请输入您要查询的英文单词:

 

单词 vital
释义

vitaladj.n.

Brit. /ˈvʌɪtl/, U.S. /ˈvaɪd(ə)l/
Forms: Also Middle English vytalle, Middle English–1500s vytall, Middle English–1600s vitall, 1500s vitalle ( vytail, Scottish wettal).
Etymology: < Old French (also modern French) vital (14th cent.; = Spanish vital , Portuguese vital , Italian vitale ) or < Latin vītālis < vīta life. Compare vitals n.
A. adj.
I. Senses relating to the spirit or principle essential to life.
1.
a. Consisting in, constituted by, that immaterial force or principle which is present in living beings or organisms and by which they are animated and their functions maintained. Now chiefly Physiology or Biology.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > vital principle > [adjective]
vitalc1405
beastly?c1425
spirital1568
vival1636
archeal1728
vitalistic1865
orgonotic1942
orgonomic1949
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1938 In his armes two The vital strengthe is lost and al ago.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 24220 And thus my silf, I consume al The vertu that called is vital.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. liv. 115 For though it [sc. Christ's body] had a beginning from vs, yet God hath giuen it vitall efficacie.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1019 For that in each of us that which is mortall and subject to dissolution, containeth within it the power which is vitall.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems i. Pref. B viij b He..shapes us from an inward vitall Principle..into a new life and shape.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 8 [Men] spent their Strength in daily Strugglings for Bread to maintain the vital Strength.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 134 Where now the vital energy that mov'd,..the pure and subtile lymph Through th' imperceptible meand'ring veins Of leaf and flow'r?
1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 1 372 Due attention ought always to be paid to the presence and activity of vital power in the animal body.
1843 C. Scudamore Med. Visit Gräfenberg 92 The higher importance and still greater influence of vital force and nervous energy, as compared with simple chemical action.
1882 R. Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 4) i. ii. 24 This internal energy, which is peculiar to living protoplasm, is frequently spoken of as vital force.
b. vital spark (†also flame). Cf. spark n.1 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > vital principle > [noun]
souleOE
lifeOE
spiritusOE
bloodOE
ghostOE
life and soulOE
quickship?c1225
quicknessc1230
breatha1300
spirita1325
spark1382
naturec1385
sparkle1388
livelinessa1398
rational soula1398
spiracle1398
animal spirit?a1425
vital spiritc1450
soul of the world1525
candle1535
fire1576
three souls1587
vitality?1592
candlelight1596
substance1605
vivacity1611
animality1615
vividity1616
animals1628
life spring1649
archeus1651
vital1670
spirituosity1677
springs of life1681
microcosmetor1684
vital force1702
vital spark (also flame)1704
stamen1718
vis vitae1752
prana1785
Purusha1785
jiva1807
vital force1822
heartbeat1828
world-soul1828
world-spirit1828
life energy1838
life force1848
ghost soul1869
will to live1871
biogen1882
ki1893
mauri1897
élan vital1907
orgone1942
(a)
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Flamma Vitalis; some do suppose, that there resides in the Heart of Animals such a fine and kindled, but mild Substance, as they call a Vital Flame.
1744 G. Berkeley Siris (ESTC T72826) §156 The calidum innatum, the vital flame, or animal spirit in man.
(b)1730 A. Pope Christiani Morientis in D. Lewis et al. Misc. Poems 37 Vital Spark of Heav'nly Flame! Dost thou quit this mortal frame.1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times II. 341 For some moments it was supposed, that the vital spark was extinct.1862 A. K. H. Boyd Graver Thoughts Country Parson xv. 250 The multitudinous machinery of animal life is there, but the vital spark to set it in motion is wanting.
