samplen.
/ˈsɑːmpl/, /ˈsampl/, U.S. /ˈsæmp(ə)l/ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > [noun] > evidence given, testimony > piece of
tokenOE
witnessa1325
samplec1380
argumentc1384
weda1400
reporta1425
testimonial1495
notea1555
testimony1597
vouchera1616
attestate1630
manifesto1644
deposition1648
vouchee1657
testatur1702
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > [noun] > exemplifying some rule, activity, quality, etc. > serving to confirm or illustrate
samplec1380
experimenta1530
experimental1664
test1773
exampling1881
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. I. 142 And efte Crist telliþ a kyndely saumple.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10351 Yitt samuel..And sampson als,..Bath þam bar tua wimmen geld... þou trou þir samples witerli, For þou sal haf a child in hi.
a1400–50 Alexander 5306 Þar in perchement depayntid his persons scho schedwid. Said ‘se þi-selfe a sampill þat I þe sothe neuyn!’
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 499 As mathew melez in your messe, In sothful gospel of god al-myȝt In sample he can ful grayþely gesse.
14.. Tundale's Vis. (Wagner) 6 Of suche a sampull y wyll ȝou telle, That he, þat wyll hit well unþerstande, In herte he may be full dredande.
c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 230 A sample we mow se al day, That God sent amonges us alle.
1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes ii, in Wks. 202/2 Thys wer not like ye sufferance of an vnconsecrate host, wherof ye putte the saumple.
a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 48/1 And as simple as that saumple is, yet is there lesse reason in our case, then in that.
2.
a. A relatively small quantity of material, or an individual object, from which the quality of the mass, group, species, etc. which it represents may be inferred; a specimen. Now chiefly Commerce, a small quantity of some commodity, presented or shown to customers as a specimen of the goods offered for sale. (An individual article offered as a specimen of goods sold by number and not by weight or measure is now more commonly called a pattern.)The commercial use is now apprehended as the primary one, the wider application being felt as transferred.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > [noun] > typical or representative case > part as representative of the whole > sample or specimen
taste1390
muster1400
sample1428
scantillon1465
say1525
casta1556
assay1581
show1582
shave1604
trial1612
essay1614
pattern1648
trial-piece1663
dasha1672
swatch1697
spice1790
sampler1823
1428 Surtees Misc. (1888) 6 Of ye whilk plaster and lyme a sample ys redy in ye chambre to shew.
1561 Aberdeen Reg. (1844) I. 335 Nor na skaiffry, sic as sampill and scheit schakin, to be tane thairof [sc. of malt and meal].
1573–4 in P. Cunningham Extracts Accts. Revels at Court (Shaks. Soc.) 60 For making of vj patternes, and for cutting therof for samples for the gownes of Cloth of golde, iij s.
a1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis (1658) 33 In one of these [galleries] wee place Patternes and Samples of all manner of the more Rare and Excellent Inuentions.
1699 Poor Man's Plea against Price of Corn 20 Ye might let People buy by Samples, or at Barn-doors.
1703 London Gaz. No. 3963/3 The Cargo of the Ship No. 7,..consisting of..White Wines, Sweets and Brandy; Samples of which may be seen at the said Hall.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Sample, some part of a Commodity, given as a Pattern, to shew the Quality or Condition of it.
1713 J. Addison in Guardian 6 July 1/1 The Hands and Face were the only Samples they gave of their beautiful Persons.
1727 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman II. ii. Introd. 43 The Farmer..rubs out only a few handfulls of it [sc. wheat] with his hand, and puts it into a little money bag, and with this sample, as 'tis call'd, in his pocket, away he goes to Market.
1775 J. Bryant New Syst. (ed. 2) II. p. vi From those curious samples of Egyptian Sculpture at the British Museum.
1831 J. Sinclair Corr. II. 394 I was induced to apply to his Sicilian Majesty..for samples of the seed.
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. (at cited word) When goods are sold by sample, there is an implied warrandice that the bulk is of equal quality with the sample.
1896 Daily News 9 Nov. 3/5 The Bench were of opinion that samples were goods.
b. of immaterial things.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > [noun] > typical or representative case > part as representative of the whole > sample or specimen > specifically of immaterial things
sample1707
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 89 He..is oftentimes shewing you a Sample of his Ingenuity.
a1790 B. Franklin Autobiogr. (1981) iii. 125 It was by a private Person..giving a Sample of the Utility of Lamps.
