释义 |
nominally, adv.|ˈnɒmɪnəlɪ| [f. nominal a.] 1. By name; as regards a name or names.
1665Manley Grotius Low C. Wars 973 It consisted with the Honour of the Commonwealth nominally to include the House of Nassau, which had so well deserved of Liberty. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough I. 28, I shall only recount one memorable Story..without applying it nominally to the Persons. 1783W. F. Martyn Geog. Mag. II. 325 The kings of England and of France are both nominally prayed for in the Churches of Geneva. 1822De Quincey Confess. Pref., He was nominally known to the public as Dean of Carlisle. †2. As a noun, substantively. Obs. rare—1.
1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 200 World, whether it be in the singular number or plural, may betoken plurally or indefinitely, and as much adverbially as nominally. 3. In name, as opposed to really.
1748Hartley Observ. Man ii. iv. Concl. 440 The nominally Christian States of these Western Parts. 1776Adam Smith W. N. ii. iv. (1869) I. 358 The profits of stock would be the same, both nominally and really. 1822Byron Werner iv. i. 50 The country (nominally now at peace) Is over-run with—God knows who. 1884J. Gilmour Mongols xxxi. 361 Many a lama who has nominally a sufficient income never receives more than half of his due.
Add:[3.] Also in weakened sense: ostensibly, apparently, supposedly; theoretically.
1926J. Buchan Dancing Floor ii. 37, I went to Oxford occasionally, nominally to visit Charles; but..it generally ended by my spending my time with Vernon. 1963L. MacNeice Varieties of Parable (1965) iii. 75 Certain very adult things could best be said in books which, nominally at least, were meant for children. 1985C. Rycroft Psychoanalysis & Beyond xx. 204, I was nominally doing research, though nothing worth publishing ever emerged. |