2. Maintaining, supporting, or sustaining life.
a. vital spirit, vital spirits. Cf. spirit n. 21. Obsolete.Frequently in the 16th cent., chiefly in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > vital principle > [noun]
souleOE
lifeOE
spiritusOE
bloodOE
ghostOE
life and soulOE
quickship?c1225
quicknessc1230
breatha1300
spirita1325
spark1382
naturec1385
sparkle1388
livelinessa1398
rational soula1398
spiracle1398
animal spirit?a1425
vital spiritc1450
soul of the world1525
candle1535
fire1576
three souls1587
vitality?1592
candlelight1596
substance1605
vivacity1611
animality1615
vividity1616
animals1628
life spring1649
archeus1651
vital1670
spirituosity1677
springs of life1681
microcosmetor1684
vital force1702
vital spark (also flame)1704
stamen1718
vis vitae1752
prana1785
Purusha1785
jiva1807
vital force1822
heartbeat1828
world-soul1828
world-spirit1828
life energy1838
life force1848
ghost soul1869
will to live1871
biogen1882
ki1893
mauri1897
élan vital1907
orgone1942
the world > life > the body > system > [noun] > organ > vital organs > action or power of
mightc1175
spiritsa1400
vital spiritc1450
vital spiritsc1450
sustentation1477
psychoid1903
(a)
c1450 Mankind 805 in Macro Plays 30 He ys so tymerouse; me semyth hys vytall spryt doth expyre.
1477 T. Norton Ordinall of Alchimy v, in E. Ashmole Theatrum Chem. Britannicum (1652) 82 The Spirit Vitall in the Hert doth dwell.
1541 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) 12 b Spirit vitall procedeth from the harte, and by the arteries or pulses is sente into all the body.
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. II. iii. x. sig. Qq.vj/1 Paule calleth him the naturall man, which liueth naturally by the vitall spirite.
1671 W. Salmon Synopsis Medicinæ iii. iv. 334* The Vital spirit resides in the heart, is dispersed by the Arteries [etc.].
1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. iii. 366 The vital Spirit issu'd at the Wound.
(b)1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xvi. sig. Hvi Continuall studie without some maner of exercise, shortely exhausteth the spirites vitall.1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry IV f. xxxiiv He lay as though al his vital spirites had bene from him departed.1606 L. Bryskett Disc. Ciuill Life 48 The heart, wherein all the vitall spirits are forged, and receiue their strength.1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §30 As for liuing creatures it is certaine, their Vital Spiritts are a Substaunce Compounded of an Airy and Flamy Matter.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 484 Flours..by gradual scale sublim'd To vital Spirits aspire. View more context for this quotation1707 J. Floyer Physician's Pulse-watch 134 The vital Spirits are the Animal, as they are commonly call'd; I call them vital, because they move the Heart and Respiration.
b. Of blood, heat, etc., or in general use. vital fluid, in Botany, = latex n. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [adjective] > necessary to or supporting life
livelyOE
sustantivea1500
vital1558
life-supporting1610
sustenant1874
biotrophic1902
life support1959
the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > latex
latex1832
vital fluid1837
1558 W. Bullein Govt. Healthe sig. Avv Apoplexia and Vertigo will neuer fro the[e] starte, Untill the vitall blode be killed in the harte.
1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. E.iii He..Gaue Onset fyrst vpon his Foes, and lost his vitall blud.
1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man vi. 608 The vitall moysture of his bodie [is] so consumed, that he cannot be knowne to be the same man.
1611 T. Coryate tr. H. Kirchner Another Oration in Crudities sig. Dd For whose sake..he ought not doubt to powre out his vitall bloud.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 236 The Spirit of God..vital vertue infus'd, and vital warmth Throughout the fluid Mass. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 87 T' unload the Branches or the Leaves to thin, That suck the Vital Moisture of the Vine. View more context for this quotation
1713 J. Addison Cato iv. iii The vital blood, that had forsook my heart, Returns again in such tumultuous tides.
1797 E. Burke Lett. Peace Regic. France iii, in Wks. (1815) VIII. 409 Let us..watch the systole and diastole, as it now receives, and now pours forth the vital stream through all the members.