1821 C. Lamb in London Mag. Apr. 386/1 Once only..I witnessed a sample of the old Foxian orgasm.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 526 Of the general character of those outlaws an estimate may be formed from a few samples.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xlviii. 235 Illinois furnishes so good a sample of that [township] system in its newer form that I cannot do better than extract, from a..trustworthy writer, the following account.
c. A specimen taken for scientific testing or analysis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical tests > [noun] > sample
sample1877
1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography xvi. 261 During these surveys, numerous samples of the sea-bottom were secured.
1882 Nature 27 July 297/1 The collection of samples of air for analysis.
1895 J. C. Guernsey Urinalysis including Blanks 11 If a sample of urine cannot be analyzed immediately upon its receipt, add ten to fifteen grains of salicylic acid.
1938 G. E. F. Lundell & J. I. Hoffman Outl. Methods Chem. Analysis iii. 21 In a chemical analysis, the first consideration is the use of a sample that truly represents the material under test.
1950 R. R. Race & R. Sanger Blood Groups in Man i. 3 The reactions when different cell samples are tested against parallel titrations of the same antisera.
1973 J. G. Dick Analyt. Chem. ii. 32 Samples of impure acidic substances were analyzed by a neutralization method.
d. Statistics. A portion drawn from a population, the study of which is intended to lead to statistical estimates of the attributes of the whole population.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > sample
sample1903
probability sample1947
quota sample1948
1903 Biometrika 2 273 If the whole of a population were taken we should have certain values for its statistical constants, but in actual practice we are only able to take a sample.
1922 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 222 329 It is unfortunate that in this memoir no sufficient distinction is drawn between the population and the sample.
1944 H. G. Wells '42 to '44 42 He would get answers to his questions from Samples of his Consumers.
1951 W. J. Dixon & F. J. Massey Introd. Statistical Anal. xvi. 238 It is probably not advisable to use the midrange for samples of more than five observations since its efficiency drops below that of the median beyond this point.
1961 Listener 9 Nov. 780/2 There is the social survey of, say, the Young and Wilmott kind, with its planned interviews of samples.
1979 Church Times 9 Mar. 2/2 A nationally representative sample of 956 people was interviewed for the survey.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > [noun] > a pattern or model of conduct > specifically a person's conduct
samplea1400
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > prototype > [noun] > model, pattern, or example > action or conduct serving as
examplea1382
exemplara1393
samplea1400
exemplarya1425
moulda1547
modelling1959
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > model of excellence
pattern1324
module1608
samplea1616
meritress1617
paragon1689
fore-mark1863
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > [noun] > a pattern or model of conduct > specifically a person
progenitor1577
samplea1616
role model1947
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 409 Hymself þan gaf us sample þare.
c1400 Rule St. Benet (Prose) 22 O þis maner sal þabbesse foliȝe þe saumpyl of Iesu.
1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. Pref. sig. b iijv Since what he could doo, they could not resiste, and what he should do, they had set hym a sample.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. July 119 And nowe they bene to heauen forewent, Theyr good is with them goe: Theyr sample onely to vs lent, That als we mought doe soe.
1594 R. Carew tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne v. 205 For if his errour such pardon accrew, More by his sample will be couraged.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. i. 48 [He] Liu'd in Court (Which rare it is to do) most prais'd, most lou'd, A sample to the yongest. View more context for this quotation
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > [noun] > a pattern or model of conduct > a precedent
precedent1427
precedence1484
example1509
preparative1515
samplea1535
pattern1594
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) ii. xvi. sig. K.ii Therefore is his case both playne against gods open precept, and the dispensacion straunge, and without sample.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > demotivation > [noun] > deterring > a deterrent example
mirrora1350
ensamplea1400
samplea1400
warning1613
caution1878
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 20889 Bath ananias and his wife, For suike he dampaid [Fairf., Gött., Trin. Cambr. dampned] tam o life, þat all suld tak þaim sample bi For to naman do tricheri.
c1420 Brut 196 In sample þat þe Scottes shulde haue in mynde forto bere ham amys aȝeynz her lorde eftesones.
c1480 (a1400) St. Peter 595 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 24 Þar-for, in sampill of ewill dede to wekit dede I sall ȝow lede.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xii. l. 834 Nane sampill takis how ane othir has beyn For cowatice put in gret paynys fell.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vi. l. 403 On the sall fall the fyrst part off thir harmys, Sampill to geyff till all thi fals nacioune.
