| 释义 |
volatile, n. and a.|ˈvɒlətaɪl, -ɪl|
Forms: 4, 7–8 volatil, 5 -tille, 6–7 -till, 7 -tle; 4– volatile (4 -tyle).
[a. OF. and F. volatil, -ile (= Sp. and Pg. volatil, It. volatile), or ad. L. volātilis (also late L. volātile n.), f. volāt-, ppl. stem of volāre to fly.]
A. n.
†1. collect. Birds, esp. wild-fowl. Obs. (So OF. volatil.)
a1300Cursor M. 6386 Volatil sent þaim þat king. 13..Coer de L. 4225 Off..Partryhches, plovers, and heroun, Off larkes, and smale volatyle. 1382Wyclif Gen. vii. 14 Al that moueth vpon the erthe in his kynde, and al volatile after his kynde. a1400–50Alexander 4637 Of all þe frutis on þe fold we fange at oure will, Bath venyson & volatile & variand fisches. c1475Promp. Parv. 512/1 (K.), Volatile, wyld fowle,..volatile. 1501Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. xv, To noy the small the greit beistis had na will, Nor rauenous foulis the lytill volatill. 1572Satir. Poems Reform. xxxviii. 36 As the fals fowler..Deuoiris the pure volatill he wylis to the net. a1660Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) I. 164 Espiing that greate mortalitie not yett interred, disfigured by volatle and other wilde beastes.
2. A winged creature; a bird, butterfly, or the like; a fowl. Usually in plural.
a1325Prose Psalter lxxvii. 31 [lxxviii. 27] He rained vp hem pudre, flesshes, and volatils feþered as grauel of þe se. 1382Wyclif Matt. xxii. 4, I haue made redy my mete, my boles and volatilis ben slayn. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. v. (Bodl. MS.), Alle oþer volatiles bringeþ forþe burþe vnneþe in a ȝeere. 1632J. Guillim Heraldry (ed. 2) iii. xxi. 234 No lesse than other Volatiles, or flying Animals. 1651Biggs New Disp. ⁋294 Nor is a volatile contrary to a Reptile. 1666J. Davies tr. Rochefort's Caribby Isles 230 As to the Volatiles of this Country, there are Turkeys, Pintadoes, Parrots, Woodquists. 1716Phil. Trans. XXIX. 530 That the Tongue of this Volatile was much commended..will appear from the following Quotations. 1750G. Hughes Barbados 61 By Animals I would be understood to mean..such only as are generally termed Quadrupeds, Volatiles, and Insects. 1819H. Busk Vestriad ii. 390 From that first ball where Orpheus, first of lutes, Drew reptiles, volatiles, pantiles, and brutes. c1876R. F. Burton in Lady I. Burton Life (1893) I. iii. 40 A dove not being procurable, its place was supplied by a turkey-cock, and the awful gabbling of the ill-behaved volatile caused much more merriment than was decorous.
3. A volatile matter or substance.
1686W. Harris tr. Lemery's Chym. i. xvii. (ed. 3) 408 These volatiles ought to be taken always in some cold liquor and not in hot broth. 1709T. Robinson Vind. Mosaick Syst. 16 The Earth..was only a confus'd Mass of Matter, consisting of Solids, Fluids, and Volatiles, all jumbled together. 1748Hartley Observ. Man i. ii. §7. 248 Applying Volatiles to the Nose. 1782E. Gray in Med. Comm. I. 33 Volatiles..which had been given..in order to encourage perspiration. 1810S. Green Reformist II. 2 The excessive heat of the place..rendered the use of volatiles..requisite to the delicate fair ones who composed this religious group. 1840L. Hunt Legend Florence ii. ii, Applying a volatile to her temples. 1883Times 6 June 5/2 The machine is fitted with a volatile the fumes of which cause instantaneous death.
B. adj.
†1. Of meal: So fine or light as readily to fly about. Obs.
1597A. M. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 46/2 An astringent Plaster, made of Bolus, flower, or volatill meale, of whytes of Egges [etc.]. 1599― Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 54/1 Sift them till they resemble volatile meale.
2. a. Flying, capable of flying, volant.