1837 P. Keith Bot. Lexicon 354 A fluid secreted from the crude sap which M. Schultz designates by the name of the latex or ‘vital fluid’.
1859 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing i. 11 A careful nurse will keep a constant watch over her sick..to guard against the effects of the loss of vital heat by the patient himself.
figurative and in extended use.1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. iv. sig. H3v She was my vitall blood.
c. Of breath or air. Chiefly poetic.Merging into sense A. 5.
ΚΠ
(a)
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Vitalis Halitus vitalis, vitall breath.
1598 Mucedorus sig. B Vnworthy I to beare this vitall breath.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 814 [He] dashed out his owne braines and at last yeelded up his vitall breath.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 143 Longing the common Light again to share, And draw the vital breath of upper Air. View more context for this quotation
1717 M. Prior Engraven on Column 5 While yet We draw this vital Breath.
1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) cxxxix. ii. ii Should I suppress any vital Breath.
1817 W. Wordsworth Vernal Ode 47 To every draught of vital breath, Renewed throughout the bounds of earth.
(b)1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. vii. sig. T2v All so soone as his enfeebled spright, Gan sucke this vitall ayre into his brest.1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 604 Mad with her Anguish,..she loaths the vital Air.1709 A. Pope Spring in Poet. Misc.: 6th Pt. 728 The Sun's mild Lustre warms the vital Air.1721 M. Prior Colin's Mistakes vii. 4 All that under Sky breath vital Air.1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais iii. 8 Dream not that the amorous Deep Will yet restore him to the vital air.1863 N. Hawthorne Our Old Home I. 36 If the missing Doctor still breathed this vital air.
d. vital air n. in Old Chemistry, = oxygen n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > metals > specific elements > oxygen > [noun]
dephlogisticated air1775
empyreal air1780
oxygen1788
oxygen gas1788
vital air1791
oxygenous gas1794
oxygen air1796
O1813
1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing I. i. i. iii I placed [it] in contact with vital air over mercury.
1793 T. Beddoes Observ. Nature & Cure Calculus 213 Venous blood exposed to vital air acquires the vermilion colour of arterial blood.
1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 582 Dr. Thornton has laid before the public some cases, which show the efficacy of vital air, or, as it is usually called, oxygen gas, in the cure of fits.
1837 P. Keith Bot. Lexicon 135 It appears that oxygen gas,..indispensable to the life of animals, is also indispensable to the life of vegetables, on both which accounts it seems to have well merited the appellation of vital air, by which it was at one time designated.
1880 T. H. Huxley Crayfish ii. 75 A new supply of the needful ‘vital air’, as the old chemists called it.
3.
a. Of parts, organs, etc.: essential or necessary to life; performing the functions indispensable to the maintenance of life.In modern use also of parts of plants: vital node (see quot. 1861); vital vessels, those containing or conveying the vital fluid or latex.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > system > [adjective] > organ > action of vital organs
noblea1398
vital1482
sustentative1877
psychoid1911
the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > tissue > vessel(s)
vesicle1670
vessel1672
air vessel1673
tubule1677
vesicula1705
absorbent1734
follicle1760
vital vessels1832
spiral1837
vas1843
vacuole1853
cyst1866
the world > plants > part of plant > stem or stalk > [noun] > part where stem meets root
root end1577
cingulum1845
vital node1861
1482 Monk of Evesham 111 Onethe laste myghte be perseuyd yn hym a ful smalle meuyng as a thynne drede yn hys vytalle veynys.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Vitalis The vitalle partes.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 23 Of the Naturall parts, he disputeth in the fourth and fift Bookes; of the Vitall in the sixt and seuenth.
1667 J. Dryden Indian Emperour iv. iv. 51 It streams, it streams from every Vital part.
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) The Vital Parts are the Heart, Brain, Lungs and Liver.
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity iii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 477 Hoary with Cares, and Ignorant of Rest, We find the vital Springs relax'd and worn.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. iv. v. 216 The Heart and Brain and other vital parts.
