| 释义 |
sensitiveadj.n. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French sensitif; Latin sensitivus. Etymology: < (i) Middle French, French sensitif (of a soul) that is able to receive sensory impressions (1265 in Old French in ame sensitive ), having the function of sensation or sense perception (1314), of, relating to, or deriving from the senses (1314), having quick or acute sensibilities (1587), and its etymon (ii) post-classical Latin sensitivus that relates to sense or sensation (frequently from 13th cent. in British sources; also in continental sources), capable of sensation, sentient (from 13th cent. in British and continental sources), irregularly < classical Latin sens- , past participial stem of sentīre to feel (see sentient adj.) + -īvus -ive suffix. Compare Catalan sensitiu (14th cent.), Spanish sensitivo (late 13th cent.), Portuguese sensitivo (15th cent.), Italian sensitivo (a1311).Specific senses. In sense B. 5 after French sensitive, feminine noun (1665). In sense B. 6b after German Sensitiver (1845 or earlier in this sense), specific use as noun of masculine of sensitiv ; compare the corresponding earlier use as adjective (see sense A. 4e). Quot. 1846 is from a discussion of the research of Baron von Reichenbach, the author of quot. 1850. Specific forms. With β. forms, compare post-classical Latin sensativus related to sense, sensuous (13th cent. in a British source), perceptible by sense or capable of sensation (1552 in a British source; probably < sensatus sensate adj. + classical Latin -īvus -ive suffix). A. adj. 1. the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > [adjective] > having function of sensation ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (Hunterian) f. 48 (MED) Þei ben cleped timporales and þei ben wunder nobel and sensitiue [?a1425 N. Y. Acad. Med. censitiue, ?c1425 Paris felynge; L. sensitiui], þe whiche ȝif þeie be hurte it is wunder perillous. c1449 R. Pecock (1860) 74 Tho same treuthis whiche outward sensityue wittis knowen. c1450 (?a1400) (Ashm.) l. 4381 Þe faire floryscht filds of floures & of herbys, Quare-of þe breth as of bawme blawis in oure noose, Þat ilk sensitife saule mast souorly delyte. ?1541 R. Copland ii. sig. E.ij Howe many cowples of sensityfe synewes come fro the brayne, and fro whiche parte? 1594 H. Plat Diuerse Sorts of Soyle 16 in Salt is no enemie, either to the vegetatiue, or sensatiue natures. 1620 T. Granger 109 Seeing, hearing, &c. are acts of the sensitiue powers. 1656 W. Lucy v. 84 Yet there remains in the sensative memory, that image, which represented the object at the first. 1733 A. Pope (rev. ed.) i. (contents) To possess any of the Sensitive Faculties in a higher degree, would render him miserable. 1777 J. Reynolds 22 All arts have means within them of applying themselves with success both to the intellectual and sensitive part of our natures. 1846–7 III. 720 h/2 These are called sensitive nerves or nerves of common sensation. a1881 A. Barratt (1883) 22 We may reasonably infer that of which we might be sensible..by a hypothetical extension of our sensitive powers. 1936 45 257 Our sensations and intuitions are effects produced in our sensitive faculty by singular objects in the external world. 1995 25 32/1 The evolution of sensitive capacities in animals marks a major advance in the quality of freedom in the life-world. the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > [adjective] > of or relating to physical sensation 1502 tr. (de Worde) v. iii. sig. oo.ii Ye glorye of paradyse is more grete good than the tormentes of payne sensytyue [Fr. peine sensitiue] before sayd ben grete yll. c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Proheme Cosmogr. in sig. Avj He that nold aganis his lustis striue, But leiffis as beist of knawlege sensitiue, Eildis richt fast. 1615 H. Crooke 266 The life of an vnreasonable creature which we call the Sensatiue life. 1655 R. Capel iv. i. 11 Our sensitive love which follows the lower, and organical faculties of the soul. 1690 J. Locke iv. iii. 269 Sensitive Knowledge reaching no farther than the Existence of Things actually present to our Senses, is yet much narrower than either of the former. a1708 W. Beveridge (1709) 195 By my loving God, I do not understand that Sensitive Affection I place upon Material Objects. 