| 释义 |
vestige|ˈvɛstɪdʒ|
[a. F. vestige, ad. L. vestīgium footstep, footprint, trace, mark, etc. Cf. the earlier vestigy.]
I.
1. A mark, trace, or visible sign of something, esp. a building or other material structure, which no longer exists or is present; a piece of material evidence of this nature; something which remains after the destruction or disappearance of the main portion.
In the singular freq. in negative phrases.
pl.1602J. Colville Parænese u ij, Not..farder..nor vnto ye vall of Septimius Seuerus..vharof the vestiges yit remane. a1700Evelyn Diary 20 Nov. 1644, Descending the Mons Cælius we come against the vestiges of the Palazzo Maggiore. 1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 297 We see the beginning of a Vault..with the Vestiges of the Stair upon it. 1791W. Gilpin Forest Scenery II. 136 The vestiges of different buildings, and the walls of a small chapel, still remain. 1816Sir H. Davy in Faraday's Exp. Res. (1859) 4 Vestiges of extinct volcanoes exist in all the low countries on the western side of the Appennines. 1847Prescott Peru iii. viii. I. 459 They had not been molested by enemies. But more than once they had seen vestiges of them in smoking hamlets and ruined bridges. 1864D. G. Mitchell Sev. Stor. 243 Others wandered thither, seeking vestiges of old inheritance.
sing.1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 240 Of these there is not the least Vestige remaining. 1743Kames Decis. Crt. Sess. 1730–52 (1799) 63 There was no remaining vestige of any moveable effects. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 370 No..vestige of the inflammable principle [will] appear. 1806Med. Jrnl. XV. 98 Not the least vestige of a slough could be perceived. 1839J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. xii. 140 A vestige of some ancient fabric may be seen..near the church. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. 280 There is now scarce vestige left of any building prior to the fifteenth century.
b. A surviving memorial or trace of some condition, quality, practice, etc., serving as an indication of its former existence. Usu. in pl.
a1700Evelyn Diary 29 Jan. 1645, The once mighty Capua..shewing some vestige of its former magnificence in pieces of temples, arches [etc.]. 1792Burke Corr. (1844) III. 378 That line of policy which government has pursued:..that, I mean, of wearing out the vestiges of conquest. 1805Foster Ess. i. iii. I. 35 The vestiges of the first indelible impression. a1850J. C. Calhoun Wks. (1874) III. 282 These consolidation doctrines sweep away at a blow every vestige of State Rights. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 197 A toll..drove away the last vestige of lawful traffic. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 71 Modern enquirers..have also detected..the vestiges of a patriarchal state still surviving.
c. Without of, in prec. senses.
1735Thomson Liberty ii. 404 Scarce any trace remaining, vestige grey, Or nodding column..To point where Corinth, or where Athens stood. 1789Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 127 A mode..that I think will..leave no vestiges behind. 1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 32 A solid body of stone..which exhibits no manner of vestige or leader whatever to point out which way the coal is gone. 1814Scott Border Antiq. I. 1 This ancient baronial edifice is now in ruins,..and nothing scarcely remains but a few melancholy vestiges, which [etc.]. 1830G. A. Cooke Topogr. Descr. Surrey 68 Not a vestige is now standing, but the coloured bricks, stones, etc...prove that the materials have not been entirely destroyed.
d. A very small or slight trace, indication, or amount (of something); a particle, a scrap.
1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 111 If it contains the least vestige, the slightest taint,..precipitation follows. 1781Cowper Conversat. 219 On all the vestiges of truth attend, And let them guide you to a decent end. 1802Playfair Illustr. Huttonian Theory 334 The mountain..appeared to me to be without any vestige of stratification. 1834Pringle Afr. Sk. ix. 298 Not a vestige of green pasturage was to be descried. 1884Chr. Commonwealth 12 June 824/1 The general ruck and run of our politicians have scarcely a vestige of lofty motive or noble principle.
2. Biol. A surviving trace of some part formerly existing in the species; a vestigial organ or structure (see quot. 1886).
1859Darwin Orig. Species xiii. (1860) 454 Rudimentary organs,..as..the vestige of an ear in earless breeds. 1868Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 10) iii. xxxv. II. 274 The aquatic reptile called Proteus anguinus,..which retains only the vestiges or rudiments of eyes. 1886J. A. Ryder in Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 80 On investigating the condition of the vestiges of these limbs we find that the skeletal parts have actually been arrested. Ibid. note, Structures which are disappearing should be called vestiges.
II.
3. A mark or trace left on the ground by the foot; a footprint; a track. rare.
1656Blount Glossogr. (following Cooper), Vestige, the print of a mans foot, a footstep, a trace, or track, or mark of any thing. 1719Boyer Dict. Royal 1, Vestige, step, footstep, vestige. 1820Shelley Hymn Merc. xxxvii, Who with unwearied feet could e'er impress The sand with such enormous vestiges? 1841Elphinstone Hist. India I. 363 In a dry country a bare foot leaves little print to common eyes; but one of these people..will pursue a robber by these vestiges for a distance that seems incredible.
fig.1824Landor Imag. Conv. I. 8 A country where prophet comes after prophet, and each treads out the last vestige from the sand.
b. transf. An impression made upon the brain by an image. rare.
1885J. Martineau Types Eth. The. i. ii. §2 Through the senses, external objects act upon the brain,..leaving a durable vestige there. Ibid. i. ii. §8 An image of sense or fancy, persistent in proportion to the depth of the cerebral vestige. |