1832 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. 13 The Vital vessels of Schultz.
1861 R. Bentley Man. Bot. i. iii. 119 The part where the stem and root diverge has been called the neck or collum, or formerly, the vital node, because it was erroneously supposed to be the seat of the life of the plant.
b. transferred. (In modern use denoting especially those parts of a machine, ship, etc., essential to its proper working.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > essential or central > to proper working
vital1698
1698 J. Keill Exam. Theory Earth (1734) 181 If these he has mentioned be the substantial and vital parts [of his theory].
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 30 Their submiss Reverence to their Princes being a vital part of their Religion.
1866 A. Crump Pract. Treat. Banking v. 134 Erasure of any vital part of the bill..would justify the banker in refusing payment.
1873 J. Richards On Arrangem. Wood-working Factories 12 The piston, cross~head connecting rod, and main bearings, are the vital parts to be looked after.
1889 J. J. Welch Text Bk. Naval Archit. 141 To preserve intact such vital parts as the machinery, magazines, and steering gear.
4.
a. Of, pertaining, or relating to, accompanying, or characteristic of life; inherent in or exhibited by living things or organic bodies.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [adjective] > relating to
livelyOE
lifeya1400
vital1565
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adjective] > essential or constituting the essence > vital to proper function
vital1697
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Vitaliter To haue liuely or vitaille motion.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V iii. vi. 45 Let not Bardolfes vitall threed be cut, With edge of penny cord.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) v. ii. 14 When I haue pluckt the rose, I cannot giue it vitall growth againe. View more context for this quotation
1652 J. French York-shire Spaw ii. 13 In which as in a vital abode, and natural place, the water, whilest it remains, is living.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 394 The mighty Cæsar waits his vital Hour; Impatient for the World.
1705 J. Dunton Life & Errors iv. 311 The last sands in his Life were run, and there was no turning the Vital-glass.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 509 When the temper'd heat, Friendly to vital motion, may afford Soft fomentation.
1816 P. B. Shelley Alastor 17 Red morning..Shedding the mockery of its vital hues Upon his cheek of death.
1844 G. Bird Urinary Deposits (1857) 47 In every case in which we endeavour to explain vital phenomena by the physical or chemical laws governing dead matter.
1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. xiv. 330 All actions of individuals being vital actions that conform to the laws of life at large.
b. Of faculties, functions, powers, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [adjective] > relating to > of faculties
vitala1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iii. ii. 41 Came he right now to sing a Rauens Note, Whose dismall tune bereft my Vitall powres. View more context for this quotation
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 169 It immediatly ouer-charged my vitall sences, and put mee..into a deadly trance.
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Vital Faculty, an Action whereby a Man lives..as the Motions of the Heart, Respiration, Nutrition, &c.
a1807 W. Wordsworth Prelude (1959) viii. 286 Whose truth is not a motion or a shape Instinct with vital functions.
1826 S. Cooper First Lines Pract. Surg. (ed. 5) i. v. 38 By a gradual decay of the vital powers from old age.
1857 A. Henfrey Elem. Course Bot. §782 The vital forces appear to be of more than one kind.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) xvii. 275 The whole mass has been constructed..of the products of denudation, or of those of vital processes.
c. Geology. Produced or formed by vital action or force; of vital or organic origin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > formations by contents > [adjective] > containing organic remains
vital1855
zoic1863
zoogenic1866
1855 J. Phillips Man. Geol. 49 Proportions of Chemical, Vital, and Mechanical Deposits.
1880 S. Haughton Six Lect. Physical Geogr. iii. 164 (note) It is converted into Chemical and Vital work done by the vegetable and animal organisms that clothe the surface of the earth.
d. Of statistics: (a) concerned with or relating to the facts of life, e.g. birth, marriage, death, etc.; also transferred; (b) colloquial the measurements of a woman's figure, spec. bust, waist, and hips (cf. statistics n. 3b); similarly vital measurements. (Occasionally of a man's figure.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [adjective] > statistical > dealing with statistics > within specific field
vital1837
biostatical1863
biostatic1869
biostatistical1899
statistical-mechanical1908
stylometric1935
macrolinguistic1960
bibliometric1969
cliometric1974
1837 in J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire II. v. ii. 567 (title) Vital statistics; or, The statistics of health, sickness, diseases, and death.