1769 tr. G. B. de Mably v. 187 It is by the sensative passions that we are debased to the condition of brutes. 1877 E. Caird i. 174 Our sensitive perception of objects. 1889 W. L. Courtney vii. 129 Beliefs..gathered out of the sensitive experience of his forefathers. 1934 49 84 Sins are present in man..due to the fact that he follows the inclination of his sensitive appetite against the order of his reason. 1993 46 60 Sensitive love is the carnal voluptas common to humans and beasts. the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > ability to be perceived by senses > [adjective] the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [adjective] > cognizable by the senses or phenomenal 1577 sig. D.iij The Imaginatiue vertue..receyueth of the common Wittes the fourme or shape of sensitiue thinges. 1615 T. Jackson 25 One liuing creature excelleth another in apprehension of proper sensitiue obiects. 1686 J. Scott II. vii. 549 Hence it is that he so greedily prefers carnal before rational, and sensitive before spiritual goods. a1747 T. Chubb (1748) I. 319 A rational mind..cannot take cognizance of material and sensitive objects. 1867 C. S. Peirce (1984) II. 116 An intellectual concept..is not abstracted from sensitive objects. 1930 M. C. D’Arcy viii. 203 The sensitive object affects the sense by its quality so as to impress itself upon it like the form of the seal impressed on the wax. 2001 M. Grier iii. 69 Sensitive objects..are confused with intellectual objects. the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > [adjective] > without reason a1500 f. 126 (MED) Vertues of his [perhaps read herbs] vegitif And sowles of bestes sensitif..All brynge home to thyne house This noble stone preciouse. 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria ii. ix. f. 82 Wee wyll nowe therefore entreate of thynges sencitiue [L. sensitiua]. 1584 R. Scot v. iv. 98 Our bodies are visible, sensitiue, and passiue. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny I. xii. Pref. 356 The natures as well in generall, as particularly in parts, of all living and sensitive creatures within the compasse of our knowledge. 1624 T. Heywood i. 3 Hesiod hath left to memorie, that there are no lesse than thirtie thousand gods within the compasse of the world, and euery one haue seuerall predominance ouer men, beasts, fish, foules, and all other creatures vegetatiue and sensatiue. 1674 W. Bates viii. 152 Resemblance is the common Principle of Union in Nature: Social Plants thrive best when near together: Sensitive Creatures associate with those of their kind. 1726 J. Swift II. iv. ii. 25 As to those filthy Yahoos..I confess I never saw any sensitive Being so detestable on all accounts. 1766 T. Pennant Pref. p. iii Our fish..our insects, and the various other sensitive productions of this kingdom. 1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre (1799) II. 381 It is only for beings vegetative and sensitive that Nature has created the fossil kingdom. 1828 D. Stewart I. ii. i. 145 Self-love..is inseparable from our nature as rational and sensitive beings. 1895 5 385 It could only be for sensitive creatures without reason..that pleasure divorced from reason could be the ‘end’. 1922 19 158 The so-called sensous qualities exist also in the objects, but only in their relations to the sensitive organisms whose environments they form. 2010 Apr. 229 Rats are sensitive creatures with particularly acute hearing and sense of smell. 3. the world > plants > by nutrition or respiration > [adjective] > sensitive to stimuli 1633 T. Johnson (new ed.) App. 1599 This which I here call the sensitiue herbe is..Herba mimosa, or the Mocking herbe. 1658 J. Jones in tr. Ovid Comm. 45 Thus the sensitive tree, if ye touch one leaf the whole tree will quake. 1666 J. Davies tr. C. de Rochefort 64 A Sensitive-shrub [Fr. un Arbrisseau sensitif] valued at a very great rate. 1690 D. Burgess 3 The Plant called the sensitive one, hath no more sense then the lowest Vegetable, but has a little faint resemblance of it! ?1710 tr. F. Cauche 76 Those who have travell'd over the Isthmus of America..say there are whole Woods of Sensitive Trees, as soon as any of which are touch'd, the Branches and Leaves rise upwards, with a great noise, forming the Figure of a Globe. 