Compounds
C1. appositive, quasi-adj., serving as a sample.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > [adjective] > serving as a sample
sample1820
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions I. 458 If the ‘sample blade’, that is, the largest lamina in the series, weigh 7 pounds, the whole produce may be estimated at a ton.
1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. v. 42 Why did you leave that..sample-bottle of Hollands out of the cupboard?
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 263 It is just possible that the sample ores you see in London, or some other city, have come from any mine except the one projected, or offered to your consideration.
1863 Reader 12 Dec. 688 By culling a few sample-extracts.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. ii. 16 Miss Abbey filed her receipts and kept her sample phials.
1895 W. Schlich Man. Forestry III. i. iv. 66 Having ascertained the volume of the sample plot, that of the whole wood can be calculated.
1970 G. A. Theodorson & A. G. Theodorson Mod. Dict. Sociol. 361 The extent to which generalizations based on sample data may be considered applicable to the total population from which the sample was drawn depends on the method used to select the cases included in the sample and the size of the sample.
1978 C. H. Stoddard Essent. Forestry Pract. (ed. 3) vi. 119 Timber estimators also measure and tally the trees in the strips or sample plots.
1978 R. V. Jones Most Secret War xix. 156 Maita had stayed in Salisbury because she was nervous about London, but she wanted to come for a sample weekend, and when would I recommend?
C2. General attributive, as sample investigation, sample method, sample study, sample survey (hence sample-survey vb. trans.).
ΚΠ
1930 Economist 1 Nov. 801/2 Even so, his impressions are inevitably based on ‘sample’ investigations and must be read with these limitations in mind.
1944 H. G. Wells '42 to '44 43 The sample method of dealing with human affairs is exemplified by various uses to which we can put a jury.
1965 M. Hilton tr. J. Meuvret in D. V. Glass & D. E. C. Eversley Population in Hist. xxi. 516 Other sample-studies in parish registers..have revealed analogous results.
1966 Economist 12 Nov. 682/3 The development of economic knowledge sample-surveyed in these articles has been matched by a growing use of economists in business and government.
1975 Listener 6 Feb. 187/3 The study of human behaviour by..sample surveys.
C3. Used attributively to denote various statistical attributes of a sample, as sample average, sample mean, sample range, etc.
ΚΠ
1939 A. E. Treloar Elements Statist. Reasoning x. 137 The standard error of the sample mean.
1941 Ann. Math. Statistics 12 91 (heading) Determination of sample sizes for setting tolerance limits.
1947 O. L. Davies Statistical Methods Res. & Production ix. 217 One [chart] on which the sample averages x̄ are recorded and the other on which sample ranges w are recorded.
1971 Hickman & Hilton Probability & Statistical Analysis ix. 153 The sample variance..is said to be a point estimator of the population variance in the same sense that the sample mean..is a point estimator of the population mean.
C4. Special combinations:
sample-bag n. a bag containing the samples carried by a commercial traveller; also, a small holland bag tied up with an attached tape, used by merchants and farmers to carry samples of corn, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > bag > [noun] > for carrying samples
sample-bag1884
1884 Manch. Guard. 26 Sept. 5/1 He..deposited his sample-bag in the dining-room.
sample book n. a book containing samples of fabrics for prospective buyers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > [noun] > typical or representative case > part as representative of the whole > sample or specimen > a collection of samples
pin paper1673
pattern book1772
pattern card1822
specimen-book1871
sample book1938
swatch-book1956
1938 Burlington Mag. Apr. 200/2 The distinguished firm of weavers, whose sample-books of 100 years and more ago are still in existence.
