| 释义 |
acceptance|ækˈsɛptəns|
[a. OFr. acceptance, f. accepter; see accept and -ance.]
1. a. The act or fact of accepting, or taking what is offered, whether as a pleasure, a satisfaction of claim, or a duty.
1596Spenser State of Irel. (J.) By the acceptance of his sovereignty, they also accepted of his laws. 1607Shakes. Cor. ii. iii. 9 If he tel vs his Noble deeds, we must also tell him our Noble acceptance of them. 1667Milton P.L. v. 531 Our voluntarie service he requires, Not our necessitated, such with him Findes no acceptance. a1764R. Lloyd The Poet Wks. 1774 II. 21 The mob his kind acceptance begs Of dirt, and stones, and addle-eggs. 1876Freeman Norm. Conq. II. App. 531 William or his advisers may..have pressed the acceptance of the crown on Eadward.
b. The accepting of copulation by a female animal.
1925F. A. E. Crew Animal Genetics x. 297 The sexual season is divided into..proœstrum..œstrum, the phase of desire and acceptance of the male.
2. esp. Favourable reception.
a. Of persons.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 164, I neuer knewe so yong a body, with so old a head. I leaue him to your gracious acceptance. 1611Cotgr., Malgrace..bad acceptance, ill opinion. 1814Southey Roderick vii. Wks. IX. 71 That vow hath been pronounced..whereby we stand For condemnation or acceptance. 1882Daily Tel. Mar. 9 The vocalist..sang with marked acceptance.
b. Of things: Favourable consideration, approval; and hence, of statements, theories, etc.: Mental assent, belief.
1669Pepys Diary (1877) V. 452 It did meet with the Duke of York's acceptance & well-liking. 1779Newton Bk. of Praise (Gold. Tr. Ser.) 52 By Thee my prayers acceptance gain Although with sin defiled. 1794Sullivan View of Nat. II. 230 Recommend them to the belief and acceptance of all reasonable persons. 1854Faraday Exp. Res. lv. 470 The assertion finds acceptance in every rank of society. 1880Carpenter in 19th Cent. No. 38. 602 The probability of their volcanic origin seems so strong as to justify its full acceptance.
c. acceptance of persons: undue favour on personal grounds, partiality. See accept 2, acception 2.
1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 580 A Sovereign who had sworn that he..would do justice, without acceptance of persons.
3. The state or condition of being accepted.
1649Selden Laws of Eng. (1739) i. v. 12 She first brought Austin into acceptance with the King. 1714T. Ellwood Life (1765) 72, I found acceptance with the Lord. 1745Wesley Answ. to Church 17 Can we deny, That Holiness is a Condition of Final Acceptance?
4. The sense in which a word or expression is accepted or taken; understood signification. rare. (More usually acceptation 4.)
a1716South (J.) An assertion, most certainly true, though, under the common acceptance of it, not only false but odious. 1857S. Osborn Quedah xvii. 237 Neither Jadee nor I were sportsmen in the proper acceptance of the word.
5. The quality of being accepted or acceptable; acceptableness, agreeableness.
1593Marlowe Dido iii. iii. 926 Love and duty led him on perhaps To press beyond acceptance to your sight. 1666South Serm. Tit. ii. 15 Wks. 1715 I. 197 Some Men cannot be Fools with so good Acceptance as others. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. 837 The Canon! We caress him..A man of such acceptance.
6. Comm. (See accept v. 5.)
a. The act of formally accepting the liability to pay a bill of exchange when due; the formal engagement to pay it. Also attrib., as acceptance bank, acceptance credit, acceptance house. Cf. accepting vbl. n. 2.
b. The bill itself when ‘accepted’ by A.B. is termed A.B.'s acceptance.
1682J. Scarlett Stile of Exch. 59 Acceptance must be demanded of him only, to whom the Bill is directed. 1865Trafford G. Geith II. ii. 30 There is scarcely a business man..the aim and object of whose life is not to get his acceptances into circulation. 1866Crump Banking v. 117 Acceptance..signifies an engagement on the part of the drawee to meet the bill in money when it falls due. 1923Crowell's Dict. Bus. & Finance, Acceptance Bank. 1927G. G. Munn Encycl. Bank. & Finance, Acceptance Houses. 1948G. Crowther Outl. Money (ed. 2) ii. 70 Usually..the merchant agrees with one of the London banks..to ‘accept’ the bill for him, and the presence on the bill of the name of a bank or of an ‘acceptance house’ immediately makes the bill a ‘prime’ bill. 1958Spectator 6 June 720/1 Fresh information about the sterling balances, and about acceptance credits, an important method by which international trade is financed in the City of London.
c. acceptance world: used by A. Powell in the ordinary Comm. sense and also transf., of life ‘accepted’ as a debt which must eventually be repaid.
1955A. Powell (title) The Acceptance World.
7. Law. An agreeing to the act or contract of another (as a predecessor in office or agent) by some act which amounts to a recognition or approval of the same, and binds the person in law.
1574tr. Littleton's Tenures 99 b, A man shal have none advantage by suche release that shalbe againste his owne propre acceptance. 1691Blount Law Dict. s.v. Acceptance is..a tacite kind of agreeing to some former Act done by another, which might have been undone or avoided.
8. The paper or card on which an invitation is accepted.
1873J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xviii. 342 The ‘nervous-hystericky Italian hand’ resumed its beautiful regularity on pink-tinted ‘acceptances’. 1957R. Carrington Mermaids & Mastodons ix. 136 Twenty-one acceptances were received and..the guests arrived at the appointed hour.
9. Racing. A horse accepted for a race (freq. in pl.).
1923Daily Mail 1 Feb. 9/1 The acceptances..are satisfactory for the ‘Lincoln’. 1928Ibid. 25 July 14/5, I expect to find him among the acceptances for the Chesterfield Cup at Goodwood. 1946F. Sargeson That Summer 69, I wrapped it in a sheet of newspaper I was keeping because of the acceptances.
10. Special Comb. acceptance trials, the trial or trials which a new ship, etc., undergoes before being accepted into service; cf. trial-trip s.v. trial n.1 13.
1958Weekly Law Rep. 28 Nov. 1127 Upon completion of the craft, the builders will notify the buyer in writing that the craft is ready for *acceptance trials to be run. 1971Daily Tel. 18 Feb. 2/3 Formal acceptance trials with the 1906A will begin on Monday. The computer is due to be in full operation by the end of next month. 1976Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Mar. 6/2 She was launched Oct. 6..and her acceptance trials were held on May 11. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War v. 45 Occasionally, I had something practical to do such as the acceptance trials of the first airborne television equipment for the R.A.F. |