释义 |
demilune, n. (a.)|ˈdɛmɪl(j)uːn| [a. F. demilune, in 16th–17th c. demie lune half moon: cf. demi- 10.] †1. gen. A ‘half-moon’, a crescent. Obs.
a1734North Lives (1808) I. 228 An immense mass of stone of the shape of a demilune. a1734― Exam. iii. vii. §95 (1740) 578 These stately Figures were planted in a Demilune about an huge Fire. 2. Fortif. An outwork resembling a bastion with a crescent-shaped gorge, constructed to protect a bastion or curtain.
1727–51Chambers Cycl., Demi-Lune, Half-Moon, in fortification, an outwork..consisting of two faces, and two little flanks. 1870Daily News 26 Sept., Demi-lunes have been constructed before the gates of Paris. 3. Physiol. demilunes (crescents) of Giannuzzi or Heidenhain: certain crescent-shaped protoplasmic bodies found in the salivary glands.
1883Syd. Soc. Lex., Demilune of Giannuzzi, a granular mass of protoplasm, of semilunar form, which forms part of the cell-contents of the salivary cells. B. adj. Crescent-shaped, semilunar.
1885Proc. R. Soc. 19 Mar. 215 The demilune cells and the serous cells, which are present..in the sub-maxillary gland of the cat. |