1976 P. Clabburn Needleworker's Dict. 232/1 Old sample books still in existence are of the greatest value in telling later generations what was in fashion at a particular date.
sample bottle n. a bottle in which samples of fluid from the body may be collected.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > other medical equipment > [noun] > vessels > receiving vessels
hornc1000
urinalc1300
urinal-glass1651
receiver1767
urine-glass1880
Vacutainer1946
sick-bag1962
vomit bag1975
sample bottle1977
1977 Belfast Tel. 22 Feb. 8/6 Doctors' hands.., little sample bottles, having your arm draped in black as your blood pressure is taken.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
sample card n. a piece of cardboard to which is fastened a sample of cloth, etc.; = pattern card n.
sample case n. a case containing samples carried by a travelling salesman.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > commercial traveller > case carried by
sample case1875
society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > luggage > travelling bag > hand-held
mailc1275
clothesack1393
cloak-bagc1540
portmanteau1553
valance?a1562
pockmanty1575
cap-case1577
cloak-bearer1580
night baga1618
valisea1630
toilet1656
Roger1665
shirt case1823
weekend case1827
carpet-bag1830
holdall1851
handbag1859
suitcase1873
sample case1875
gripsack1877
case1879
grip1879
Gladstone (bag)1882
traveller1895
vanity-case1913
luggage1915
revelation1923
two-suiter1923
overnight bag1925
one-suiter1933
suiter1933
overnight case1934
Samsonite1939
flight bag1943
Pullman1946
grip-bag1958
overnighter1959
carry-on1960
Vuitton1975
go bag1991
1875 North Alabamian (Tuscumbia, Alabama) 30 Sept. 3/3 We were not glad to see him, as he had left his sample case at home.
1935 W. R. Collier & E. V. Westrate Reign Soapy Smith i. 2 An open sample case of liberal dimensions..the typical ‘keister’ of the street hawker.
1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at Office 123 A salesman rapping his knuckles on his sample case in a waiting room.
sample cutter n. (see quot. a1884).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > equipment for cutting > shears or clippers
sample cuttera1884
thread clips1958
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 778/2 Sample cutter, a species of rotary shears. A sharp edged disk on a table rolling against an edge and cutting narrow strips of cloth from the roll, to form tailor's or traveler's samples.
sample hand n. an operative employed in producing ‘sample’ goods.
ΚΠ
1902 Daily Chron. 29 Apr. 10/3 Experienced sample hands for children's costumes, pelisses, &c.
sample passer n. one whose business it is to select the articles that are to serve as samples.
ΚΠ
1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Sample Passer, a proficient smelter who chemically tests a sample of metal drawn from the furnace when to the eye it seems about the desired quality.
sample room n. (a) a room in which samples are kept for inspection; and (b) U.S. slang, a place where liquor is sold by the glass.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > workshop > [noun] > room where samples are kept
sample room1865
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tap-room or bar
tapstryc1460
ale stand1588
tap1725
bar-room1797
taproom1807
estaminet1814
saloon1841
sample room1865
cantina1892
mahogany1896
beverage room1936
spit and sawdust1937
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > rooms at front of shop > other rooms in shop
sample room1865
fitting-room1909
1865 G. A. Sala My Diary in Amer. II. 46 Sometimes the bar is at the side, screened off, and genteelly disguised under the name of ‘sample room’. You enter ostensibly to purchase cherries, and immediately ‘put yourself outside’ a ‘tot’ of Bourbon.
1869 W. H. Brewer Rocky Mt. Lett. (1930) 10 ‘Saloons’, ‘bar-rooms’, ‘sample-rooms’, ‘liquor stores’, ‘lager beer’, etc., furnish most of the signs on the places of business.
1874 T. B. Aldrich Prudence Palfrey xv. 297 Colonel Todhunter..had been refreshing himself at the sample-room attached to Odiorne's grocery.
1887 Grip (Toronto) 21 May 10/2 One of the drug travellers insisted..that the clerk..had, in the north sample room, first nicknamed Albendis ‘Chippy’.
1892 Hist. Rev. York County (Pa.) 62/1 To the side is the reading and sample-rooms for the commercial traveler.
1895 Daily News 5 Dec. 5/1 Commercial institutions, of which inquiry offices, museums, and sample rooms..should form a leading feature.
sample-trier n. = sample passer n.