1753 Suppl. (at cited word) The common sensitive shrub. 1797 M. Robinson IV. lxxxiv. 187 My heart shudders, and my brain shrinks like the sensitive herb! 1822 W. Prince (ed. 21) 36 Sensitive tree, with beautiful foliage, 50 cts. Acacia julibrissin. 1827 J. L. Williams 49 Sensitive Shrub. Mimosa eburnea—the first plant which grows on the sea sand; excellent for hedges, and ornament. 1833 H. Bourne 164 (heading) Mimosa. Sensitive Plant, Humble Plant, Living Plant, Herbe Vive, Sensitive Herb, Mimosa Sensitiva. 1918 27 413 Nobody who has ever walked through a field of the creeping sensitive Mimosa Natans, so common in the Godävari Delta, will ever forget the uncanny sight of the rippling sea of leaves, folding up two or three yards in advance of his footsteps. 1919 F. O'Brien xviii. 193 It is a sensitive shrub, retreating at man's approach, its petioles folding from sight. 1751 J. Hill II. 474 The legume of the Mimosa is articulated, and the leaves are sensitive. 1875 C. Darwin vii. 140 Some tentacles on the same leaf were more sensitive than others. 1880 C. Darwin & F. Darwin 191 A part or organ may be called sensitive, when its irritation excites movement in an adjoining part. 4. the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > [adjective] the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > touchiness > [adjective] 1735 tr. A. Mascardi 13 His slender fortunes clogg'd with debts, a powerful spur to sensitive minds. 1766 T. Hervey 16 I have suffer'd inexpressibly for being too sensitive; yet cou'd never consent, to be entirely divested of my feelings. 1816 W. Scott Old Mortality x, in 1st Ser. IV. 229 That mournful impression,..which the sensitive mind usually receives from a return to the haunts of childhood. 1824 W. Irving I. 72 The scenes of blood which followed shocked his sensitive nature. 1850 G. Grote VII. ii. lx. 451 Citizens full of impressibility—sensitive and demonstrative Greeks. 1878 P. Bayne iv. 103 From her Medicean mother she had an organisation exquisitively sensitive to beauty in painting. 1888 H. S. Holland p. vii Every educated man must be sensitive of the strain laid by miracle upon..scientific..methods of knowledge. 1942 A. Torres-Ríoseco 95 He was..a member of that sensitive, inwardly tortured group, pretending to accept his destiny with a tragic calm. 1985 L. Griffiths 8 Many would say that I was a sensitive youth. 2002 28 Apr. ii. 1/2 The myth goes, artists use drugs or alcohol to free up inspiration and to insulate their sensitive souls from ordinary life. 1791 3 546 It is believed Volney will not prove so sensitive to the criticisms of M. de Ferrieres. 1838 C. Thirlwall V. 215 They were the more sensitive to injuries and encroachments on their rights. 1878 W. E. H. Lecky II. vi. 163 A man of the most stainless and sensitive honour. 1882 W. Ballantine I. xi. 135 He was..sensitive of criticism to a ridiculous extent. 1906 A. G. Leonard ii. i. 52 So extremely touchy and sensitive are these people..that they have no hesitation in taking their own lives..on the spur of the moment. 1975 L. Garfield vii. 63 Henrietta was at a difficult age and sensitive about her appearance. 2009 12 Feb. (Life section) 3/1 I do wonder..why everyone has become..so sensitive and quick to be affronted. 1830 28 880 A wise man, cognoscitive and sensitive of the blessings of this life. 1846 E. A. Poe in Aug. 76/2 He is sensitive, punctilious; speaks well, roundly, fluently, plausibly, and is skilled in pouring oil upon the waters of stormy debate. 1919 (Commonw. Mass.) II. xxvi. 295 The consciousness that the recall is available serves to keep a judge alert to his duties to the public and as sensitive in his concern for the rights of humanity as for those of property. 1957 A. E. Stevenson II. i. 24 We want to be recognized as sensitive to the implications of modern warfare, and that rules out talk of massive retaliation. 2014 30 May 18/1 He is painfully sensitive to others' heartache. 1831 26 Nov. 315/2 There is something at once grand and tender about the expression of the broad, lofty brow and sensitive mouth, which unavoidably reminds us..of a countenance too sacred to be lightly named. 