| 释义 |
autochthon|ɔːˈtɒkθən, -əʊn|
Pl. autochthons, or in L. form autochthones |ɔːˈtɒkθəniːz|.
[a. Gr. αὐτόχθων sprung from that land itself, f. αὐτο- (see auto-1) + χθών, χθονός, earth, soil.]
1. lit. A human being sprung from the soil he inhabits; a ‘son of the soil.’
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 274 There was therefore never any Autochthon, or man arising from the earth but Adam. 1660N. Ingelo Bentiv. and Ur. ii. (1682) 83 [They] suppose men to be Autochthones, Intelligent Mushromes. 1879Jefferies Wild Life in S.C. 147 He loves the earth on which he walks like a true autochthon.
2. Hence in pl. The earliest known dwellers in any country; original inhabitants, aborigines.
1741Warburton Div. Legat. II. 28 They thought themselves Autochthones. 1851D. Wilson Preh. Ann. (1863) I. ix. 279 But for the evidence of history, the Norse population of the Orkneys would appear to be autochthones. 1858Gladstone Homer I. 205 Greek tradition..placed the Pelasgians first in the Peloponnesus as autochthons.
3. transf. and fig. Original inhabitants or products.
1837Campbell To Sp. Patriots ii, Ye Are worse than common fiends from Heaven that fell, The baser, ranker sprung, Autochthones of Hell! 1879Le Conte Elem. Geol. 553 The Pliocene Autochthones were destroyed.
4. Geol. An autochthonous rock formation; opp. allochthon.
1942M. P. Billings Struct. Geol. x. 181 Rocks of the foreland..are said to be autochthonous—that is developed where found; these rocks are sometimes called the autochthon. 1957[see allochthon]. 1961J. Challinor Dict. Geol. 15/1 The ‘autochthon’ is essentially a rock-succession that, as a whole, has not been translated by tectonic movement (it forms part of the foreland); but it may show..autochthonous folding, within itself.
5. An indigenous plant.
1893in Funk's Stand. Dict. 1916B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms (ed. 3) 40/2 Autochthon,..a native plant, not an introduction. |