ΚΠ
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis iv. i. 217 In the knowledge of which the sample-triers or Tin-dressers are very expert.
1814 W. Phillips in Trans. Geol. Soc. II. 143 When a pound or two of the ore is given to the sample-trier, as a fair sample of 50 or 100 tons.
Draft additions May 2001
a. Electronics and Sound Recording. Any of the numerous momentary values in the amplitude of an analogue signal that are obtained when it is sampled for conversion to a digital form.
ΚΠ
1970 Computers & Biomed. Res. 3 47 The device..[provides] accurate time alignment to within plus or minus one sample for analog-to-digital conversion rates in excess of 500 samples per second.
1975 H. S. Howe Electronic Music Synthesis vii. 162 The number of samples in which we choose to represent one second of sound is called the sampling rate.
1984 Woodwind Brass & Percussion Mar. 24/3 The composer can perform modifications of recorded or mathematically generated sounds simply by sending the sound samples through various digital signal processing programs, very much the way that electrical signals can be sent through an amplifier to a speaker.
1985 G. Herman Micro-music for Commodore 64 & BBC Computer i. 15 If enough samples are taken quickly enough, the original signal can be reconstituted by outputting the data..to..a digital to analogue converter.
1992 CU Amiga Apr. 49/4 What separates this from the rest of the crowd is that it can sample at 100,000 samples per second.
b. Music. An excerpt of recorded sound or music reused or modified as part of a new recording or performance; a sound excerpt stored in digital form for this purpose.
ΚΠ
1985 Listener 24 Oct. 43/4 But why bother with the live bass-guitar at all? Why not simply use a sample that was made for a previous track, or even sample the bass guitar sound from another record?
1989 Rhythm Apr. 30/3 The first had to do with the realism of drum samples—how much does a sample sound like ‘the real thing’?
1991 Rage 13 Feb. 45 When the then unknown group from Canada released ‘Wash Your Face In My Sink’, all hell broke loose over their sample of a salsa flute.
1998 Mixmag Sept. 107/4 There's flashes of inspiration among the dirty drum loops and Lalo Schiffrin samples.
Draft additions September 2006
sample market n. now historical a market at which only samples of the goods for sale are available; cf. pitched adj.2 7.
ΚΠ
1757 Compend. Corn Trade 11 This could not be properly deemed a Sample Market, any more than if I set up my Load at an Inn.
1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 424 When the whole bulk of the articles to be sold is brought into the market.., the market is called a pitched market; when only a small portion is brought..it is called a sample market.
1917 Manitoba Free Press 15 Aug. ii. 1/2 Reasons for establishing a sample market at Winnipeg and Fort William.
1998 N. Rogers Crowds, Culture & Politics in Georgian Brit. ii. 67 A ‘pitched’ market represented an intermediary stage between the traditional open market and the full sample market.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
samplev.
/ˈsɑːmpl/, /ˈsampl/, U.S. /ˈsæmp(ə)l/ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > comparison > compare [verb (transitive)] > in competition
match1581
sample1592
second1600
1592 Ld. Vaux in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. IV. 109 Throwgh uneath to be sampled infortunacy I may neither dispose of my owne to my requisite reliefe [etc.].
1597 Bp. J. King Serm. Queenes Day, 1595 in Lect. Ionas 700 Whensoever afterwards, there was taken vp any great lamentation, it was sampled and matched with that of Hadadrimmon.
1619 W. Sclater Expos. 1 Thess. 173 Who can sample, amongst Heretiques, that [patience] of Laurence on the Gridyron?
1630 T. Dekker Second Pt. Honest Whore iii. iii. 91 If Cambricke you wud deale in, there's the best, All Millan cannot sample it.
1630 H. Lord Display Two Forraigne Sects 9 Modest were her Aspect, and her eyes Indices of so melancholly sobernesse, and composed lookes, as if she seemed to be sampled for him that met her.
1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse v. i. 3 in Wks. II She would ha' had you, to ha' sampled you With one within, that they are now a teaching; And do's pretend to your ranck.
a1638 J. Mede Wks. (1672) iii. 635 This notion [is] nowhere else sampled in any Greek Author.
1640 W. Prynne Lord Bishops ii. sig. Biij Which Prelacie he samples and parallells with the..Lordship, which Heathen Princes exercise over their people.
