| 释义 |
capability|ˌkeɪpəˈbɪlɪtɪ|
[f. capable: see -bility, -ity. Of mod.Eng. formation; there is no similar word in French.]
The quality of being capable in various senses.
†1. The quality of having room for any thing; ability to receive or contain. Cf. capacity. Obs.
1616Bullokar, Capability, an aptnesse to containe or receiue. 1627Hakewill Apol. 223 (R.) Discoursing of the arke and the capabilitie thereof. 1656in Blount Glossogr.
2. Power or ability in general, whether physical or mental; capacity.
1587Golding De Mornay xv. 240 The abilitie or capabilitie that is in men to vnderstand things. 1602Shakes. Ham. iv. iv. 38 He..gaue vs not That capability and godlike reason To fust in us vnused. 1825McCulloch Pol. Econ. ii. ii. 125 Commodities, for the production of which they have no natural capability. 1856Sir B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. I. iii. 91 The capability of fixing the attention.
3. Legal or moral qualification or capacity.
1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 58 The Righteousness of his Manhood giveth capability to his obedience to justifie. 1846G. Phillips in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. cv. 22 The capability of binding is to be regarded as an evidence of authority.
4. The quality of being susceptible of, or admitting of treatment, in any specified manner.
1794G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. II. xix. 331 If the ray..have exactly the same capability or disposition to be refracted by the prism. 1816Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 246 The charge has been very near capability of substantiation. 1875Jevons Money (1878) 40 The capability of a substance to receive such an impression. Ibid. The capability of a substance for being easily recognized. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 166 The capability of rapid movement.
5. (usually pl.) An undeveloped faculty or property; a condition, physical or otherwise, capable of being converted or turned to use. capability-man, one who makes it his business to discover the capabilities of estates.
1778Phil. Surv. S. Irel. 169 Here are all the capabilities for a terrestrial paradise. 1831Disraeli Yng. Duke i. vi. (L.) Sir Carte..was immensely struck with Hauteville, particularly with its capabilities. 1841Emerson Nature viii. Meth. Nat. Wks. (Bohn) II. 221. 1882 A. W. Ward Dickens ii. 23 It was only as the author proceeded that he recognised the capabilities of the character. 1887G. B. Hill Boswell's Johns. III. 400 note [‘Capability Brown’] got his nickname from his habit of saying that grounds which he was asked to lay out had capabilities. |