| 释义 |
plantigrade, a. (n.) Zool.|ˈplæntɪgreɪd|
[a. F. plantigrade (Geoffroy and Cuvier 1795), in mod.L. plantigradus walking on the sole of the foot, f. L. planta sole + -gradus going, walking.]
Walking upon the soles of the feet (opp. to digitigrade); also said of the feet, or of the walk, of an animal. (In this general sense, man is a plantigrade animal.) Commonly restricted to the former tribe Plantigrada of carnivorous mammals, comprising several quadrupeds now distributed in various families, as the bear, wolverene, badger, racoon, etc.
1831Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) III. 10/2 The animals distinguished by the name of Plantigrade are believed to support themselves on the entire foot. 1836–9Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 978/2 The hinder feet in the whole of this order are plantigrade. 1875Sir W. Turner in Encycl. Brit. I. 830/1 The human foot, therefore, is a pentadactylous, plantigrade foot. 1877Coues Fur Anim. vii. 188 They are terrestrial animals,..the walk is plantigrade.
b. In reference to human beings: Placing the whole sole of the foot upon the ground at once in walking; flat-footed.
1837C. le Grice in Lamb's Wks. (1876) I. 7 His [Lamb's] step was plantigrade, which made his walk slow and peculiar. 1861Russell Diary North & S. (1863) I. 384 He [the negro] is plantigrade and curved as to the tibia.
c. transf. Of or belonging to a plantigrade animal, as a bear.
1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xl. (1856) 362 A hirsute, bearded fellow, with the true plantigrade countenance. 1860O. W. Holmes Elsie V. iv, The black bear alone could have set that plantigrade seal.
B. n. A plantigrade animal; esp. one of the former order Plantigrada: see above.
1835Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. II. xvii. 212 The Plantigrades are so called because they walk, like man, upon the whole foot. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. i. (1872) 7 With the exception of the plantigrades or bear family. |