1689 E. Hickeringill Ceremony-monger v. 57 A Lean and Cadaverous Clergy, the whole Protestant World cannot sample such a jejune Crew.
a. To set an example to. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > prototype > [verb (transitive)] > set an example to
ensamplec1380
exemplifyc1425
pattern1594
sample1600
type1836
model1961
1600 S. Nicholson Acolastus his After-witte sig. A4 The morne, who sampling men their sinnes to rue, Hath washt earths motley face in weeping dewe.
b. To set an example of. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > prototype > [verb (transitive)] > set an example of
setc1175
exemplifya1450
sample1606
paradigmatize1646
1606 W. Warner Continuance Albions Eng. xvi. ciii. 406 We Church-men should to Lay-men sample good.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > find or furnish an instance or example of [verb (transitive)] > illustrate or show by instances or examples
bisaumple?c1225
exemplate1602
instance1608
illustrate1612
sample1613
exemplarize1641
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > expound, explain [verb (transitive)] > with examples
sympathize1600
illustrate1612
sample1613
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 599 Ortelius..supposeth..that Vmbilicus was accounted the Deitie it selfe..which shapelesse shape hee sampleth by many like in other Nations.
1631 Earl of Manchester Contemplatio Mortis 115 Therefore this wee may doe, some way sample that which wee can no way expresse.
1664 H. More Expos. 7 Epist. Pref. (1669) (a 3) Mr. Mede..seems to insinuate that they should Prophetically sample unto us a sevenfold successive Temper and Condition of the whole visible Church.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > imitate [verb (transitive)]
evenlecheOE
resemble?c1400
imitate1534
sequest1567
succeed1577
act1599
pattern1601
similize1606
like1613
echoa1616
sample1616
ape1634
transcribe1646
copy1648
copy1649
mime1728
borrowa1847
to make likea1881
replicate1915
1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. iii. 71 Walla by chance was in a meadow by Learning to 'sample earths embrodery.
1626 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. VIII. O.T. xx. 162 A modell of this more exquisite frame is sent to Vrijah, the Priest; and must be sampled in Ierusalem.
1675 V. Alsop Anti-Sozzo 530 Is it not a strange Copy that differs in kind from its Idea?.. As if you should propound a House for your patern, and draw a Horse to sample it.
5.
a. To take a sample or samples of; to judge of the quality of (a thing) by a sample or specimen; to obtain a representative experience of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > make experiment of or with [verb (transitive)] > by taking a sample of
sample1767
the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > try or test [verb (transitive)] > test by sampling
sample1858
1767 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy IX. xxi. 77 She..looks at it—considers it—samples it—measures it.
1858 T. Hughes Scouring of White Horse 196 I won't turn my back..on any man in the country at sampling wheat.
1883 V. D. Majendie in Fortn. Rev. May 647 Every cargo is sampled by the Customs on its arrival and chemically examined.
1890 N. Hibbs in Big Game N. Amer. 22 The Moose has a hump on his nose,..it excels any other meat dish I have ever had the pleasure of sampling.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 354 Some one who has personally sampled Africa.
1974 P. K. Harvey & K. J. Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. v. 119 The composite audio signal voltage is sampled at the midpoints by a train of short pulses and the sampled voltage level is held between pulses.
1978 Nature 13 July 135/2 A synchronous gating circuit..samples the V2 signal at a selectable phase (‘phase lock’), converting it to a proportional d.c. voltage.
b. To present samples or specimens of. Also, to serve as a sample of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > be instanced or exemplified [verb (intransitive)] > give an instance or example
exemplify?a1439
to give or make instance1592
example1616
sample1871
to give (one) a for instance1959
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > find or furnish an instance or example of [verb (transitive)] > present or collect specimens of
specimenize1832
sample1871
1871 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 281 Chaucer never shows any signs of effort, and it is a main proof of his excellence that he can be so inadequately sampled by detached passages.
1880 Daily Tel. 8 July The fifty thousand men who would have sampled the drill, discipline, and patriotism of a hundred and fifty thousand more.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 16 Nov. 3/2 English editors of Irish chronicles and histories often make grave blunders, some of which he samples.
