| 释义 |
convertible, a. (n.)|kənˈvɜːtɪb(ə)l|
[a. F. convertible (13th c. in Littré), ad. late L. convertibil-is, f. convertĕre to convert: see -ble.]
A. adj.
1. a. That may be ‘converted’ or transposed each into the place of the other; interchangeable. Usually of terms: Equivalent, synonymous.
c1386Chaucer Cook's T. 31 Ffor thefte and Riot they been Conuertible. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 57 Thou demest luste and love convertible. 1590Swinburne Testaments 21 The definition is not of any speciall testament..nor is conuertible with any speciall kinde of testament, mencioned in any part of the Ciuill lawe. 1646H. Lawrence Comm. Angells 109 To be carnall and to be weake are convertible termes. 1708Swift Sacram. Test Wks. 1755 II. i. 133 [Those who] put prelacy and popery together as terms convertible. 1875Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. xviii, As the names of Roman and Christian had been once convertible, so long afterwards were those of Roman and Catholic.
b. Logic. That may be transposed by conversion (sense 4).
1609Bp. Hall Passion Serm. Recoll. Treat. 626 It is a sure and convertible rule; nothing was done by Christ, which was not foretolde; nothing was ever foretolde by the Prophets of Christ, which was not done. 1785Rolliad 74 The position, therefore, is what logicians call convertible. Nothing can equal his falshood but his fairness; nothing his fairness but his falshood. 1864Bowen Logic v. 109 But the two Terms of a Judgment are not always convertible or equivalent.
†2. Capable of being turned, or made to take a particular direction. Also fig. Obs.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 261 b, A wyll that was conuertible to thy grace. 1620Walton in Reliq. Wotton. (1672) 300 It is convertible (like a Wind-Mill) to all quarters at pleasure. 1635N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. iv. 77 The Axis of the Earth is supposed to haue a convertible nature.
3. Capable of being turned or applied to a particular use or purpose.
1818B. O'Reilly Greenland 98 The hide is convertible to many useful purposes. 1835I. Taylor Spir. Despot. iii. 89 Some few universal principles convertible with due modification to other instances.
4. Capable of being converted to a religion, belief, or opinion; spec. to Christianity or to a religious life.
1805Southey in Ann. Rev. III. 622 The Hindoos are difficultly convertible. 1875Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, The Comic Wks. (Bohn) III. 206 A rogue alive to the ludicrous is still convertible.
5. a. Capable of being turned into something else; capable of being changed in form, condition, or properties. spec. of a motor-car (see quot. 1918) (cf. sense B. 2 below.)
1533Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. (R.), It is conuertible into bloude and flesh. 1694Acc. of Sweden 11 These [trees] being generally very straight and tall, are easily convertible into timber. 1799Med. Jrnl. I. 46 The collected mass of nuisance..is convertible, by the powers of vegetation, from poison to wholesome articles of food. 1862Huxley Lect. Wrkg. Men 16 The researches..have shown that heat is convertible into electricity, that electricity is convertible into magnetism, magnetism into mechanical or chemical force. 1884Times 30 Oct. 13/5 A Waggonette convertible to Stanhope phaeton. 1918Webster Add., Convertible a., changeable from a closed to an open style;—said of an automobile body. 1936Branham Automobile Reference Book 15 Convertible Coupe Roadster. 1942E. Daly House without Door (1945) xi. 120 A second-hand Ford convertible coupé.
†b. spec. Capable of assimilation; easily digestible. (Cf. convert v. 11 d.) Obs.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 75 No manere convertyble mete.
6. Capable of being converted by exchange into property of another kind; spec. of paper money, capable of being converted into specie. Also, of currency, that can be freely converted in the foreign exchange market (into gold or dollars) at a fixed price (see also quot. 1911).
1834H. Martineau Moral iii. 92 By rendering paper money convertible into metallic money. 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 461 Produce, convertible into money, according to the prices at the time. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. iii. 241 A kind of paper-currency of the mind, convertible, in due time, into the gold of truth. 1911Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 574/1 A convertible security is one which can be readily converted into money (e.g. consols), as contrasted with land or buildings. 1948G. Crowther Outl. Money (ed. 2) viii. 274 In July 1947..the pound sterling was made ‘convertible’ for current transactions. 1955Ann. Reg. 1954 239 A sum of 40 million roubles a year paid in convertible currencies.
7. convertible husbandry: that which consists in a rotation of crops, whereby the pasture of one year is converted into the corn-land of another, and so on. convertible land (dial.): see quot. (Cf. Penny Cycl. II. 228.)
1810J. T. in Risdon's Surv. Devon p. vi, Admirably adapted to the convertible husbandry, as it is called. 1833H. Martineau Brooke Farm viii. 97 Convertible husbandry was quite out of the question. 1856Olmsted Slave States 43 The greatest benefit he derived from guano, and..a regular plan for bringing all his more sterile upland into the system of Convertible husbandry by its aid. 1863Morton Cycl. Agric. Gloss., Convertible land, loamy soils.
B. n.
1. pl. = Convertible things or terms: see 1.
1615J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. (ed. 2) 368 To make truths and tales convertibles. 1634H. R. Salernes Regim. Pref. 2 Those in whom Folly and Ignorance are convertibles. 1652Sparke Prim. Devot. (1663) 539 Publicans and most hated persons, were grown convertibles.
2. A motor-car with a collapsible hood. orig. U.S.
1916Sci. Amer. Oct. 14 (caption) Seven-passenger convertible (open). 1937R. Stout Red Box vii. 110 Gerbert had climbed into a neat little convertible. 1959Times 26 May 14/4 The car then becomes a convertible with a folding fabric head. 1966Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 21 Oct. 14, I once compared the convertible with a mistress and a sedan with a wife.
Hence conˈvertibleness = convertibility.
1730–6in Bailey (folio); whence in mod. Dicts.
Add:[A.] [6.] b. Of bonds, loan stock, etc.: that can be converted into other shares (esp. ordinary shares) or another class of stock on a preferred basis, typically within or at a predetermined time.
1869Bradshaw's Railway Man. XXI. 429 Of these convertible bonds $18,300 were paid off and never converted. 1908F. Lownhaupt Investment Bonds xvii. 178 Exchange of bonds for new stock in reorganization..is a mere accident, but as a privilege of contract in convertible bonds it has become a prominent feature in many large capital creations. 1946J. H. Prime Investment Analysis ii. 21 The implication in a convertible bond is that the investor has an opportunity to make profits while at the same time he is insured against loss. 1985Investors Chron. 1–7 Nov. 29/1 It has lost out by being forbidden to hold convertible preference shares.
[B.] 3. A convertible bond, etc.
1957N.Y. Post 26 Mar. 18/3 A ‘convertible’ in Wall Street isn't an auto..it's ‘a bond, debenture or preferred share which may be exchanged by the owner for common stock or another security’. 1972N.Y. Law Jrnl. 10 Oct. 3/4 Where both a convertible and the underlying security are being sold the amount of the underlying security for which the convertible being sold may be converted is aggregated with sales of the underlying security. 1985Investors Chron. 1–7 Nov. 27/1 Gilt fund managers are thinking of convertibles, which allow capital growth as well as income. |