1885 J. Nicol (title) Vital, social, and economic statistics of the city of Glasgow, 1881–85.
1949 Brit. Birds 42 147 Vital statistics from ringed Swallows.
1956 Newsweek 23 Jan. 60 New eyes open on a bright wonderful world—and photography makes identification positive, records vital statistics in life's first few minutes.
1958 J. Townsend Young Devils ii. 19 A short history of the school plus its vital statistics—i.e. number of boys, teachers, classrooms, subjects and educational standards.
1971 Brit. Med. Bull. 27 13/2 The epidemic of iatrogenic deaths in asthmatic children shows the need for continuous monitoring of vital statistics.
1974 Nature 22 Mar. 306/1 The vital statistics of this second edition command respect—94 of the 1,562 pages are needed to index its 64 chapters!
1958 Observer 18 May 10/4 To control and vary our vital measurements with changing fashion.1968 G. Kent Pict. Hist. Wrestling v. 119/1 Height 6ft. 1 in. weight 15 st. chest 48 ins. biceps 15 ins. thigh 26½ ins. Donald Dinnie and his vital measurements.1957 Times 1 Aug. 5/5 Those feminine measurements which have become known, in the entertainment world, as vital statistics.1959 C. R. Cooper Teen-age Vice (new ed.) viii. 125 Regina..wrote haphazardly to men, giving her age and vital statistics.1966 P. G. Wodehouse Plum Pie 60 A book like yours always involves a serious risk for the publisher owing to the absence of the Sex Motif, which renders it impossible for him to put a nude female of impressive vital statistics on the jacket.1975 C. Weston Susannah Screaming (1976) xxv. 135 I have her phone number and vital statistics.
e. Of biological stains or their use: used or carried out on living tissue. Cf. intra vitam n. at intra prep. 2, intravital adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > laboratory analysis > material > [adjective] > staining material
Ziehl1892
neutral1893
Romanowsky1893
polychrome1895
supravital1903
vital1907
trichrome1918
1907 Chem. Abstr. 1 734 The character of the vital staining and apparent deposition of the carmine as particles in the body cells of the rabbit was found under physiological conditions to be essentially as earlier described.
1912 Chem. Abstr. 6 2453 (heading) The resorption of vital coloring matters in the stomach and alimentary canal.
1926 H. M. Carleton Histol. Technique xiii. 194 Janus Green.—This dye..may almost be regarded as a specific vital stain for mitochondria.
1946 A. Fischer Biol. Tissue Cells iii. 68 A staining of the nucleus by ordinary vital dyes is..always a sure sign of the death of the cell.
1948 New Biol. 5 28 Some dyestuffs do not kill the cell, and if they stain specific structures, this process of vital staining can give important information on the living cell.
1956 Nature 25 Feb. 387/1 A large body on one side of the nucleus stains directly..with 0.1 per cent aqueous vital red.
1974 Nature 18 Oct. 572/1 By staining with vital dyes, Bonner..showed that the cells in the anterior third of the grex become stalk cells.
5. Conferring or imparting life or vigour; invigorating, vitalizing; life-giving. Chiefly poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > giving of life > [adjective]
life-giving1550
vivific1551
vivificative1575
vivificant1576
vital1590
informing1631
vivifical1632
vivifying1635
informative1642
animantative1655
enlivening1664
vivificatinga1688
animative1706
vitalizing1813
blood-giving1840
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. i. sig. M8v Liues he yet..that wrought this act, And doen the heauens afford him vitall food?
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 56 The whole temperature of the aire is evermore so vitall, healthie, and holesome.