1626Bacon Sylva §728 The Catterpiller toward the End of Summer waxeth Volatile, and turneth to a Butterflie, or perhaps some other Fly. 1653H. Cogan Diodorus Siculus 94 It produceth likewise all kinde of creatures both terrestrial and volatile, greater and stronger then other regions. a1676Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iv. ii. (1677) 304 The production of Animals aquatil and volatil preceded the production of terrestrial Animals. 1719J. T. Philipps tr. Thirty-four Confer. 308 Their Souls will be re-committed into Bodies two-footed, four-footed, or volatile. 1786tr. Beckford's Vathek (1868) 64 One of those beautiful blue butterflies of Cashmere, which are at once so volatile and rare. 1825Hone Every-day Bk. I. 292 Pheasants by all that's volatile! 1865Athenæum 21 Oct. 535/1 Conveyed by some volatile insect.
transf.1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 135 The seeds of the largest mountain-trees are no less volatile. That of the maple has two membranous pinions similar to the wings of a fly. 1812J. Cutler Descr. Ohio 81 The cotton wood tree..has been supposed to be the same as the lombardy poplar, but..differs, at least, in the very large quantity of volatile, capillary pappus attached to the seeds.
b. Moving or flitting from one place to another, esp. with some degree of rapidity.
1654Vilvain Epit. Ess. v. lii, Two Meteors, Thunder and Lightning volatil. 1660Jer. Taylor Ductor i. iii. rule 1 §5 It is like a fire-stick which in the hand of a child being gently mov'd, gives a volatile and unfixed light. 1856N. Brit. Rev. XXVI. 169 M. De la Hire..describes these muscæ as of two kinds, some permanent and fixed,..and others as volatile, or flying about and changing their place, even though the eye be fixed.
c. Characterized by rapid passage. rare—1.
1655Marrow Complements 8 With volatile haste let us set forward to the temple.
3. a. Of substances: Characterized by a natural tendency to dispersion in fumes or vapour; liable to, or susceptible of, evaporation and diffusion, at ordinary temperatures.
1605Timme Quersit. Ded., Of which foure elements two are..volatil, as water and ayre. 1610B. Jonson Alch. ii. iii, Infuse vinegar, To draw his volatile substance and his tincture. 1656J. Smith Pract. Physick 252 Nitre is commended because it fixeth volatil things. 1671J. Webster Metallogr. iv. 74 Sulphur is fixt and not volatile. 1708J. Philips Cyder i. 21 How with heavy Bulk Volatile Hermes, fluid and unmoist, Mounts on the Wings of Air. 1764Reid Inquiry ii. §1 These volatile particles do probably repel each other. 1789W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 437 A bit of sugar dipped in compound spirits of lavender, or the volatile aromatic tincture. 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. i. (1814) 6 As soon as dung begins to decompose it throws off its volatile parts. 1854Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 49 The volatile or organic portion of coal is composed of the same elements as wood, peat and brown coal. 1876R. Routledge Discov. 28 This preliminary treatment removes all the volatile matters, expelling the whole of the carbonic acid.
transf.1769E. Bancroft Guiana 234 They afford a very strong, volatile, disagreeable smell.
b. volatile salt or volatile salts.
1639G. Plattes Discov. Subterr. Treas. 39 The fixed salt of any vegetable is different from the volatill or fugitive salt of the same. 1662R. Mathew Unl. Alch. 20 Thy Salt doth also consist of three sorts, a fixed Salt, and a Nitrous, and a Volatil. 1670W. Simpson Hydrol. Ess. 30 The neatness and novelty of the word volatile salt. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 4 It affords a great deal of volatile Salt. 1765Sterne Tr. Shandy vii. ii, The nervous juices, with the fix'd and volatile salts, are all jumbled into one mass! 1813J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 95 After smelling to volatile salts, or eating too much strong mustard,..a pain is often felt above the eye-brows. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. i. iii, Few are so happy as the Duke d'Orleans and the Prince de Condé; who can themselves, with volatile salts, attend the King's antechamber.
ellipt.1683J. Reid Scots Gardiner (1756) 80 Some have sown it [sc. salt] on moist muirish land to great advantage, for being far from the sun they have little volatile.
c. volatile alkali, ammonia. (See alkali 3.) Hence volatile-alkaline adj.
1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Alkali, No body hath hitherto produced a volatile Alkaly from the Acids of the Mineral Kingdom. 1766Phil. Trans. LVI. 98 The tincture produced did not effervesce with acids, but retained a volatile-alkaline smell. 1800Henry Epit. Chem. (1808) 121 Carbonate of ammonia retains, in a considerable degree, the pungent smell of the pure volatile alkali. 1854J. Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sci., Chem. 327 Ammonia was formerly denominated the volatile alkali.
d. volatile oil: (see essential 5 b.).
1800tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 229 Volatile oils are distinguished from the fixed oils by their acrid taste, their volatility, their aromatic odour, and their solubility in alcohol. 1836–41Brande Man. Chem. (ed. 5) 1143 The volatile or essential oils are generally obtained by distilling the vegetables, or the parts of the plants which afford them, with water, in common stills. 1880Haughton Phys. Geogr. vi. 301 Its flora is characterized by bulbous plants and those yielding volatile oils.
e. Connected with volatilization.