1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud ii, in 11 The least little delicate aquiline curve in a sensitive nose. 1895 23 Feb. 5/3 Buckingham watched the fair, sensitive face with admiring eyes. 1947 14 395 Mr. Gielgud's..sensitive, melancholy profile. a1963 L. MacNeice (1964) iii. 101 Astrologers would label his sensitive good looks as typically Aquarian. 1972 J. Berger i. i. 5 Esther's hands are tapered and sensitive. 2010 Aug. 121/2 We can detect that he's a poetic spirit by his beseeching eyes, cute freckles, and sensitive lower lip. the world > the supernatural > the paranormal > [adjective] > susceptible to 1833 Oct. 274/2 The commissioners also notice the effect of the attouchemens in sensitive patients. 1884 2 63 The hypnotising process may carry a ‘sensitive’ subject in a minute..into hypnotic sleep. 1909 F. Podmore ix. 190 Some action of distant minds on the sensitive clairvoyant. 1967 20 735 Hence his efforts to locate the lost body of a dead woman through..the help of a very sensitive medium. 2005 H. Mantel ii. 35 It was the usual story with a sensitive child... You tell the grown-ups what you see, what you hear, but..they think you're fantasising. 1846 27 June 664/3 It is not a case of select music or sensitive performance. 1892 54 223/1 The genuinely sympathetic and sensitive portrayal of a peculiar physiognomy. 1920 Oct. 32 A most convincing and sensitive painting of East Side children. 1993 3 Mar. 33/4 They..gave exquisitely sensitive counseling to troubled spirits. 2010 18 May 30/4 This is..a sensitive and moving documentary. 5. the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > acuteness of physical senses > [adjective] > having acute sense perception 1760 Mar. 196 Mrs. Nihell's shrewd, supple, sensitive fingers. 1771 E. Ellington 9 The Apple of his Eye, than which no Part of the human Frame is more sensitive and tender. 1808 Nov. 253 A very sensitive skin is not incompatible with a power of enduring even the extreme variations of the seasons. 1859 C. Dickens i. v. 21 Madame Defarge being sensitive to cold, was wrapped in fur. 1914 P. G. Wodehouse White Hope iv, in May 817/2 Many years of living by his wits had developed in Percy highly sensitive powers of observation. 1969 27 Mar. c5/2 Some toddlers are very sensitive to noise. 2003 (Nexis) 11 Sept. 10 I'd like less sensitive teeth. Then I could eat ice-cream and I wouldn't have to drink cold drinks through a straw. the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective] 1828 H. Steuart 452 Oaks and Beeches, the plants of all others the most sensitive of drought! 1845 W. Gregory i. 212 Silver and all its compounds are very sensitive to sulphuretted hydrogen, which blackens them. 1897 M. Kingsley 689 Your life hangs on quinine, and..it is most important to keep the system sensitive to it. 1928 85 208 The cotton plant is sensitive to sudden changes in its environment. 1950 L. E. Hawker viii. 255 The powdery mildews are particularly sensitive to sulphur compounds. 1988 1 Mar. 1811/3 If there is a minority population of resistant bacteria at the initiation of therapy, they will—as a result of the destruction of the sensitive organisms by the antibiotic—soon become the dominant flora. 2003 J. P. H. Linssen et al. in R. Ahvenainen viii. 156 A reduction in the shelf-life of oxygen-sensitive products. 1897 14 Aug. 303/2 Typhoid bacilli killed by formol in weak solution..are about as sensitive to the reaction as are living bacteria, and retain their agglutinability for a long period. 1902 V. C. Vaughan & F. G. Novy (ed. 4) vii. 135 Ehrlich's intermediary body is designated by Bordet as the sensitizer (substance sensibilatrice), and its function is to render impressionable globules sensitive to the action of the toxic body, which Ehrlich designates as complement and Bordet calls alexin. 1989 29 Apr. 15/4 Those who are very sensitive to such stings should ask the doctor for some adrenaline to have at hand in an emergency, or have a course of de-sensitising injections. 2005 June 90/1 This will mean the horse will be less sensitive to the allergen in future. 6. In various extended uses, of a thing. See also sense A. 5b. society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adjective] > feeling or state of market 1813 4 421 The Stock Exchange itself, usually so sensitive when any measure is proposed which can even remotely affect the price of funds. 