| 释义 |
amenable, a.|əˈmiːnəb(ə)l|
Also 6–8 amesnable, 7–8 amainable.
[apparently a. AFr. amenable (not in Godef.), f. amener to bring to or before, f. à to + mener to lead:—L. mināre to threaten, hence to drive cattle with minatory shouts. Cf. Sc. ca' = call and drive. The spelling amesnable is quite artificial, influenced by mesne, demesne, etc.]
1. Of persons: Liable to be brought before any jurisdiction; answerable, liable to answer, responsible (to law, etc., or absol.).
1596Spenser State of Irel. 100 Not amesnable to Law. 1662Fuller Worthies ii. 74 The inferiour sort of the Irish were..not Amesnable by Law. 1691Blount Law Dict., Amenable, others write it amainable, from the Fr. main, a hand..is applied in our Law Books to a Woman that is supposed governable by her Husband. 1769Junius Lett. Pref. 12 The sovereign of this country is not amenable to any form of trial. 1810Coleridge Friend (ed. 3) II. 5 The sufficiency of the conscience to make every person a moral and amenable being. 1876Grant Burgh. Sch. Scotl. i. i. 6 The Abbots of Dunfermline, to whom only he was amenable.
2. Of things: Liable to the legal authority of.
1768Blackstone Comm. III. 413 Personal property, which is..always amesnable to the magistrate. 1817Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. ix. 697 All offences against the act were rendered amenable to the courts of law.
3. Hence loosely. Liable (to a charge, claim, etc.).
1863Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. xvii. 431 He is amenable to the charge of a host of vices. 1876E. Mellor Priesth. vii. 312 The next witness..is amenable to the same imputation of uncandid..quotation. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. (C.D. ed.) 270 Your property..being amenable to all claims upon the company.
4. fig. Answerable at the bar of (any critical instrument): capable of being tested by. Const to.
1828Mill Autobiogr. (1924) 298 Make them amenable to the general tribunal of the public at large. 1843― Logic I. ii. i. 216 Such of them [sc. assertions]..as, not being amenable to direct consciousness or intuition, are appropriate subjects of proof. 1845― Ess. II. 220 Historical facts are hardly yet felt to be..amenable to scientific laws. 1867Buckle Civilis. III. v. 369 Amenable to the touch, but invisible to the eye.
5. Of persons and things: Disposed to answer, respond, or submit (to influence); responsive, tractable; capable of being won over.
1803Wellington in Gen. Disp. II. 417 A high spirited people..by no means amenable to discipline. 1861Mill Utilitar. iv. 60 Will..is amenable to habit. 1874Spurgeon Treas. David lxxxii. i. IV. 40 Oriental judges are frequently..amenable to bribes. 1878E. White Life in Christ v. xxix. 496 Perplexed but amenable spirits whom sorrow and fear..are drawing back to their Father. |