| 释义 |
responsive, a. and n.|rɪˈspɒnsɪv|
[a. F. responsif, -ive, = Sp. and It. responsivo, or ad. late L. responsīv-us, f. respons-, respondēre: see respond v. and -ive.]
A. adj.
1. Answering, responding; making answer or reply.
†a. Of letters or epistolary replies. Also in pl. form. Obs.
1529Wolsey in Burnet Hist. Ref. (1679) I. Rec. ii. xxiii. 62 Shewing unto the same how ye have received Letters from the King's Highness and me, responsives to such as ye wrote. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ix. 3 Suppois I am not eloquent To wryt ȝow answer responsyve. 1620Brent tr. Sarpi's Counc. Trent ii. (1676) 126 When there shall be occasion to write some Letter, missive, or responsive. 1726Ayliffe Parergon 157 A Certificate..is a Responsive Letter, or Letter by way of Answer.
b. In other uses. Also const. to.
1667Milton P.L. iv. 683 Celestial voices..Sole, or responsive each to others note. 1715Pope Odyss. i. 200 High strains responsive to the vocal string. 1747Collins Passions 37 A soft responsive voice was heard at every close. 1781Cowper Charity 177 Responsive to the distant neigh he neighs. 1802–12Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) III. 48 By the responsive testimony of the defendant, the existence of the criminative fact cannot be established. 1850Blackie æschylus I. 26 There the grey heath lit the responsive fire. 1889Daily News 25 July 7/2 The proctors for the Bishop of Lincoln were assigned to bring in their responsive allegation within a fortnight.
c. Bridge. Of a double: used to invite a change to an unbid suit in response to a partner's take-out double.
1959Listener 12 Mar. 489/3 His double would be ‘responsive’. Ibid. 30 July 190/1 The responsive double is a double intended to give information when partner has already made an informatory double. 1964Official Encycl. Bridge 456/2 The minimum strength for a responsive double varies slightly with the level of the auction. 1973Reese & Dormer Compl. Bk. Bridge viii. 120 Responsive doubles are usually played up to the level of three spades.
2. Correspondent or corresponding. rare.
1602Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 159 Three of the carriages in⁓faith are..very responsiue to the hilts. 1634Canne Necess. Separ. (1849) 34 The bishops..do not maturely consider the responsive conclusions which follow upon their principles. 1867Macfarren Harmony i. 17, He extended it by the addition of four responsive or relative modes.
3. Responding readily to some influence.
1762Falconer Shipwr. ii. 45 Thus, and so quick, the helm responsive flew. 1792A. Young Trav. France 205 The vibrations of pleasurable emotions seemed more responsive than common. 1841D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 584 The imaginative critic has described the excursions of our muse with responsive sympathy. 1868Dickens Let. 29 Jan., They are a bright, responsive people here. 1871Holme Lee Miss Barrington II. xv. 232 Felicia seemed attentive and responsive.
b. Const. to.
1768Beattie Minstr. i. lv, Responsive to the sprightly pipe, when all In sprightly dance the village youth were join'd. 1793Minstrel II. 55 The heart of Eleanor did not beat responsive to his warm attachment. 1850McCosh Div. Govt. ii. ii. (1874) 210 There is no living being to feel responsive to his feelings. 1884J. M. Mather Life & Teaching Ruskin (ed. 2) 5 His nature was responsive to the influences brought to bear upon it.
4. Characterized by the use of responses.
1778R. Lowth Transl. Isaiah xxvii. 2 In that day, To the beloved Vineyard, sing ye a responsive song. 1848R. I. Wilberforce Doctr. Incarnation xii. (1852) 326 Where this responsive system of worship is lost, the nature of a public service will soon be forgotten. 1882J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 565 The alternation of the responsive system of prayer into that of prayer by the minister alone.
†5. Responsible, answerable. Obs. rare.
1642Jer. Taylor Episc. (1647) 371 For all of it, he is responsive to God Almighty. 1646― Apol. Liturgy §133 Such persons..for whom the Church her selfe may safely be responsive, that is, to men learned and pious.
B. n.
†1. An answer, a response. Obs.
1683Cave Ecclesiastici, Epiph. 429 In answer to both he wrote αντεπιστολὴ..a large Responsive, wherein he particularly opens the Doctrine of the Catholick Church.
2. A responsory. rare—1.
1855Milman Lat. Chr. xiv. iv. (1864) IX. 178 note, The mixture..of Latin Responsives and Sequences with the chief passages in the dialect of Thuringia.
Hence reˈsponsively adv.
1778R. Lowth Transl. Isaiah Notes vi. 3 This hymn, performed by the seraphim, divided into two choirs, the one singing responsively to the other. a1851Moir Bass Rock iii. Wks. 1852 I. 204 And linnets from each brake responsively Piped to each other. 1866Liddon Div. Our Lord vii. (1875) 391 The primitive Christians sang among themselves responsively a hymn of praise to Christ as God. |