1867 H. Latham 12 We went also to the Gold Exchange, and gold happened to be ‘very sensitive’..and would go up. 1895 1 Sept. 535 Retail prices, though less frequently changed than wholesale prices, are sensitive, and promptly respond to any change in the value of money. 1902 XXVIII. 536/1 The fashionable nature of soft fruit and cut flowers renders the markets very sensitive to anything in the nature of a glut. 1962 18 May 21/2 Prices were sensitive to only moderate changes in the balance of supply and demand. 2002 P. Augar & J. Palmer xiii. 290 Share prices have become highly sensitive to even the tiniest earnings shortfall. the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adjective] > of tools, materials, etc.: accurate 1820 37 148 It will also serve as a very accurate level..: in this case it will be necessary (in order to get it more delicate and sensitive) to screw up the ball so that the spring below may have no more power over the ball than sufficient to recover itself to the perpendicular. 1857 W. A. Miller III. iii. 157 Determining the specific gravity by means of a sensitive hydrometer. 1871 J. Yeats iii. iv. 349 For scientific exactness, especially in chemical experiments, balances are made sensitive to the fraction of a grain. 1904 31 Dec. 2 (advt.) Duncan direct-current wattmeters. Most sensitive. Most accurate. Most reliable. 1956 P. Anderson in Sept. 51/1 But the hyperdrive vibrations can be detected a light-year away if you have sensitive instruments. 1999 P. Shearer xi. 214 Sensitive seismographs will record ground motions even in the absence of earthquakes. 2007 5 Dec. (Digital Business section) 2/5 To track and characterise the tiny fragments of matter produced when streams of hadrons are crashed into each other has required the construction of highly sensitive detectors. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > treatment of plates, films, or paper > [adjective] 1839 H. Fox Talbot in 14 204 When a sheet of this, which I shall call Sensitive Paper, is placed in a dark chamber. 1893 J. A. Hodges i. 15 The sensitive plates, and the cameras in which they are used..are made in certain standard sizes. 1920 Dec. 52/1 A brilliant source of light is required, unless a very sensitive emulsion is used, in making ordinary enlargements of great size. 1970 iv. 130/1 When a photographer intentionally underexposes a picture, he ‘pushes’ the film; he simply assumes that it is more sensitive than it really is and arbitrarily assigns it an ASA number higher than the standard one specified. 1998 S. R. Loehr et al. in viii. 325 Photographic film used to record X-ray images is only slightly sensitive to X-ray exposure. 2007 (National ed.) 20 Sept. c9/3 ISO, in the days of silver halide film, rated how sensitive film was to light. The term persists in the digital era. 1879 9 Aug. 15 (advt.) Four Sensitive Drills, drills to 3-16 In. hole. 1895 C. J. Appleby IV. 53 Six speed sensitive drilling machine..is capable of drilling holes up to ¾ in. diameter, and will swing 18 inches. 1908 28 Oct. 19/5 The Rice high-speed sensitive drill..possesses a novel feature in the form of roller feathers to transmit the power from the driving pulley to the spindle. 1971 C. R. Hine xi. 261 This machine is slightly heavier than the sensitive drill press. 2015 B. J. Black (ed. 5) viii. 119/1 The main elements of a typical sensitive drilling machine are shown in Fig. 8.1. 1954 49 217 A second step is to question models which are acutely sensitive to the addition or subtraction of a single observation. 1968 L. Fox & D. F. Mayers iii. 31 The results show that yr is extremely sensitive, for large r, to small changes in the initial condition. 1988 55 237/1 The SBM shares another weakness with several other formally motivated models: it is not sensitive to differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous habitats. 2008 6 Dec. 42/2 A forecast from a model is sometimes sensitive to the initial conditions, and a way round this is to run the model using various scenarios. the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > keeping from publication > [adjective] > not printed or published 1825 J. F. Cooper II. x. 147 The strength of his own feelings on this sensitive subject. 