| 释义 |
oddness|ˈɒdnɪs|
[f. odd a. + -ness.]
1. Unevenness of number.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxvi. (Add. MS. 27944), And so in euene diuision is nouȝt euenenesse medled wiþ oddenesse, nouþer oddenesse wiþ euenenesse. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. iii[i.]. (Arb.) 85 The first seemes shorter then the later, who shewes a more odnesse..by reason of his sharpe accent which is vpon the last sillable. a1619M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. x. §4 (1622) 307 Take but One, from Three; and you..destroy the odnesse. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 407 The number three, which participates in oddness, excludes the even.
†2. Unique or rare character, singularity. Obs.
1581Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 188 Oftimes the report of that odnesse which we see not in effect, but heare of in speeche, falles out very lame. 1625Bp. J. Williams Gt. Brit. Salomon 36 So will I compare these two Kings..that you may see, by the odnesse of their proportion, how they differ from all Kings beside. 1666J. Davies Hist. Caribby Isls. 127 So neatly made, that the eye cannot be cloy'd with considering the odness of their shapes.
3. Divergence from what is ordinary or usual; strangeness, peculiarity; eccentricity.
1611Cotgr., Bigearrure,..odnesse of humor, fantasticalnesse. 1711Addison Spect. No. 7 ⁋1, I was reflecting with my self on the Oddness of her Fancy. 1785S. Fielding Ophelia I. xiii, The oddness of the event would make people curious. 1836Macgillivray tr. Humboldt's Trav. xxii. 315 The oddness of the dresses of the principal personages.
†4. Want of congruity or harmony, irregularity. Obs. rare.
1680Otway Orphan iv. ii, In my house I only meet with oddness and disorder.
5. With an and pl. Something odd; † an irregularity, a discrepancy (obs.); a peculiarity.
1713Steele Guardian No. 10 ⁋7, I shall be enabled..to introduce several pretty oddnesses in the taking and tucking up of gowns. 1714Hue & Cry after Dr. S―ft in Somers Tracts I. 390 Take Pen in Hand: Write some Odnesses. 1738Wheler in Phil. Trans. XLI. 123 Neither of these Solutions would account for the Variety of Oddnesses I have met with. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt xxxvi, It seemed an oddness requiring explanation. |