| 释义 |
observable, a. and n.|əbˈzɜːvəb(ə)l|
[ad. L. observābil-is, f. observāre to observe: see -able, and cf. F. observable (c 1500 in Godef.).]
A. adj.
1. That must or may be observed, attended to, or kept.
1608T. Morton Preamb. Encount. 51 Obseruable for perpetuall remembrance. 1609Bible (Douay) Exod. xii. 42 This is the observable night of our Lord. 1879H. Spencer Princ. Sociol. §348 Forms observable in social intercourse.
2. That may be observed or taken notice of; noticeable; perceptible.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 101 As the head may be disturbed by the skin, it may the same way be relieved; as is observable in balneations. 1711Addison Spect. No. 256 ⁋3 Any little Slip is more conspicuous and observable in his Conduct than in another's. 1823H. J. Brooke Introd. Crystallogr. 33 The regularity and symmetry observable in the forms of crystallized bodies. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. §i. 455 A marked change in public sentiment became at once observable.
3. Worthy of observation, notice, or mention; noteworthy. † Formerly in stronger sense: Remarkable, notable.
1609E. Hoby Let. to Mr. T. H. 8 The Naturalistes, amongst manie other obseruable relations, record this of the Struthio. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. xxxi. §5. 130 A man of so obseruable composednesse, as that he had bin neuer seene to laugh. 1667Pepys Diary 25 July, Hogg is..the most observable embezzler that ever was known. 1775Johnson Western Isl., Inch Kenneth, We met with nothing very observable. 1789Brand Hist. Newcastle I. 495 There is an observable old chair in the vestry of this church. 1828D'Israeli Chas. I, II. x. 244 A very observable incident in the history of Charles. 1884Sir R. Baggallay in Law Rep. 27 Chanc. Div. 108 It is observable that the application must be made on sufficient ground on affidavit or otherwise.
B. n.
†1. A noteworthy thing, fact, or circumstance. Chiefly in pl. Obs.
1639Fuller Holy War xix. (1647) 30 Asher entertaineth us with these observables. 1663Pepys Diary 27 Feb., Among other observables we drank the King's health out of a gilt cup given by King Henry VIII to this Company. 1713Derham Phys.-Theol. x. i. 447 Another Observable in the Fibers of the Leaf, is their orderly Position. 1746G. Adams Micrograph. xxix. (1747) 102 (The Snail.) This slow paced slimy Animal hath many curious Observables. 1822Southey Lett. (1856) III. 364 Among other observables, it ought to be noticed that she has peculiar names for her domestic implements.
2. a. A thing that may be observed or noticed; something that can be perceived more or less directly; something that is knowable through the senses.
1660H. More Myst. Godl. iii. vi. 70 Apparent as well from what they write of his birth and amours, as from other observables in his Image. 1954A. J. Ayer Philos. Ess. i. 9 It may be left open what situations are to count as being observable; whether, for example, we are to treat such objects as electrons as being directly accessible to observation, or only such common-sense objects as chairs and tables, or only sense⁓data. Whatever decision may be taken..we are..likely to be left with some descriptive expressions which do not signify observables. 1959Listener 1 Oct. 520/1 According to Dingle, the observables of a science must be potentially observable ‘by all normal people’. 1963J. Lyons Structural Semantics i. 1 We must reject any theory of semantics the terms of which neither refer to observables nor are reducible to observables. 1964Philos. XXXIX. 262 If one supposes observables to be ontologically fundamental then models appear gratuitous. 1965P. Caws Philos. of Sci. viii. 52 The concepts which science borrows from the knowledge and experience of ordinary men..yield principally substantive and adjectival constructs directly linked to perception. Constructs having this direct link will be called observables. 1968J. J. C. Smart Between Sci. & Philos. v. 143 The instrumentalist..would agree with the operationist in holding that in science no statements are made about entities other than macroscopic observables.
b. Physics. A quantity that can (in principle) be measured.
1930P. A. M. Dirac Princ. Quantum Mech. ii. 25 In quantum mechanics it is more convenient to deal with something that refers to one particular time instead of to all times, analogous to the value of a classical variable at a particular instant of time. We shall call such a quantity an observable. 1955W. Pauli Niels Bohr 38 All physical observables are represented by Hermitian operators. 1966C. G. Hempel Philos. of Nat. Sci. vi. 74 These wave⁓lengths are not observables in the ordinary sense of the word. 1974H. Clark First Course Quantum Mech. iii. 54 In quantum mechanics..not all the observables of a system can be measured simultaneously. If some observable is measured, this act of measurement may disturb the system and change the value of some other observable... The disturbance in a classical system..can in principle be allowed for exactly but not in quantum physics. 1975Nature 31 Jan. 315/1 Body temperature, enzyme activity, leaf movement, neural firing, mitotic index or other convenient observables typically persist in regular up and down periods of about 24-h, even in ostensibly constant conditions.
†3. A point to be observed or attended to. rare.
1703T. N. City & C. Purchaser 50 Of Observables in Buying and Laying Bricks.
Hence obˈservably adv., noticeably, perceptibly, † notably; obˈservableness, the quality or fact of being observable.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 313 It grew observably shallower in his dayes. 1727Bailey vol. II, Observableness. fitness, easiness, or worthiness to be observed. 1840Carlyle Heroes i. (1858) 188 A primary law of human nature, still everywhere observably at work. |