1899 14 68 The sensitive issues involved in inter-class diplomacy, call for the greatest care. 1953 7 May 2 People in ‘sensitive’ jobs or departments—that is in positions having access to top secret or policy information. 1973 P. Geddes x. 138 I realise it's from a sensitive source, but could I see it for myself? 2004 H. Kennedy (2005) xiii. 274 Local councils, the Royal Mail and a raft of government departments will be able to demand access to sensitive information. 1868 11 Apr. 483/2 Being desirous of testing this new anæsthetic in the more delicate and sensitive operations on the eye. 1884 23 Aug. 3/2 Drawing patterns or setting cores..is about the most sensitive work cranes can be subjected to. 1919 20 Feb. 484/1 The No. 1 attachment is equipped with a No. 1 Jacobs chuck..for very sensitive work. 1957 10 152/3 Aerial application of chemicals for brush control is a very sensitive operation. 2005 J. Neuce xiv. 168 A small handful..handled the sensitive work of the mixing of nutrients. B. n.the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > types of nerves > [noun] ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 9 Anoþer forsoþ in alle oþer Censitinez [read censitiuez] for knowing of þinges delityng & heuiyng. c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in f. 13v (MED) Alle þe senewis þat spryngen out of þe brayn ben clepid sencitiues. 1565 J. Hall Anat. 1st Treat. iv. 7 in tr. Lanfranc But also we haue by them onely, the power of mouyng euery member, namely sense of the sensityues, whiche therefore are the more delicate: and mouing of the motyues, which for that action are more stronge. †2. the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > [noun] > faculty of sensation c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus iv. 277 Flagrant swetenes immyxt with all delycasye..recomforteth theire endulled sensitive. 1583 B. Melbancke (new ed.) sig. Iv That other sensitiue, is common to beasts. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch 1042 Of necessitie both the sensitive [Fr. le sensitif] must be divided and goe with the sensible, and also the imaginative with the imaginable. a1651 N. Culverwell (1652) i. xi. 96 If they tell us that some outward objects must jogge and waken these drowsie and slumbring notions, they then lay the foundation in sensitives. the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > emotional perception > [noun] > that which is capable of feeling 1744 M. Akenside ii. 46 They rise to act their cruelties anew In my afflicted bosom, thus decreed The universal sensitive of pain, The wretched heir of evils not its own! the world > life > [noun] > that is capable of sensation the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > [noun] > sentient being ?1533 G. Du Wes sig. Bbivv Thynges created of god..ben elemented vegetables and sensytyues, as ben all beestes. 1602 W. Warner (rev. ed.) xiii. lxxvi. 316 The Sensetiues, as beasts, wormes, birds, and fishes. 1651 R. Baxter 230 The Mediator God-man doth exercise part of his Authority..even among brutes, and sensitives that cannot know him. 1727 D. Defoe iv. 27 In Mars..no Vegetables or Sensatives could subsist that we have any Notion of, for want of Moisture. 1663 B. Gerbier sig. b8v An humble sensitive, Your Lordships Zealous and most humble Servant. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > [noun] > mimosa or sensitive plant 1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont 87 The Sensitive [Fr. la Sensitive]..never opens its Leaves till some time after Sun-rising. 1799 C. Marshall II. xix. 52 The humble plants are distinguished from the common upright growing sensitives, as the latter only closes the leaf, without dropping the stalk. 1819 H. M. Williams tr. A. von Humboldt IV. xvii. 331 The same breed of cows..have found excellent nourishment in the herbaceous sensitive plants. The pastures where these sensitives particularly abound are sold dearer than others. 1893 R. L. Stevenson Beach of Falesá in iv There are cocoa palms..and guavas and lots of sensitive. 1900 28 Sept. 473/2 The contact-movements of the leaves of the sensitives, were all familiar. 