| 释义 |
exist, v.|ɛgˈzɪst|
[ad. Fr. exist-er, ad. L. ex(s)istĕre to stand out, be perceptible, hence to exist, f. ex- out + sistĕre reduplicated form of stă- to stand. (The late appearance of the word is remarkable: it is not in Cooper's Lat.-Eng. Dict. 1565, either under existo or exto.)]
1. To have place in the domain of reality, have objective being.
1605Shakes. Lear i. i. 114 The orbs From whom we do exist. a1716South Serm. (1737) I. ii. 45 To conceive the world..to have existed from eternity. 1793Blackstone Comm. (ed. 12) 593 Corporations which exist by force of the common law. 1797Godwin Enquirer i. vi. 41 The Roman historians are the best that ever existed. 1846Mill Logic i. iii. §6 The man called father might still exist though there were no child. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 14 The conception of justice towards heretics did not exist (in unscientific ages).
2. To have being in a specified place or under specified conditions. With advb. phrase or as; formerly with simple complement. Of relations, circumstances, etc.: To subsist, be found, occur.
1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. i, Most things that morally adhere to soules, Wholly exist in drunke opinion. a1704Locke (J.), That combination does not always exist together in nature. 1786H. Tooke Purley (1860) 201 A quality which..would make me rather chuse..to exist a mastiff or a mule. 1807Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 609 But though no weed exists his garden round. 1823H. J. Brooke Introd. Crystallogr. 165 The character of the modifying planes..may..be considered to exist in all the prisms belonging to this class. 1833N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. i. 122 Which substances..usually exist as airs. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xv. 102 A space of a foot existed between ice and water.
3. To have life or animation; to live.
1828Scott F.M. Perth xxxii, The Prince of Scotland was not to be murdered..he was only to cease to exist.
4. To continue in being, maintain an existence.
1790Burns Let. to P. Hill 2 Mar., We are under a cursed necessity of studying selfishness, in order that we may exist. 1791Burke Corr. (1844) III. 359 That government is strong indeed which can exist under contempt. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian Prol., How does he contrive to exist here? |