1608 A. Willet Hexapla in Exodum 245 Vitall and comfortable heate..from the bodie of the sunne.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 22 Hail holy light, ofspring of Heav'n first-born..: thee I revisit safe, And feel thy sovran vital Lamp. View more context for this quotation
1721 E. Young Revenge iii. i O Joy, thou welcome stranger! twice three years I have not felt thy vital beam.
1744 M. Akenside Pleasures Imagination i. 72 Till in time complete, What he admir'd and lov'd, his vital smile Unfolded into being.
1865 J. M. Neale Hymns Paradise 8 There they quaff the vital sweetness of the Well of Quickening.
1872 T. H. Huxley Lessons Elem. Physiol. (ed. 6) vii. 156 The vital foods are derived directly, or indirectly, from the vegetable world.
6. Affecting life; fatal to or destructive of life.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective]
deadlyc893
deathlyOE
deathfula1250
mortalc1390
capitalc1426
exitialc1475
fey1488
mortuala1500
perishinga1500
fatal?1518
ferial1528
mortiferousa1538
deadc1540
exitious?1545
deathlike1548
mortifying1555
starvingc1600
lethal1604
speedingc1604
vital1612
irrecoverable1614
feral1621
lethiferous1651
mortific1651
mortifical1657
daggering1694
exitiose1727
fateful1764
kill-devil1831
unsurvivable1839
lethiferal1848
tachythanatous1860
1612 S. Rowlands Knaue of Harts (Hunterian Club) 46 This Picke-pocket suffer'd vitall losse, Betweene the Court-gate hang'd, and Charing-crosse.
1645 J. Milton Arcades in Poems 54 The celestial Sirens..That sit upon the nine enfolded Sphears, And sing to those that hold the vital shears, And turn the Adamantine spindle round.
1776 S. J. Pratt Pupil of Pleasure II. 238 The surgeon, to whom I went myself, in defiance of danger, assures me the wound is vital.
1812 J. C. Calhoun Speech 24 June in Wks. (1864) II. 29 Throw him into battle, and he is scarcely sensible of vital gashes.
7. figurative.
a. That is essential to the existence of something expressed or implied in the context; constituting or involving an essential part or feature; absolutely indispensable, necessary, or requisite. Also, in wider sense, of supreme importance.In later use frequently const. to something (b).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > essential or central
cardinal1440
material1603
primal1619
real1620
centrical1659
vital1659
essential1770
nucleal1826
key1832
pivotal1837
keystone1846
pivot1861
quintessential1901
central1902
core1962
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > [adjective]
needfulOE
necessaryc1376
needfulc1390
necessairea1393
needfula1402
necessariousc1410
requisite1442
unlackablec1443
unsparablec1449
necessc1475
requise1477
needy1487
exigentc1508
of necessityc1515
essential1526
insacrificablea1603
peremptory1607
unspared1614
sine qua non1615
real1620
necessitous1637
needsomec1650
undispensable1658
vital1659
wanting1671
implemental1676
sine quo non1693
indispensable1696
indispensible1792
vital1822
unmissable1823
of the essence (of)1843
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adjective] > essential or constituting the essence
formalc1386
substantial1422
essential1546
radical1562
constitutive1610
essentifical1656
constituent1659
vital1659
qualifying1704
constitutional1750
staminal1798
substantive1858
(a)
1659 T. Lushington Resurrection Rescued 70 The three vitall circumstances of a well ordered Action, Person, Time and Place.
1692 F. Atterbury Serm. Whitehall 3 The weakness and worthlessness of external Performances, when compar'd with more vital and substantial Duties.
1708 F. Atterbury Acquaintance with God 8 A thorough Sense, and Vital Experience of his Paternal Care over us, and Concern for us.
1809–10 S. T. Coleridge Friend (1865) 169 At a time when the views of France became daily more and more incompatible with our own vital interests.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 273 If one of them differs from the rest on a vital point.