1995 R. W. Burkhardt (new ed.) ii. 64 When in 1785 he [sc. Lamarck] divided the plant kingdom into six, serially arranged classes, he noted that it was ‘almost uniquely’ within the class of the greatest complexity, the Polypetala, that the phenomenon of irritability was exhibited (Mimosa pudica, Oxalis sensitiva, and some other well-known sensitives were in this class). 2007 F. Fordham 189 ‘Sensitives’ are plants (such as Mimosa), which literally shrink when touched. 6. the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > [noun] > sensitive person society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary world > [noun] > specific schools of writers > writer belonging to 1807 R. Heron p. vi Let us leave it to the Testys and Sensitives of the world..to refine upon wretchedness. 1835 C. Stepney I. x. 153 The proud and the sensitive are prone to take refuge in scorn. 1889 A. James 11 July (1964) 47 The bliss of finding that I too was a ‘sensitive’, and that..a Botticelli said an infinity of things to me. 1891 18 July 93/3 A new and active band of Dutch novelists who have thought it worth their while to take a fresh name—the Sensitives—the better to define their place in literature. 1954 W. Lewis i. vii. 98 His façade..was merely a screen stuck up by this ‘sensitive’, behind which he could give his feelings play. 1975 A. Rodway iii. 28 Sensitives..admit to themselves the real nature of their experience. 2014 J. T. Greene p. xii Some sensitives..discover the point of confluence where service to deity and service to one's country become conjoined. the world > the supernatural > the occult > spiritualism > [noun] > spiritualist or medium 1846 19 186 It is clearly ascertained..that terrestrial magnetism acts on the sensitive. 1850 J. Ashburner tr. K. L. F. Reichenbach 333 The most remarkable individual of all the healthy sensitives [Ger. Sensitiven], whose perceptions exceeded those even of many diseased observers, in strength, distinctness, and duration was..Josepha Zinkel. 1886 F. W. H. Myers in E. Gurney et al. I. Introd. p. lxiii Phenomena commonly attributed to ‘spirits’, (but many of which may perhaps be more safely ascribed to the automatic agency of the sensitive himself). 1920 G. E. Wright vi. 108 The communicator on the other side has..to use an intermediary much as the sitter on this side has to employ a medium or sensitive. 1979 L. L. LeShan in H. A. Otto & J. W. Knight (1980) iii. 39 What is going on between the sensitive and the rest of reality at the moment the paranormal event occurs? 2005 H. Mantel x. 320 When a sensitive asked, ‘Who's got a Mike in spirit world?’ fifty hands would shoot into the air. Compounds C1. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > fever > [noun] > other fevers 1794 E. Darwin I. 391 Other new motions are then superadded, in consequence of sensation, which we shall call febris sensitiva, or sensitive fever. 1794 E. Darwin I. 392 These sensitive fevers, like the irritative ones, resolve themselves into those with arterial strength, and those with arterial debility. 1818 D. Hosack 58 Febris sensitiva. Sensitive Fever. society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > diatonic scale series > notes in diatonic scale 1845 A. Day i. ii. 8 The seventh is called the leading or sensitive note. 1921 May 347/1 As a matter of fact there are two sensitive notes in a scale. 2002 A. Powell vii. 132 The new ideal of the ‘sensitive note’ stood in direct contrast to instructions by Quantz and Tromlitz in the previous century. 1905 H. de Vries xiii. 388 We may conclude that the sensitive period commences not only at the beginning of the germination, but must also be considered to include the life of the seed itself. 1936 B. Barclay Carter tr. M. Montessori i. iii. 39 Every characteristic is established by the help of an impulse, of a transient sensibility which lasts over a limited period of growth, that is, during the corresponding sensitive period. 1996 21 Feb. ii. 4/1 A sensitive period may exist, a time early in life when acquiring language is easiest, and which tails off. 2012 L. E. Rosenberg & D. D. Rosenberg xv. 251 Exposure to teratogenic substances before or after this sensitive period would not be expected to be harmful to limb development. c1443 R. Pecock (1927) 38 (MED) Þe..soule of such body muste needis..be callid a knowing soule or a sensitive soule, whiche maner lijf and soule han al maner of beestis. c1450sensitife saule [see sense A. 1a]. a1500 ( (Egerton) (1953) iv. xxx. f. 72v Whan þis bodi is thus organysed, than it engendrith of it self..a soule sensitiffe. 