| 释义 |
exactness|ɛgˈzæktnɪs|
[f. exact a. + -ness.]
The quality or condition of being exact.
†1. Consummate skill; perfection of workmanship, high finish; elaborateness. Obs.
1564Haward Eutropius To Rdr. 6 That worthy orator apperceived that Tully should in processe of time bereft y⊇ Gretians of theyr exactnesse in all sciences. 1658Ussher Ann. vi. 592 Young men, who gave offence to every body by..the exactnesse of their hair. 1668D. Smith Voy. Constantinople in Misc. Cur. (1708) III. 19 For curious Painting rich Altars, and exactness of Architecture, incomparable. 1695Ld. Preston Boeth. iii. 121 How fleeting, and of how short Duration is Beauty and Exactness of Feature. 1697C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 123 He went to walk in his Gardens, whose exactness yields in nothing to ours.
†2. Of laws, rules, observances: Strictness, rigour. Obs.
1631R. Byfield Doctr. Sabb. 82 They observed their Festivals with severe exactnesse from all worke. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts, N.T. 34 If thou knewest the exactnesse of the law and thine owne weakness. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. iv. §23 Doth any one find fault with the exactness of geometrical rules. 1747Wesley Prim. Physic (1762) p. xvii, Observe..the greatest Exactness in your Regimen.
3. Of processes, results, methods, statements, etc.: Minute accuracy, precision.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. vii. 197 We made triall in Scales of good exactnesse. 1658A. Fox tr. Wurtz' Surg. ii. v. 58 Other Wounds..require not such exactness in the dressing. 1667Phil. Trans. II. 435 At Sea..the Meridian is not so easie to be found to any tolerable exactness. 1736Butler Anal. Introd. Wks. 1874 I. 4 Persons..who require things to be stated with greater exactness than our faculties appear to admit of. 1747Berkeley Tar-water in Plague Wks. III. 487 These [medicines] require an exactness in the dose, where a small error may produce a great mischief. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. II. 47 A plan of the old church, representing with sufficient exactness its state at Charlemagne's coronation. 1876J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. I. ii. v. 263 This very absence of scientific exactness..constituted in Roman eyes a principal charm of Cicero's compositions.
4. Minute attention to detail; carefulness, accuracy. In pl. Instances of the same.
1645Milton Tetrach. Ded. (1851) 141 The industry, the exactnesse, the labour in it, confess'd to be more then ordnary. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §16 With the same exactness hee goes through all the parts of the body. 1716Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. ii. 10, I shall follow your orders with great..exactness. 1754Richardson Grandison (1810) VI. lii. 337 Has Lady G. dated? No, I protest! We women are above such little exactnesses. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xxiv, He reviewed, with exactness, the late behaviour of the Marchesa. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 463 He had..that sort of exactness which would have made him a respectable antiquary. 1875Whitney Life Lang. ii. 29 Every writer who aims at exactness has to begin with definitions.
†b. Of personal habits: Regularity, punctuality. Of deportment, dress, etc.: Preciseness, formal propriety. Obs.
1683D. A. Art Converse 4 A certain exactness in all our words and expressions. 1689Burnet Tracts I. 8 A mixture of a French openness and an Italian exactness. 1712Steele Spect. No. 423 ⁋2 An unaffected Exactness in his Dress and Manner. 1800E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. I. 167 Six o'clock is our hour: you know my exactness. |