147 I know the present state of Kenneth Meer's mind... I think he's pregnable.

2000 Arkansas Democrat-Gaz. (Nexis) 31 Dec. j2 They know how tongues lie and how words misdirect and that souls, if they exist, are pregnable and subject to corruption.

†2. = pregnant adj.² Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > [adjective] > strong, convincing

strongc1405

substantial1419

pregnant?a1475

pregnablea1500

vehement1530

pungent1619

stringent1653

the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > process of reasoning, ratiocination > argument, source of conviction > [adjective] > strong, valid, convincing

justa1413

pregnanta1425

well-disposedc1449

pregnablea1500

legitime1532

concludent1571

potent1609

solid1615

concluding1620

valida1648

valuable1647

conclusive1649

cogent1659

legitimate1774

well-taken1789

a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 84 (MED) He shewed also by His prophetis thingis that war to com, ordeined the lawe..peynted with right troublouse colours and pregnabull [v.r. pregnaunte; Fr. enceintes] wourdes, for to restreyn þe grette offenses.

1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 115 Leauing those breefe and pregnable Narrations of Bellonius & Scaliger.

a1660 in J. T. Gilbert Contemp. Hist. Ireland (1880) II. 41 These solide and pregnable reasons.

Derivatives

pregnaˈbility n. the quality of being pregnable; vulnerability.

ΚΠ

1776 Lady A. Miller Lett. from Italy I. 116 M—— has been there, and has seen every thing above ground and below; if you should be curious in regard to its pregnability or impregnability, &c. you must apply to him for information.

1838 S. Bellamy Betrayal 107 There's not a flaw In frailty coupled with defect more near Than this man's strength to pregnability.

1914 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 12 Apr. He knew..the pregnability of the safe in which his master placed so great confidence.