1894 J. Geikie Great Ice Age (ed. 3) xxxvi. 607 The literature of the subject has grown to such an extent, indeed, that it is hopeless..to do more than sample it.
6. To provide with samples.
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the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > find or furnish an instance or example of [verb (transitive)] > provide with samples
sample1935
1935 A. P. Herbert What a Word! iii. 83 From a firm of ‘Publishers and Educational Contractors for Handicraft Materials’:..‘We shall welcome the opportunity of sampling you with anything you would like to see.’ ‘We are sampling Norway with the new articles.’
1946 K. T. Keller in Chrysler Corp. Ann. Rep. XXI The limited production to date of our new models has been inadequate to properly sample our dealers.
7. sample-and-hold adj. Electronics applied to a circuit or technique in which a varying voltage is sampled periodically and the sampled voltage is retained in the interval until the next sampling.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > [adjective] > voltage-sampling technique
sample-and-hold1966
1966 M. Schwartz et al. Communication Syst. & Techniques vi. 244 One difficulty in PAM systems used for time-division switching is that the short samples do not deliver very much average signal power to the individual receiving channels. The difficulty can be remedied by the use of a sample-and-hold circuit.
1974 P. K. Harvey & K. J. Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. v. 119 Using this sample-and-hold technique, good channel separation, low distortion and low subcarrier breakthrough may be realized.
1979 C.-T. Chen One-dimensional Digital Signal Processing 435 The conversions between analog and digital signals are performed by sample-and-hold (S/H) circuits, analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, and digital-to-analog (D/A) converters.
Draft additions May 2001
transitive.
a. Electronics. To ascertain the momentary value of (an analogue signal) many times a second so that these values may be represented digitally (effectively converting the original analogue signal to a digital one).
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1968 Alta Frequenza 37 1038/1 An ‘analogue to digital converter’ is described, suitable for statistical analysis of random phenomena. Waveforms to be examined are sampled at regular intervals and the observed values are analogue-digital converted and recorded on a compatible magnetic tape.
1975 H. S. Howe Electronic Music Synthesis vii. 160 Sampling a sound is achieved by taking the instantaneous amplitude of the sound-pressure waveform at successive and equally spaced intervals of time.
1990 Compact Disc 7 Aug. 110/1 The 44.1-k hz signal from the CD is sampled at some multiple of that frequency (usually two, four, or eight times).
1999 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Aug. t1/3 They're now claiming to have improved audio CDs... One of these new systems samples music a bajillion times a second at eight bits, and the other umpty-two bajillion at one bit!
b. Chiefly Sound Recording. To record (sound) digitally for subsequent electronic processing; to store (an excerpt of recorded sound) in digital form, esp. in order to reuse it, often modified, in a subsequent recording or performance. Also: to obtain an excerpt of (a musician, instrument, or piece of music) in this way.
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1984 N.Y. Times 29 Apr. iii. 15/4 Artificial intelligence programs..are being used to sample and duplicate exact sounds through a keyboard.
1988 W. Wadhams Dict. Mus. Production & Engin. 204/1 One might..sample a frog croaking, and later reproduce the croak at any desired pitch through the various keys of a synthesizer.
1989 Record Mirror 16 Dec. 36/1 Jungle Brothers..sampled anything that happened to be around at the time..and came up with the blueprint for Nineties hip hop.
1991 Time 3 June 69/3 Copyright law protects a composer from having his work duplicated by another musician. But what happens if the second party samples only a few seconds of a melody? Or just a fragment of drumbeat?
1995 Muzik July 88/3 People haven't sampled us creatively, though, they've just taken bits and put them on their records.
1999 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) July 90/2 Smith has sampled Stevie Wonder's 1974 hit ‘You Wish’ and given it a kind of rap-Western twist.
Draft additions June 2022
Kenyan English. sample this: (as a sentence adverbial) by way of illustration; as an instance, for example.
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1998 Finance 4 Sample this. Two months after a budget that proposed drastic cut in the government expenditure, nothing tangible.
2017 Daily Nation (Kenya) (Nexis) 2 Sept. The German-Kenyan connection requires that one looks beyond the obvious... Sample this: the Kiswahili word for school, shule, is derived from the German term schule.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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