| 释义 |
▪ I. venal, a.1|ˈviːnəl|
Also 6 venall.
[ad. L. vēnāl-is, f. vēnum that which is sold or for sale. So OF. venal, F. vénal, Sp. and Pg. venal, It. venale.]
1. Of things:
a. Exposed or offered for sale, that may be bought, as an ordinary article of merchandise. Also, associated or connected with ordinary sale or purchase. Now arch.
1662Evelyn Chalcogr. 147 Not as a Venal addition to the price of the Book..but..as a Specimen of what we have alledged. 1663Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. ii. 358 Premising..that by Sal Armoniack I here mean the Factitious and Venal. 1746Francis tr. Horace, Epist. ii. ii. 14 He sinks in Credit, who attempts to raise His venal Wares with over-rating Praise, To put them off his Hands. 1849R. T. Claridge Cold Water Cure 38 Men..avoid water—perhaps because it costs nothing (for, in our artificial life, we are led to esteem things according to their venal price). 1883Athenæum 3 Nov. 564/3 The book, though open for many years to the frequenters of great libraries, has not been venal on the shelves of the ordinary bookseller. 1888Sat. Rev. 7 Jan. 12 The figs..might be venal at the nearest stall without our troubling the stall-keeper.
b. Of offices, privileges, etc.: Capable of being acquired by purchase, instead of being conferred on grounds of merit or regarded as above bargaining for.
1675Brooks Gold. Key Wks. 1867 V. 9 When these places of honour and trust were made venal,..and sold for ready money to such as gave most for them. 1772in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 405 In the last Parliament, the places being quite venal, the young men, who had purchased, were the majority. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 169 The face of affairs in France is at present greatly altered; every thing there is now become venal. 1839J. Mendham (title), The Venal Indulgences and pardons of the Church of Rome, exemplified [etc.]. 1845Ford Handbk. Spain i. 5 They see that wealth is safety and power where everything is venal. 1860Motley Netherl. ii. (1868) I. 41 All posts and charges were venal.
c. Of support, favour, etc.: That may be bought or obtained for a price; ready to be given in return for some reward without regard for higher principles.
1652Gaule Magastrom. 196 Prophecy is not venal, or to be bought and hired with mony and preferments. 1725Pope Odyss. ii. 217 From him some bribe thy venal tongue requires. 1738Johnson London 198 The Laureate Tribe in venal Verse relate, How Virtue wars with persecuting Fate. 1769Junius Lett. xi. (1788) 73 You may command a venal vote. 1815W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 26 note, Deigning to subsidize a venal pen in order to throw a gloss over the flagrant dereliction. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. xliv. II. 165 As the Senate is smaller..the vote of each member is of more consequence, and fetches, when venal, a higher price.
2. Of persons: Capable of being bought over or bribed; ready to lend support or exert influence for purely mercenary considerations; of an unprincipled and hireling character.
1670Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 326 We are all venal cowards, except some few. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. x. 414 Their Magistrates are corrupt..and their tribunals crafty and venal. 1781Cowper Table-t. 352 And every venal stickler for the yoke Felt himself crush'd at the first word he spoke. 1842W. C. Taylor Anc. Hist. x. §6 (ed. 3) 284 Venal orators conducted the prosecution. 1881Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. ii. vi. 252 Rome was as venal under the popes as Jugurtha found her under the Republic.
3. Connected or associated with sordid and unprincipled bargaining; subject to mercenary or corrupt influences.
1718Rowe tr. Lucan I. 338 Hence slaughter in the venal field returns, And Rome her yearly competitions mourns. 1730–46Thomson Autumn 1067 Thy pathetic eloquence! that..Of honest Zeal th' indignant lightning throws, And shakes Corruption on her venal throne. 1796Burke Regic. Peace Wks. VIII. 194 To squander us away..for a venal enlargement of their own territories. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) III. xxiv. 371 No one has accused him of attempting to enrich his exchequer by the venal sale of office. 1885Fargus Slings & Arrows 62 The compartment of the train which was, by a venal arrangement of the guard's, reserved to ourselves.
▪ II. venal, a.2 Now rare or Obs.|ˈviːnəl|
[f. L. vēna vein n. + -al1. Cf. venial a.2]
1. Of blood: Contained in the veins.
1615Crooke Body of Man 30 So the Heart..containeth in his right ventricle venal, in his left arterial blood. 1665Needham Med. Medic. 417 Bleeding drains onely the Venal Bloud. 1745Franklin Lett. Wks. 1887 II. 10, I cannot conceive how they are dilated. It is said, by the force of the venal blood rushing into them. 1781P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 123 He made a strong ligature on his neck, that the venal blood might be emitted with the greater impetus. 1807Med. Jrnl. XVII. 302 The blood that was discharged was evidently venal.
2. Of or pertaining to, connected with, forming, of the nature of, a vein or veins.
1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 319 The right [auricle] before the vena cava, and the left [before] the venal arterie. 1669W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 70 Making it [the blood] to restagnate in some of the arterial or venal chanels. 1744Phil. Trans. XLIII. 60 The Blood is stopp'd, as mentioned before, in the little venal parallel Canals. 1748Hartley Observ. Man i. i. §1. 45 The venal Sinuses which surround the Brain and spinal Marrow. 1797M. Baillie Morb. Anat. (1807) 107 There was no obstruction at the entrance of the thoracic duct into the venal system. 1822–7Good Study Med. (1829) III. 479 To make the skin do the office of a valve to the venal opening.
▪ III. venal(e
obs. forms of vennel. |