1886 F. Harrison Choice Bks. 10 The really vital books for us we also know to be a very trifling portion of the whole.
(b)1744 E. Young Complaint: Night the Sixth 26 A Competence is vital to Content.1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine iv. 215 Hence it was that the raising of the siege of Gibeon..was so vital to the conquest of Canaan.1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands (1868) I. vi. 289 A cause which was so vital to both nations.1893 A. Cawston Street Improv. London 1 Doubtless many will gladly take up a work so vital to the welfare of the whole community.
b. Of questions, problems, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > [adjective]
needfulOE
necessaryc1376
needfulc1390
necessairea1393
needfula1402
necessariousc1410
requisite1442
unlackablec1443
unsparablec1449
necessc1475
requise1477
needy1487
exigentc1508
of necessityc1515
essential1526
insacrificablea1603
peremptory1607
unspared1614
sine qua non1615
real1620
necessitous1637
needsomec1650
undispensable1658
vital1659
wanting1671
implemental1676
sine quo non1693
indispensable1696
indispensible1792
vital1822
unmissable1823
of the essence (of)1843
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > essential or central > of specific things
vital1822
basic1928
1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk II. xxxiii. 389 I should like to live to see the downfall of the Bourbons. That is a vital question with me.
1825 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 29 Oct. 275 He and I never agreed upon this subject; and this subject was, with him, a vital one.
1850 T. Carlyle Latter-day Pamphlets i. 43 The ‘Organisation of Labour’..is the universal vital Problem of the world.
1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies ii. 123 Respecting this question—quite vital to all social happiness.
c. Paramount, supreme, very great.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > of things
principalc1300
principal1417
supremec1550
capital1597
hegemonic1656
vital1810
big time1914
high-level1947
1810 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) V. 529 In order to concentrate our troops on other points of greater and more vital importance.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 233 Questions respecting postures, robes, festivals and liturgies, he considered as of no vital importance.
1850 W. E. Gladstone Remarks Royal Supremacy 5 This inquiry..is indeed of vital moment to those..loving the Church-Establishment of England.
II. Characterized by or endowed with life or vitality.
8.
a. Endowed with, or possessed of, life; animate, living. Now poetic or rhetorical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [adjective] > opposed to inanimate
quickeOE
livelyOE
animatea1398
quick and queathing?a1475
vitala1513
animated1568
animal1599
animant1678
inanimated1689
vivified1767
animastic1794
vitalic1848
a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) i. xxxii. sig. l.vi Than this vitall glebe [sc. the body of St. Werburge] by divine ordinaunce Voluntary permytted naturall resolution.
1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips lx. 406 For whosoeuer shewe not themselues obedient,..vnto this beaste..are accoumpted for dead and rotten members, and therfore to be cutte of from this vitall bodye.
1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 30 Of the dismall day, that doth threaten with death, Things vitall feele the smart, and things without breath.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 345 For Spirits that live throughout Vital in every part..Cannot but by annihilating die. View more context for this quotation
1745 Watts in Trans. & Paraphr. Scripture xxxvii. vii Out of the Deep, th' Almighty King did vital Beings frame.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. II. 206 He called the winds, and made them breathe into each, and render them vital.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna ii. xxvi Some monument Vital with mind.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Witch of Atlas xxxv, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 40 That bright shape of vital stone Which drew the heart out of Pygmalion.
in extended use.1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety v. 97 That mind..that can be free, when the body is fast bound..is never more strong and vital, than when that languishes and expires.figurative.1837 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. (ed. 2) III. xiv. 219 His creed may be orthodox, but his religion is not vital.1842 E. B. Barrett Some Acct. Greek Christian Poets in Athenæum 19 Mar. 251/3 The live grasshopper, called..an emblem of the vital Greek tongue.1873 J. A. Symonds Stud. Greek Poets x. 320 Every line of Theocritus is vital with a strong passion for natural beauty.
b. Of places: full of life or activity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective] > brisk or active > full of brisk activity (of times or places)
quickc1395
busy1530
stirring1647
vital1742
lively1764
busyish1851
buzzing1882
mouvementé1888
bubbling1912
1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the First 7 This is the Desert, this the Solitude; How populous? how vital, is the Grave?
