| 释义 |
▪ I. unˈapt, a.
[un-1 7 and 5 b.]
†1. Of persons or things: Unfitted or unfit to do something. Obs.
c1374Chaucer Troylus i. 971 Was neuere man ne woman yet bygete, That was vnapt to suffren loues hete Celestial. 1504W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione ii. viii. 186 Whan grace deperteth fro the soule it is faynt & frayle, vnapte to do or to suffre that vertue commaundith. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxi. §1 note, Those which were baptized in their beds were thereby made vnapt to haue any place amongst the clergie. 1610J. Dove Advt. Seminaries 52, I might happily have persuaded them,..had they not been as a plot of ground unapt to receive good seed. 1654Gayton Pleas. Notes iv. v. 199, I had some guests that were very unapt to sleep anywhere but in their own houses. 1682Norris Hierocles 19 Those which constantly contemplate God, and are unapt to converse on earth. 1726De Foe Hist. Devil (1840) 106 The wood unapt to burn by the moisture which fell, scarce received the fire I brought to kindle it. 1736Butler Anal. ii. vi. 225 In Proportion to Defects in the Understanding, Men are unapt to see lower Degrees of Evidence.
2. Unfit or unsuited for some use or purpose:
a. Of persons.
a1513Fabyan Chron. vii. 408 A great nombre of olde men and women, and children, vnapt for y⊇ warre. 1595Daniel Civ. Wars iv. xxix, The Earle being..Vnapt for issue, it must needes descend on those of his being next of Clarence race. a1648Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 33 Courtiers have those [arts] by which they govern their Princes, when through any indisposition they grow unapt for affairs. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 1 He was exceeding feeble in his lower parts,..whereby he was unapt for exercises of activity. 1791Cowper Odyss. xxi. 159, I shall prove of little force Hereafter, and for manly feats unapt. 1850H. Martineau Hist. Eng. II. 224 Unapt for combination..as his colleagues were, his..indifference went to increase the evil.
b. Of things.
1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 20 A minde vnapte for the contemplation of this doctrine. 1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 836 Such beasts..being vncleane, and vnapt for food. 1633Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. 108 Is there any thing more heavy, and unapt for motion then Iron, or steele? 1736Butler Anal. i. vi. 116 Whoever will consider, how unapt for Speculation, rude and uncultivated Minds are. 1765Sterne Tr. Shandy vii. xxx, I..have a brain so entirely unapt for every thing of that kind. 1826Kirby & Sp. Introd. Entomol. III. xxxiv. 429 In the Lamellicorn beetles..they [sc. mandibles] are soft, membranous, and unapt for mastication. 1873M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma (1876) 9 There are heads unapt for this sort of work.
†3. Unsuited or unadapted to some end. Obs.
1539N.T. (Cranmer) Tit. i. 16 They are..vnapte vnto euery good worcke. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 72 We must neither be laboured too muche..nor loyter too long, for making ourselues vnapt to any thing. 1620Venner Via Recta viii. 179 Men after a full meale are..very vnapt vnto any labour.., either of minde or body. 1647Jer. Taylor Lib. Proph. ii. 47 That..every clause in the Creed should be clear, and..inopportune and vnapt to variety of interpretation.
4. Without const. Unfitted, unsuited, unadapted:
†a. Of persons. Obs.
a1513Fabyan Chron. vii. (1811) 422 An vnredy and dispurueyed hoost for the warre, as..spyrytuell men of the churche, with husbonde men and other vnapte people. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 269 He must be no lither⁓backe, vnapt, or slothfull fellow. a1621Bacon Disc. Saville in Resuscitatio (1657) 230 The contrary Advantage (in Natures very dull, and unapt) of working Alacrity, by framing an Exercise with some Delight, or affection. a1656Hales Gold. Rem. (1688) 277 The longer we defer, the more unapt still we grow. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 402 Such Men are commonly the most unapt in Things, that require Judgment and Reason.
b. Of things.
1588Lambarde Eiren. iv. Epil., I may neyther altogether condemne it as unapt, nor reiect it as unserviceable. 1598Greene Jas. IV, ii. ii, When the mould is barraine and vnapt, They toyle, they plow, and make the fallow fatte. 1638Penkethman Artach. K 4 The whole Earth..is growne more unapt and backwards in bearing. 1650Jer. Taylor Holy Living ii. §6. 132 There are many worse [diseases] then to dye with an atrophy or Consumption, or unapt and courser nourishment. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 261 Such a union was very unapt and improper. 1842H. Rogers Introd. Burke's Wks. I. 56 Thus disorders become incurable..by the unapt and violent nature of the remedies.
5. Of language, etc.: Unsuitable, inappropriate.
1553Wilson Art Rhet. 88 marg., Vnapte vsyng of apt wordes. 1588E. Yorke in Antiq. Rep. (1807) I. 261 Of which worde of Calibre, came first this unapt terme wee use to call a Harquebuze a Calliver. 1634W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. A 2 Those, who with unapt complements imagine they have composed a good letter. 1783Colman Prose Sev. Occas., Ep. Pisos (1787) III. 13 Chaunting no odes between the acts, that seem unapt, or foreign to the general theme. 1796M. Robinson Angelina I. 228 Seldom she speaks: if question'd, she returns The answer incoherent and unapt. 1821Scott Pirate xxv, No unapt representation of the sea in the Vision of Mirza. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt xvi, Your comparison is not unapt, sir.
6. Of things: Not readily tending or likely to do something.
1587Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 64 But commonly when men in fancie burne, Then womens hartes are most unapt to turne. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. iii. §1 Feare..is of all affections (anger excepted) the vnaptest to admit any conference with reason. a1628F. Grevil Cælica liv, Rage, feare, griefe, Powers as unapt to take, as give reliefe. 1665Hooke Microgr. 13 The parts of the body of some are so loose from one another, and so unapt to cohere,..that [etc.]. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xl, A mind which was unapt to apprehend danger. 1856Bryant Yellow Violet v, Unapt the passing view to meet, When loftier flowers are flaunting nigh.
b. Of persons: Not apt or prone, not readily disposed, to do something.
1640Wilkins New Planet ii. 32 Men being naturally unapt to beleeve any thing that seemes contrary to their senses. 1665Hooke Microgr. 242, I am not unapt to think, that the Vale may have Vegetables analogous to our Grass, Shrubs, and Trees. 1785T. Balguy Disc. 5 Unaccustomed to suffer harm, we are unapt to suspect it. 1828Scott F.M. Perth viii, You may have thought me unapt to be moved by light complaints. 1874J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 241 Men of little creative power, but not unapt to take up ideas suggested to them.
c. Without const.: Unready, backward.
1849Mill Ess. (1859) II. 401 Lord Brougham has condescended to bestow upon these unapt scholars his view of some of the essential requisites of a popular Constitution.
▪ II. † unˈapt, v. Obs.
[f. prec., or un-2 6 a + apt a.]
trans. To render unapt.
1593Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 156 Our full platters..vnapt vs to any exercise of Christianitie. 1628R. Hobart Edw. II, cccxvii, Let not..false surmises Unapt their meanes, and crosse their owne devises. 1641Exam. Abstr. Answ. agst. Votes Bps. in Parl. 77 It puts them out of their Calling, unapts them for the proper worke of it. |