1531 T. Elyot iii. xxiii. sig. gvi An other parte [sc. of the soul] wherin man doth participate with all other thynges lyuynge, whiche is called sensitife, by reason that therof the sensis do procede. 1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont 280 The sensitive soul doth not govern man according to the requirance of our Species. 1732 G. Berkeley I. iii. iii. 163 By means of the sensitive Soul, our several distinct parts and members do consent towards the animal Functions. 1891 4 194 Man..possesses in addition to the nutritive, the sensitive, and the locomotive soul the highest form of psychical activity, rational thought. 2015 112 e311 The sensitive soul comprised the external senses of vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 126 (MED) One forsoþ in þe first organe as in cristalloide beyng pacient, anoþer in þe censitif vertue [?c1425 Paris felynge vertue; L. sensitiua virtute] descendyng fro þe brayne by þe nerue optic. c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in f. 13v (MED) Þe senewis..han boþe vertu motif & sensitif, but summe more & summe lasse. 1576 T. Hill (new ed.) sig. Ciiiiv The iudgement..of the vertu intellectiue concurreth with a sensitiue vertue. 1683 S. Pordage tr. T. Willis i. v. 30 The Viscera of Concoction, receive..from the flame of the Blood..a motive and sensitive virtue. 1889 E. H. Dering tr. M. Liberatore iii. 83 The sensitive virtue of the brute is not sensible of Being. 2007 E. Lombardi 292 The intellect commands the organs of the sensitive virtue to express the concept which the intellect conceived. C2. In names of plants, esp. those responding to touch or other physical stimulus with movement. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorn-tree or -bush > [noun] > other thorn-trees 1802 J. Drayton 83 Sensitive briar. (Mimosa intsia.) Grows on high land, in some parts of the lower and middle country; but is frequently met with in the high lands of the upper country. 1847 A. Wood (ed. 2) 238 Mimoseæ... Sensitive Brier..stem 2–4 ft long, and with the Petioles and peduncles armed with short, sharp prickles turned downwards. 1984 C. Loughmiller & L. Loughmiller 137/1 The leaflets are sensitive to the touch; if one brushes against them or touches them, they immediately fold up against each other, suggesting the name ‘sensitive briar’. 2008 (Nexis) 1 May (Hernando Times) 1 These are mixed with native shrubs, wiregrass and wildflowers such as the daisy-like green-eye, and tiny purple puffs called sensitive briar. the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > other ferns 1780 R. Weston 82 (table) Onoclea. Sensitive Fern. 1879 Nov. 556/2 The miscalled sensitive-fern (Onoclea sensibilis), is easily recognized by its broad, light green, simply-divided leaves, and its wooly curled fertile frond. 1951 41 62 Horses will sicken or die if they are fed for long periods on hay which contains sensitive fern in quantity. 2011 T. P. Spira iv. iii. 411/2 Sensitive fern thrives in wet areas and full sun, but will grow almost anywhere that isn't too dry. 1848 A. Gray 98 Æschynomene, L. Sensitive Joint Vetch. 1990 117 320/1 In the freshwater tidal marsh, the group got to see..a number of rare species, including sensitive joint vetch (Aeschynomene virginica). 2002 8 Sept. nj4 The site, much of it once a sand-mining operation,..is believed to hold the world's largest concentration of a globally threatened plant called sensitive joint vetch. 1814 F. Pursh II. Index 684 Cassia nictitans. Sensitive Pea. 1898 21 Feb. This is the sensitive pea, Cassia camæcrista, a weed growing along our country lanes with yellow flowers and bearing a fruit, diminutive pease. 1915 G. C. Sevey 2 Partridge Pea (Cassia Chamæcrista).—Sometimes called sensitive pea and Magothy Bay bean. 1970 D. S. Correll & M. C. Johnston 790 Sensitive Pea..Leaves..somewhat touch-sensitive. 2012 264 205 (table) Chamaecrista nictitans. Sensitive Pea. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  adj.n.?a1425 |
