| 释义 |
uncial, a. and n.|ˈʌnʃ(ɪ)əl|
[ad. L. unciāl-is pertaining to a twelfth part, f. uncia uncia. In sense 2 after L. unciales litteræ (Jerome). Hence also It. onciale, Sp. uncial, Pg. oncial, F. oncial (uncial), G., Sw. uncial.]
A. adj.
1. a. Pertaining to, connected with, etc., an inch or an ounce.
1650J. Wybard Tactometria 305 The solid measure of one ounce-troy will be (in unciall or inch-measure) 1·8947 inch; and of one ounce-avoirdupois, 1·72556 inch. 1656Blount Glossogr. [copying Cooper], Uncial, of or belonging to an ounce or inch. 1824Scott Redgauntlet Concl., I am sorry I have not room (the frank being only uncial) for his farther observations.
b. Based on a duodecimal division; divided into twelve equal parts.
1842Smith's Dict. Grk. & Rom. Antiq. s.v. Uncia, The uncial system was adopted by the Greeks of Sicily. 1853Humphreys Coin-coll. Man. II. 375 note, It seems probable that both the name of the weight, and the uncial coinage, may have been derived from Sicily. 1884Encycl. Brit. XVII. 652/2 The denarius was struck at 80 to the pound, and the as became uncial.
2. Of letters or writing: Having the large rounded forms (not joined to each other) characteristic of early Greek and Latin manuscripts; also (in looser use), of large size, capital.
The term is also applied to letters having the form of the uncial, irrespective of size. When used in its strict sense, uncial is distinguished from capital, which denotes the more original, unrounded forms of the letters.
Jerome's unciales litteræ (Prol. Job) is commonly explained as meaning ‘letters of an inch long’; his use of the word is accompanied by the phrase ut vulgo aiunt, and the literal sense was perhaps not seriously intended. The emendations initiales ‘initial’ and uncinales ‘hooked, bent’, have been suggested.
1712Henley tr. Montfaucon's Trav. Italy ii. 19 The Book is writ in the Oblong uncial Character. a1734North Lives (1826) I. 20 It is not well to write, as the fashion now is, uncial or semiuncial letters. 1784Astle Orig. & Progr. Writ. 82 Uncial writing began to be adopted about the middle of the fifth century. 1844S. R. Maitland Dark Ages 207 A copy of the Gospels,..written in uncial characters. 1869J. J. Raven Ch. Bells Cambr. (1881) 12 Bells inscribed in the uncial mediæval lettering, commonly called Longobardic. 1881T. Walrond in Macm. Mag. XLIV. 151 All those that have been mentioned are written in the great uncial or capital character.
Comb.1885Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 150/2 The minuscule character is maintained intact, without intrusion of larger or uncial-formed letters.
b. Written, cut, etc., in uncial characters.
1849Curzon Monast. Levant xi. 134 The one [inscription] on the other side was either Coptic or uncial Greek. 1863Smith's Dict. Bible III. 1201 note, An uncial MS., brought by Tischendorf from St. Catherine's Monastery. 1885H. Sweet Oldest Eng. Texts 422 The latest uncial charter..is dated 736, and..it is Mercian.
c. Characterized by the use of large letters.
1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. ii. xiv, The address was in a lady's handwriting (of the delicate kind which used to be esteemed feminine before the present uncial period).
B. n.
1. An uncial or capital letter.
1775Ash, Uncial.., a letter of a larger size formerly used in inscriptions. 1784Astle Orig. & Progr. Writ. 66 All writing may be divided into capitals, uncials, and small letters. 1860I. Taylor Ess. iii. 203 His [Franklin's] name, until his later years, drew after it no cumbrous length of academic Uncials. 1875Scrivener Lect. Text N. Test. 19 These uncials attract the eye for their minuteness.
b. An uncial style of writing.
So F. onciale fem., oncial masc.
1883I. Taylor Alphabet viii. §6 II. 204 In the 7th century the Irish uncial..came into competition with the Roman uncial. 1885Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 148/1 In this class of writing there is again the same dearth of dated MSS. as in the round uncial.
2. A manuscript written in uncial characters.
1881Westcott & Hort Grk. N. Test. Introd. §98 The Greek MSS. of the New Testament are divided into two classes,—Uncials and Cursives. 1883Schaff Hist. Chr. Church, Apost. Chr. lxxxi. II. 642 note, It is omitted in several uncials and ancient versions. |