| 释义 |
prepossession|priːpəˈzɛʃən|
[n. of action f. prepossess v.; see pre- A. 2 and possession.]
1. The having or taking of possession beforehand; prior possession or occupancy. Now rare.
1648Boyle Seraph. Love xxv. (1660) 151 Affording them a full Præpossession of all the Objects of Desire. 1654Hammond Fundamentals viii, To give piety the prepossession, before other competitors..should be able to pretend to him. 1733W. Crawford Infidelity (1836) 208, I have heavenly qualities and joys already begun in me; I have a prepossession of heaven. 1820Mair Tyro's Dict. (ed. 10) 378 Praesumptio,..prepossession, pre-occupation.
b. A previous or former possession.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 331 In after Ages many Colonies dispersed, and some thereof upon the coasts of Africa, and the prepossessions of his [Ham's] elder brothers.
2. The condition of being mentally prepossessed; a preconceived opinion which tends to bias the mind; unfavourable or favourable antecedent opinion; prejudice, predisposition, liking.
1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. i. Ad Sect. v, God..blesses holy Meditations with results of Reason, and prepossessions dogmatically decreeing the necessity of Vertue. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 202 It is the noblest Act of human Reason To free itself from slavish Prepossession. 1702Eng. Theophrast. 173 The prepossessions of the Vulgar for men in power and authority are blind. 1786F. Burney Lett. 19 June, The prepossession the Queen has taken in my favour is truly extraordinary. 1863H. Cox Instit. i. x. 247 The King's strong personal prepossessions against the ministers of the late Queen. 1871Morley Carlyle in Crit. Misc. Ser. i. (1878) 163 To chime in most harmoniously with prepossessions.
Hence † prepoˈssessionary a., having possession beforehand, of the nature of a prepossession.
1757Herald No. 7 (1758) I. 106 Valour commonly carries with it a prepossessionary excuse, even for actions of temerity. |