| 释义 |
vacillation|væsɪˈleɪʃən|
Also 5 -acion.
[ad. L. vacillātio, noun of action f. vacillāre vacillate v. So F. vacillation (1512), It. vacillazione, Pg. vacillação, Sp. vacilacion.]
1. The action or quality of alternating or wavering in respect of opinion or conduct; hesitation, uncertainty.
c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxx. 80 Tho that ben naturelle of the same countre withouten vacillacion wille done theyr deuoyre. 1623Cockeram i, Vacillation, inconstancy, wauering. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. III, Wks. (1711) 40 That the friendship begun might continue without all vacillation. 1697G. Burghope Disc. Relig. Assemb. 101 This vacillation of thoughts is in some the consequent of their very constitution. 1791Boswell Johnson (Oxf. ed.) I. 204 Christopher Smart, with whose unhappy vacillation of mind he sincerely sympathised. 1828D'Israeli Chas. I, I. iii. 34 In the vacillation of the disputants, victory hung on the subtilty of an argument. a1853F. Robertson Serm. Ser. iv. vii. (1876) 49 There is such an indecision, such a vacillation about the man. 1874Green Short Hist. vii. §3. 365 Elizabeth..screened her..statesmanship under the natural timidity and vacillation of her sex.
b. An instance of this.
1828D'Israeli Chas. I, I. v. 116 The agents on both sides were shocked at the vacillations of their own Cabinets. 1879Church Spenser 22 When all about her [Elizabeth] were dismayed both at the plan itself and at her vacillations.
2. The action, or an act, of swaying or swinging unsteadily to and fro.
Quot. 1633 is a rendering of St. Augustine De Rect. Cath. Conv. §5, where the reading vacillationes is doubtful.
1633Prynne 1st Pt. Histrio-m. 27 To prohibit the vse of all diabolicall Enterludes, Vacillations, and songs of the Gentiles. 1635H. Valentine Sea-Serm. 57 The second effect of a tempest is the vacillation, staggering, and trepidation of their bodies. 1711–2Derham Phys.-Theol. v. ii. (1739) II. 667 To keep the Body upright, and prevent its falling, by readily assisting against every Vacillation thereof. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. xi. §5. 220 The bones of the feet..are put in action by every slip or vacillation of the body, and seem to assist in restoring its balance. 1837Blackw. Mag. XLII. 233 For this cause did the intelligent creature repose (though not indeed without vacillation) on the lower perch.
3. Variation between extremes. rare—1.
1768Phil. Trans. LVIII. 160 We shall then have..the double menstrual parallax, or vacillation, arising from the whole diameter of the epicycle, 14{pp}. |