| 释义 |
commonplace
I. \ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ sometimes | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈ ̷ ̷\ noun
Etymology: translation of Latin locus communis widely applicable argument or thesis, translation of Greek koinos topos
1.
a. obsolete : a passage applicable to particular cases : theme, topic : the text of a discourse
b. archaic : a striking or especially noticeable passage; usually : such a passage entered in a commonplace book
c. [by shortening] obsolete : commonplace book
2.
a. : an opinion, statement, or other expression lacking originality or freshness and often repeated and generally accepted : a stock comment or subject of remark : truism, cliché
< a commonplace in the study of human nature that men often turn against those who have raised them — Hilaire Belloc >
< the superficial commonplaces which pass as axioms in our popular intellectual milieu — M.R.Cohen >
b. : the quality or state of commonness
< their originality has become our commonplace — Virginia Woolf >
c. : a thing commonly encountered : a common ordinary object, occurrence, or practice taken for granted and arousing no interest or curiosity
< to most of us railways are one of the commonplaces of life — O.S.Nock >
II. adjective
: having nothing out of common : without originality, freshness, or interest : commonly encountered : ordinary, dull, trite, stale
< revolutionary in the seventies, but commonplace by 1900 — F.L.Mott >
< the lover whose imagination makes a goddess of some commonplace young woman — C.E.Montague >
• com·mon·place·ly adverb
• com·mon·place·ness noun -es
III. transitive verb
: to extract striking or memorable passages from (as for a commonplace book) especially with arrangement of the passages under general headings
intransitive verb
: to employ commonplaces in communication |