| 释义 |
presentable, a.|prɪˈzɛntəb(ə)l|
[f. present v. + -able: cf. F. présentable.]
1. That can or may be presented; capable of, or suitable for, presentation (to a person, to the mind, as a gift, etc.).
a1626A. Lake Medit. (1629) a ij b, Faultring words, wandring thoughts, are neither of them presentable to thee. 1756Burke Subl. & B. v. vii, Here are again two ideas not presentable but by language. 1854Faraday Exp. Res. lv. 468 Under that form it is easily presentable to the mind. 1868E. Edwards Ralegh I. xv. 280 These possibilities of a presentable claim.
2. Law. That may or should be presented, or formally brought up or charged, as an offence, an offender, etc.; liable to presentment.
1540Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 43 Thinges enquirable presentable or determinable before iusticers of peas. a1701in Prideaux Direct. Ch.-wardens (1701) 11 They will..present such persons and things as are presentable by the Ecclesiastical Laws. 1739N. Bacon's Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lxvi. 145 note, This was originally presentable and punishable in the Leet. 1863Keble Life Bp. T. Wilson I. x. 327 It [drunkenness] should be especially enumerated among the presentable offences.
3. Eccl.
a. Of a benefice: To which a clergyman may be presented: = presentative 1.
b. Of a clergyman: Capable of being presented to a benefice (rare—0).
1636Prynne Unbish. Tim. (1661) 130 Were all Appropriations, and impropriations..made presentable. 1686Plot Staffordsh. 297 To found such a Church or Chappel, and to ordain that it shall be a donative and not presentable. 1726Ayliffe Parergon 90 No more..than Incumbents of Churches Presentable can by their sole Act grant the Incumbencies to others. 1882Ogilvie (Annandale), Presentable..3. Eccles. (a) Capable of being presented to a church living; as, a presentable clerk. [So in later Dicts.]
4. Suitable, by attire or appearance, to be presented or introduced into society or company; in proper trim; of decent appearance, fit to be seen. (Properly of persons; often extended to things.) The usual current sense. Also fig.
1800M. Edgeworth Parent's Assistant (ed. 3) VI. 147 Do send my ooman to me to make me presentable. 1801― Belinda I. iv. 132 Excuse me for showing you the simple truth; well dressed falsehood is a personage much more presentable. 1827Scott Jrnl. 29 Aug., I am glad..that his friends are so presentable. 1835Willis Pencillings II. xlii. 34 A wash in the clean water made him once more a presentable person. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xiv, Is he a presentable sort of a person? 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-Bks. I. 170 The pictures being in a more presentable condition than usual. 1887R. N. Carey Uncle Max v, She..was quite a presentable young lady. 1898Mrs. Crawford in Daily News 12 Dec., This table looks very fine set out for an official dinner, but only the ends are of mahogany and have presentable legs. 1907J. M. Synge Lett. to Molly (1971) 172, I will show it to you tomorrow if it is presentable enough. 1925C. Connolly Let. 23 Apr. in Romantic Friendship (1975) 72 He [sc. Maurice Bowra] is extremely presentable in any society. 1965F. Raphael Darling xix. 87 It was enough to be socially presentable. 1974Times 19 Oct. 6/7 Bowra remarked that he had had his hair cut—‘makes one more presentable’. The word ‘presentable’..was a very important epithet in the Bowra system of social terminology... Those who had ‘unpresentable’ pinned on them were remorselessly barred. 1979A. Morice Murder in Outline ii. 12 A group of more presentable-looking seniors granted the privilege of handing round the apéritifs.
Hence presentaˈbility, the quality of being presentable; (a) capability of presentation; (b) state of being fit to be seen; preˈsentably adv., in a presentable manner, so as to have a decent appearance.
1865Masson Rec. Brit. Philos. 297 The phænomenal presentablility within it..of other and non-native sentiencies, angelic or demonic. 1888J. Martineau Stud. Relig. I. i. iv. 124 We adopt the test of objective presentability (Anschauung). 1888Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 447 Old boots, which had long passed the season of presentability. 1892A. E. Lee Hist. Columbus (Ohio) I. 252 The Square was enclosed, for the first time presentably, with a fence of cedar posts and white painted palings. |