1998 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 10 Apr. 9 The reluctance to unambiguously embrace the Holy Land already accompanied much of the odyssey from Egypt to Canaan,..in the spies' pessimistic report about the land's pregnability.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	pregnable
释义	pregnableadj. Brit. /ˈprɛɡnəbl/, U.S. /ˈprɛɡnəb(ə)l/ Forms: late Middle English pregnabull, late Middle English–1500s preignable, late Middle English–1600s prenable, 1500s preinable, 1500s prennable, 1500s preygnable, 1500s prignable, 1500s– pregnable, 1600s praegnable. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French prenable. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French prenable that may be taken by force (c1155 in Old French; French prenable ) < the stem of prendre (see prend v.) + -able -able suffix. Compare pernable adj.On the development of forms with -g- see discussion at impregnable adj. and n. In sense 2 by confusion with pregnant adj.² 1. a. Of a fortress or other stronghold: that may be taken by force; vulnerable to attack. Now chiefly in extended use. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [adjective] > not pregnable1387 unfortified1525 expugnable1570 unimmured1615 stormable1645 fenceless1740 vulnerable1790 1387-8 [see unpregnable adj. α. ]. ?c1475 ( in J. Stevenson Lett. & Papers Illustr. Wars Eng. in France (1864) II. 581 Without that the saide chieftains shulde lay any siege or make any assautis, but if the placis were righte prenable. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cclv. 379 They thought well the towne was preignable. 1591 H. Unton Corr. (1847) 66 It is hardlie otherwise prennable. 1632 P. Holland tr. Xenophon Cyrupædia 107 Cyrus..desirous in very deed to see whether the Castle were any where prenable. 1676 R. Boyle Eng. Adventures ii. 53 You thought the Fort pregnable, but finding it was not, you would attack another that was. 1740 Duke of Richmond Let. 19 Sept. (1984) 44 Their design is to attack Gibralter,..for by sea it is certainly very pregnable. 1845 G. Petrie Round Towers Ireland 371 The door alone could be pregnable. 1880 Harper's Mag. Mar. 615/1 Its pregnable approaches are the portals of entrance and exit for the tube. 1942 E. Paul Narrow Street xxv. 224 I didn't think the bedbugs could get into my suitcase or typewriter.., but the duffle bag was pregnable. 1988 Times 12 Sept. 13/1 An Englishman's home is a structure pregnable by all sorts of officials. b. figurative. Open to attack, vulnerable, assailable; accessible. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [adjective] > exposed to danger > vulnerable openeOE subjectc1384 pregnablec1475 opportunea1500 casuala1535 wide open?1544 obnoxious1572 assailable1589 liable1593 abnoxious1611 woundable1611 obnoxious1612 speeding1612 infectible1634 sufferable1651 attackable1656 vulnerable1678 prejudicial1682 threatenable1841 doable1849 infectable1860 c1475 (?a1440) B. Burgh Distichs of Cato (Rawl. C.48) 1080 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1906) 116 31 Fortune is vnstable. Aftir pouerte richesse is preignable. 1640 A. Hart Alexto & Angelica 126 Be not implacable for of none but thee one Is he now pregnable. 1783 H. Cowley Bold Stroke for Husband i. ii. 7 That humour.., like the works of Gibraltar, no Spaniard can find pregnable. 1837 Sir J. Paget in Mem. v. 100 A hard-headed English infidel, pregnable to neither religion nor common-sense. 1881 Appletons' Jrnl. May 430/1 He..cast his eye along the peopled sidewalk in search of some pregnable point from which the information might be gained. 1902 Daily Chron. 26 Apr. 3/1 He attacks Arnold's very pregnable idea that Christianity is only Stoicism ‘touched with emotion’. 1973 R. Stout Please pass Guilt xix. 147 I know the present state of Kenneth Meer's mind... I think he's pregnable. 2000 Arkansas Democrat-Gaz. (Nexis) 31 Dec. j2 They know how tongues lie and how words misdirect and that souls, if they exist, are pregnable and subject to corruption. †2. = pregnant adj.² Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > [adjective] > strong, convincing strongc1405 substantial1419 pregnant?a1475 pregnablea1500 vehement1530 pungent1619 stringent1653 the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > process of reasoning, ratiocination > argument, source of conviction > [adjective] > strong, valid, convincing justa1413 pregnanta1425 well-disposedc1449 pregnablea1500 legitime1532 concludent1571 potent1609 solid1615 concluding1620 valida1648 valuable1647 conclusive1649 cogent1659 legitimate1774 well-taken1789 a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 84 (MED) He shewed also by His prophetis thingis that war to com, ordeined the lawe..peynted with right troublouse colours and pregnabull [v.r. pregnaunte; Fr. enceintes] wourdes, for to restreyn þe grette offenses. 1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 115 Leauing those breefe and pregnable Narrations of Bellonius & Scaliger. a1660 in J. T. Gilbert Contemp. Hist. Ireland (1880) II. 41 These solide and pregnable reasons. Derivatives pregnaˈbility n. the quality of being pregnable; vulnerability. ΚΠ 1776 Lady A. Miller Lett. from Italy I. 116 M—— has been there, and has seen every thing above ground and below; if you should be curious in regard to its pregnability or impregnability, &c. you must apply to him for information. 1838 S. Bellamy Betrayal 107 There's not a flaw In frailty coupled with defect more near Than this man's strength to pregnability. 1914 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 12 Apr. He knew..the pregnability of the safe in which his master placed so great confidence. 1998 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 10 Apr. 9 The reluctance to unambiguously embrace the Holy Land already accompanied much of the odyssey from Egypt to Canaan,..in the spies' pessimistic report about the land's pregnability. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.1387
随便看	speak through the nose speak to speak to the wind speak together speak unto speak up speak upon speak villainy of speak volumes speak with speak with a full throat speak with a tongue speak with a tongue tongues speak with the least speak within door speak within limits speak worlds speak, think, etc ill speak-a-word room speak-back speak-box speak-house speak-out speak-room speak-truth