| 释义 |
congener, n. and a.|ˈkɒndʒɪnə(r)|
[As n. app. ad. F. congénère (16th c. Paré), ad. L. congener of the same race or kind, f. con- together with + gener- (genus) kind; as adj., perh. directly from L. (Cogener is a rare and needless variant.)]
A. n.
1. A member of the same kind or class with another, or nearly allied to another in character. Const. of or possessive.
a. said of animals and plants which are related according to scientific classification. (Rarely in the strict literal sense ‘of the same genus’.)
1730–6Bailey (folio), Congeners [L. Congeneres] of the same Generation or Kind. 1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Cerasus, This sort of fruit hath been by many people grafted upon the Lawrel, to which it is a congener. 1767G. White Selborne Let. xii. 4 Nov., Might not canary birds be naturalized..provided their eggs were put..into the nests of some of their congeners, as goldfinches, greenfinches, etc.? 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. iii. (1878) 59 In Russia the small Asiatic cockroach has everywhere driven before it its great congener. 1883Longm. Mag. July 308 Some Alpine buttercups are snowy-white, while most of their lowland congeners are simply yellow.
b. gen. of persons or things.
1837Howitt Rur. Life vi. xiii. (1862) 544 A congener of these, and yet of a somewhat more civilised grade, is the bird-catcher and trainer. 1866Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xviii. 398 Lard was also used, though its less costly congener, butter, was more frequently employed. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. III. lxxxi. 68 The American shopkeeper..has not the obsequiousness of his European congener.
2. A chemical by-product in the making of whisky, etc., which gives the drink a distinctive character.
1935Industr. & Engin. Chem. Dec. 1404/1 These impurities called ‘congeneric substances’ or ‘congeners’, as well as the traces of constituents responsible for so-called greenness, are the only factor to be considered in any problem dealing with the aging of whisky. 1959Toxicol. & Applied Pharmacol. I. 618 All the components of whisky other than ethyl alcohol and water are referred to as congeners. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia I. 437/2 Congeners contribute special characteristics of taste, aroma, and colour to the beverages. 1983Listener 8 Dec. 15/2 During this time the congeners which make up less than half a per cent of the total volume will be exposed to the lignins and tannin in the oak; oxidation will mellow and mature the spirit.
B. adj. Of the same kind or nature; akin.
1867Bushnell Mor. Uses Dark Th. 305 We are made everlastingly congener to each other. 1889F. Harrison in Fortn. Rev. Jan. 155 That belief..must further be human, in the sense of sympathetic and congener to man. |