| 释义 |
▪ I. inventory, n.|ˈɪnvəntərɪ|
[ad. med.L. inventōri-um, for cl.L. inventāri-um (see inventar, inventary): cf. OF. inventoire, inventore.]
1. A detailed list of articles, such as goods and chattels, or parcels of land, found to have been in the possession of a person at his decease or conviction, sometimes with a statement of the nature and value of each; hence any such detailed statement of the property of a person, of the goods or furniture in a house or messuage, or the like.
[1483: see invitory n.2] 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §151, I haue sene..inuentories made after theyr decease of theyr appareyll. 1577Hellowes Gueuara's Chron. 137 He caused them to giue an inuentorie, of their owne proper goods. 1582in Hakluyt Voy. (1600) III. 755 You shall make a iust and true inuentorie..of all the tackle [etc.]. 1590Swinburne Testaments 101 b, Euerie tutor ought..to make a true inuentorie of al the goods and cattelles of his pupil. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 451 There take an Inuentory of all I haue, To the last peny, 'tis the Kings. a1714Burnet Hist. Ref. an. 1553 (R.) Visitors were..appointed to examine what church-plate, jewels, and other furniture, was in all cathedrals and churches; and to compare their account with the inventories made in former visitations. 1769Junius Lett. xxix. 133 note, The..duke..ordered an inventory to be taken of his son's wearing apparel. 1855Prescott Philip II, I. iii. iii. 345 The duke's emissaries were active in making inventories of the property of the suspected parties.
2. a. gen. or fig. from 1. A list, catalogue; a detailed account.
1589Pappe w. Hatchet D iv, I haue taken an inuentorie of al thy vnciuill..tearmes. 1607E. Grimstone (title) A General Inventorie of the History of France from the beginning of the Monarchie unto 1598. By I. de Serres. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. i. vi. Wks. (1851) 126 What sects? What are their opinions? give us the Inventory. a1708Beveridge Priv. Th. i. (1730) 56 All He hath is briefly summed up in this short Inventory; whatsoever is in Heaven above, or in the Earth beneath, is His. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Ability Wks. (Bohn) II. 40 Sir John Herschel..at the Cape of Good Hope, finished his inventory of the southern heaven. 1857Trench Defic. Eng. Dict. 5 The lexicographer is making an inventory; that is his business;..his task is to make his inventory complete.
b. spec. in Linguistics.
1945–49Acta Linguistica V. 88 The graphemes become manifested in concrete letters and letter-attributes... These items make up what may be called the graphic inventory of the given language, which has..its counterpart in the phonic inventory of the same language. 1954U. Weinreich in Word X. 394 One thing is certain: In the study of language contact and interference..a clear picture of differences in inventory is a prerequisite. Ibid. 395 We are not told whether in the phoneme inventory of Southeastern American English, the /æy/ of pass does or does not correspond as an inventory item to the /æ/ of other varieties. 1971B. Mafeni in J. Spencer Eng. Lang. W. Afr. 109 It is possible that a number of nasalised vowel phonemes may be included in the vowel inventories of some of the conservative varieties of Nigerian Pidgin spoken in certain parts of the country.
3. a. transf. The lot or stock of goods, etc., which are or may be made the subject of an inventory.
1691Norris Pract. Disc. 5 Those who have duly prized and valued the whole Inventory of this World's goods. 1784Cowper Task iv. 401 All the care Ingenious Parsimony takes, but just Saves the small inventory, bed, and stool, Skillet, and old carv'd chest, from public sale. 1890E. F. Knight Cruise of ‘Alerte’ ii. 30 She was provided..with new sails..and an excellent inventory throughout. 1895Daily News 30 Nov. 3/4 Paying all outgoings, which included a heavy inventory.
b. spec. The quantity of material, etc., in use or held in stock in an installation at any one time. Also attrib.
1955Proc. Internat. Conf. Peaceful Uses Atomic Energy (United Nations) III. 4/2 The inventory is the total of all separated fissile fuel supplied to the reactor or system other than produced internally in the reactor, less the amount assignable to the steady rate of make-up. 1963Chem. Engineer 292/1 Returns..may range from inventory statements to quality control rights. Ibid., The problem of maintaining minimum inventories at minimum cost to the company. 1970New Scientist 25 June 628/2 Freezing also wins over evaporating as the ‘heat inventory’ is far lower—the latent heat of fusion is far less than the latent heat of evaporation. 1970Supervisor XXI. 65/2 Vehicles are built for inventory in slack sales periods in anticipation of the peak sales periods. Production hours can thus be stored as physical inventory.
4. attrib.
1529in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 532 The Inventory Bylle wrytten by Richard Thurketill parishe prest of Eye.
1906Daily Chron. 1 Feb. 5/1 An attempt to enforce the inventory clause of the new separation law was responsible for serious conflict between the police and the people in many quarters of Paris to-day. 1927Carr-Saunders & Jones Survey Social Struct. Eng. & Wales 107 There is a distinction between what we may call the ‘going concern’ and the ‘inventory’ methods of estimating wealth. 1943N. J. Silberling Dynamics of Business xviii. 443 Manufacturing and mining industries are now able to operate more freely on a rational inventory-valuation method that unquestionably will introduce greater stability in income statements. Ibid. xvi. 367 Speculation in raw materials or merchandise or what is known as ‘inventory write-up’. 1951A. H. Hansen Business Cycles & National Income ii. ix. 122 What is happening..to inventory accumulation..throws light on how business activity, employment, and income are likely to unfold. 1958Spectator 7 Feb. 186/1 One would expect the present cyclical-type recession [in the U.S.A.] to last longer than the previous inventory-type recession of twelve to sixteen months. 1962A. Battersby Guide to Stock Control p. vii, Not only do excessive stocks immobilize our capital resources: they can generate the so-called ‘inventory recession’. 1969J. Argenti Managem. Techniques 137 That aspect of inventory control concerned with how large a consignment of any given item one puts into stock at a time.
▪ II. inventory, v.|ˈɪnvəntərɪ|
See also inventary.
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To make an inventory or descriptive list of; to enter in an inventory, to catalogue:
a. goods, etc.
[1526: see invitory.] 1622Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) II. 40 Sir Lawrence Parsons..was to inventory all the wrytings. 1649Evelyn Diary 2 Apr., To London, and inventoried my moveables. 1721Lond. Gaz. No. 5986/3 Any such Estate not inventoried. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 110 Certain commissioners were..appointed to inventory, secure and appraise the said goods. 1881M. A. Lewis 2 Pretty Girls I. 2 All his possessions were being inventoried for sale.
b. gen. or fig. (Cf. to take stock of.)
1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 264 It [my beauty] shal be inuentoried and euery particle and vtensile labell'd to my will. 1645Milton Colast. Wks. (1851) 345 The lerned Author himself is inventoried, and summ'd up, to the utmost value of his Livery cloak. 1730T. Boston View Covt. Grace (1771) 228 This trust makes the unsearchable riches of Christ, not to be particularly inventoried by us, since they are unsearchable. 1889C. D. Warner Lit. Journ. World vii, When she had scanned and thoroughly inventoried Margaret.
2. intr. and trans. To amount to or be worth (so much) on an inventory.
1902G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant ix. 113 The last time I saw her, she inventoried about $10,000 as she stood. 1905Springfield (Mass.) Weekly Republ. 20 Oct. 12 The late Senator Platt left an estate which inventories at $20,880. |