| 释义 |
crepuscular, a.|krɪˈpʌskjuːlə(r)|
[f. L. crepuscul-um + -ar. Cf. F. crépusculaire.]
1. Of or pertaining to twilight.
1755B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sc. i. i. 3 The Difference..between the crepuscular and the Noon-tide Light. 1791E. Darwin Bot. Gard. i. Notes 12 The crepuscular atmosphere, or the region where the light of the sun ceases to be refracted to us, is estimated..to be between 40 and 50 miles high. 1876G. F. Chambers Astron. 67 A faint crepuscular light extending beyond the cusps of the planet.
2. fig. Resembling or likened to twilight; dim, indistinct.
1668Phil. Trans. III. 730 And perhaps I might have lost the Crepuscular remains of my Sight. 1860J. P. Kennedy W. Wirt II. ix. 157 [The law is] at best, a crepuscular labyrinth. 1879H. James Hawthorne 132 The crepuscular realm of the writer's own reveries.
b. esp. Resembling or likened to the morning twilight as preceding the full light of day; characterized by (as yet) imperfect enlightenment.
1679T. Puller Moder. Ch. Eng. (1843) 254 Proportionable to the first crepuscular and duskish light of those times. 1797W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. XXIV. 509 The favourable influence even of a partial and crepuscular day on the morals..and the happiness of the people. 1842Motley Lett. (1889) I. 96 The state of crepuscular civilization to which they have reached. 1852Fraser's Mag. XLVI. 679 That crepuscular period, when the historical sense was scarcely brought to a full state of activity.
3. Zool. Appearing or active in the twilight.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xlix. (1828) IV. 525 Crepuscular insects. 1877Coues & Allen N. Amer. Rodentia 653 Animals..of crepuscular or nocturnal habits. |