1807T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 403 The inside of the volatile tube is coated with charcoal in the state of a fine black.
4. Readily changing from one interest or mood to another; changeable, fickle; marked or characterized by levity or flightiness:
a. Of the mind, disposition, etc.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. iv. §146 If the Volatile, and Unquiet Spirit of the Lord Digby had not prevailed with the King. 1665Glanvill Scepsis Sci. xiv. 81 If we consider the volatile nature of those officious assistants, and the several causes which occur..to scatter and disorder them. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 330 The French..Temper is allow'd to be more volatile,..and their Spirits more fluid than in other Nations. 1759Johnson Idler No. 58 ⁋3 Sometimes occasions will be wanting to tempt the mind, however volatile, to sallies and excursions. 1796F. Burney Camilla I. 115 Her spirits were volatile, but her heart was tender. c1850Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 527 Neither kindness nor the fear of punishment was able to restrain his volatile and restless disposition. 1861Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. App. 461 The fickle, inconstant, volatile temper of the people.
b. Of persons.
1719Vanbrugh in Athenæum (1890) 6 Sept. 322/1 To think, that such a volatile gentleman..shou'd turn his thoughts & application to the duty of a Surveyors business, is a monstruous project. 1745J. Mason Self-Knowledge iii. i. (1853) 167 What is it, but a Want of Self-Knowledge and Self-Government, that makes us so unsettled and volatile in our Dispositions? 1791Boswell Johnson an. 1769 (1816) II. 108, I was volatile enough to repeat to him a little epigrammatick song of mine. 1830D'Israeli Chas. I, III. vii. 129 Henrietta was nothing more than a volatile woman. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxvii, Volatile, fickle, and childish as they generally were, they were soft-hearted and full of feeling. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 55 Either of these stories..may among a people so volatile as the Carthaginians, perhaps be true.
ellipt.1756C. Smart tr. Horace, Epist. i. xviii. (1826) II. 259 The melancholy hate the merry,..the volatile dislike the sedate.
c. Of markets, shares, etc.: showing sharp changes in price or value (merging with uses of sense 5).
1931Daily Express 31 Jan. 2/6 Some volatile issues..recorded..advances. 1977Time 19 Dec. 10/1 It stabilized the volatile lira. 1981Times 25 Sept. 1/6 The pound slipped further against all leading currencies on nervous and volatile foreign exchange markets. Ibid. 26 Sept. 23/6 Leading shares..remained volatile until after-hours trading when prices steadied a little. 1985Times 26 Jan. 23/1 It has been one of the most volatile [Stock Exchange] accounts in recent history.
5. a. Evanescent, transient; readily vanishing or disappearing; difficult to seize, retain, or fix permanently.
1665Jer. Taylor Unum Necess. v. §6 Those transient acts of devotion, or other volatile and fugitive instances of Repentance, are not the proper and proportion'd remedy to the evil of vicious habits. 1661K. W. Conf. Charac. (1860) 58, I cannot give a more substantiall expression to such a violatile subject. 1686A. Horneck Crucif. Jesus xvii. 499 Will you prefer a few airy, volatile joys before their safety? 1711Shaftesbury Charac. III. 234 Whatever Interpretations might have been made of this fragil and volatil Scripture. 1756Burke Subl. & B. Introd., This delicate and aërial faculty, which seems too volatile to endure even the chains of a definition. 1791Boswell Johnson Introd. (1816) I. 9 The incidents which give excellence to biography are of a volatile and evanescent kind. 1844Kinglake Eothen i, In the Ottoman dominions..wealth..is a highly volatile blessing, not easily transmitted. 1863― Crimea (1877) I. xiv. 239 He was a buyer and seller of those fractional and volatile interests in trading adventures which go by the name of ‘shares’. 1876Mozley Univ. Serm. xi. 214 These are..mere volatile day dreams.
b. Computers. Of a memory: retaining data only as long as there is a power supply to it.
1950W. W. Stifler et al. High-Speed Computing Devices xiv. 305 In a volatile storage medium, like a delay line, retransmission of each signal once during each storage cycle period is required. 1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing x. 136 The flip-flop register is a fast, expensive, volatile memory. 1979R. Mutch Gemstone viii. 95, I need two microprocessors, read-only and volatile memories,..and a battery.
†6. Of the air: Light; not oppressive. Obs.—1
1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 328 The Air is Serene and Volatile, which..is highly serviceable to the Respiration of all Living Creatures. |