| 释义 |
infallible, a. (n.)|ɪnˈfælɪb(ə)l|
Also 5–6 infal(l)yble, 6 -abil, -able, -iable.
[ad. med.L. infallibilis (in Bæda), f. in- (in-3) + fallibilis fallible. Cf. F. infaillible (15th c. in Hatz.-Darm.); also infailable.]
Not fallible.
1. Of persons, their judgements, etc.: Not liable to be deceived or mistaken; incapable of erring.
1491Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) i. Prol. 1 a/1 Blessyd be god our souerayn creatour & dyrectour Infallyble. 1529More Dyaloge i. Wks. 169/1 The infallible authoritie of the church in yt god techeth it euery trueth requisite to y⊇ necessitie of mans saluacion. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §9 If General Councells may erre, I doe not see why particular Courts should be infallible. 1651C. Cartwright Cert. Relig. i. 113 If the Popes authority be so great, and his judgement so infallible. 1771Junius Lett. xlviii. 252 Parliaments are not infallible. 1870Jevons Elem. Logic i. 8 As well might a man claim to be immortal in his body as infallible in his mind. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 209 You admitted that the ruler was not infallible and might be mistaken.
2. Of things: Not liable to fail, unfailing.
a. Not liable to prove false, erroneous, or mistaken; that unfailingly holds good.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 23 b, Our lorde to wytnesse in his blessed promesse, whiche is infalyble. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 57 Th' infallible rules of Arithmetik and Geometrie. 1577T. Vautrollier Luther on Ep. Gal. 158 It foloweth by an infallible consequence. 1654tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 73 That Maxime is infallible, that what is just, is honourable. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. ix. 228 The height of the mountains was itself an infallible mark of the harbour. 1764Reid Inquiry i. §8. 104 This justly entitles her to my..confidence, till I find infallible proofs of her infidelity. 1883H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. (ed. 2) 361 An infallible standard is a temptation to a mechanical faith.
b. Not liable to fail in its action or operation.
1711Steele Spect. No. 134 ⁋2 You..offer an infallible Cure of Vice and Folly, for the Price of one Penny. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull i. ix, An infallible ointment and plaister. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 244 The one being often liable to fail, while the other is in its nature almost infallible. 1854H. H. Wilson tr. Rig-veda II. 288 May she sew her work with an infallible needle. 1881R. T. Cooke Somebody's Neighbors 64 (Cent.) He..mended china with an infallible cement.
c. That cannot fail to be, or to come; certain.
1601Shakes. All's Well i. i. 150 To accuse your Mothers; which is most infallible disobedience. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. lv. (1623) 199 A Forme infallible to bee of the Britaine's Coines. 1843Carlyle Past & Pr. i. v, One of the infalliblest fruits of Unwisdom.
B. n. One who or that which is infallible.
1816G. S. Faber Orig. Pagan Idol. III. 333 What heretic shall presume to decide between these two discordant Infallibles? 1830Galt Lawrie T. i. ii. (1849) 4 Some proposed one kind of infallible, and some another. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. vii. (1891) 172 A point of difference between an infallible and a heretic.
Hence † inˈfallible v. trans., to render infallibly certain; also † inˈfallibleship = infallibility 1 b.
1613Jackson Creed ii. xxix. §4 His infallible-ship heares no farther in matters de facto then meaner men. 1656S. H. Gold. Law 1 We wil first begin with Scripture Arguments the better to infallible it. Ibid., We will next pursue it with right Reason which will selfly infallible it. |