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna ii. vi. 35 This vital world, this home of happy spirits.
c. Endowed with spiritual life. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > soul > [adjective] > healthy
vital1807
1807 ‘P. Plymley’ Three More Lett. on Catholics v. 51 Those groaning and garrulous gentlemen, whom they denominate..Gospel preachers and Vital clergymen.
9. Employed as an epithet of life.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [adjective]
vital1597
1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 13 You must be changed you know not when, from your ritches, from this vitall lyfe and the whole worlde vnto a nother place paynefull or Joyfull.
1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §lxi I cannot tell whether I should say those Creatures liue, which doe nothing... Sure I am their life is not vitall.
1645 Bp. J. Hall Remedy Discontentm. xx. 122 Neither indeed is any other life truly vitall, but this; for hereby we enjoy God in all whatsoever occurrences.
10. Having the qualities essential to life; capable of living; = viable adj.1 Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [adjective] > viable
lifelike1600
vital1608
liveable1611
subsistable?1636
vivacious1660
viable1828
survivable1879
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 108 When the Butterflyes doe ioyne together very late,..they doe lay or cast theyr egges which will continue vitall, and that may liue till the next Spring.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 336 The nine-moneth birth is of all other the most vitall and legitimate.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iv. xii. 218 Pythagoras, Hippocrates,..and others..affirming the birth of the seventh month to be vitall . View more context for this quotation
B. n.
1. The vital spirit or principle. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > vital principle > [noun]
souleOE
lifeOE
spiritusOE
bloodOE
ghostOE
life and soulOE
quickship?c1225
quicknessc1230
breatha1300
spirita1325
spark1382
naturec1385
sparkle1388
livelinessa1398
rational soula1398
spiracle1398
animal spirit?a1425
vital spiritc1450
soul of the world1525
candle1535
fire1576
three souls1587
vitality?1592
candlelight1596
substance1605
vivacity1611
animality1615
vividity1616
animals1628
life spring1649
archeus1651
vital1670
spirituosity1677
springs of life1681
microcosmetor1684
vital force1702
vital spark (also flame)1704
stamen1718
vis vitae1752
prana1785
Purusha1785
jiva1807
vital force1822
heartbeat1828
world-soul1828
world-spirit1828
life energy1838
life force1848
ghost soul1869
will to live1871
biogen1882
ki1893
mauri1897
élan vital1907
orgone1942
1670 J. Smith England's Improvem. Reviv'd v. 246 When the ulcerous Lungs cannot with dexterity enough perform their Office of cooling the Heart, the Vital is generated more hot than it should be.
2. A vital part or organ. rare.Formed from the collective plural vitals n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > system > [noun] > organ > vital organs
heartOE
vitalsa1610
vital1710
1710 tr. C. Quillet Callipædia i. 492 A florid Bloom with Blushes decks the Face,..And every Vital breathes the sweets of Love.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. viii. 219 Forced to keep the fire of my nature continually low, to compel it to burn inwardly..though the imprisoned flame consumed vital after vital.
3. Palmistry. The vital line.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > palmistry > [noun] > mark on the hand > line of life
line of life1538
lifeline1571
vital line1653
vitala1824
a1824 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XVI. 602/2 This also frequently shows a most perilous Saturnine disease in that part wherein it touches the Vital.

Compounds

vital affinity n. (see quot. and affinity n. 8).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical bonding > [noun] > chemical attraction
attraction1664
affinity1753
elective attraction1767
vital affinity1850
1850 C. G. B. Daubeny Introd. Atomic Theory (ed. 2) xi. 359 Vital affinity—a force, which is supposed to come in aid of common chemical attraction, and to render the union between the particles of a body more stable.
vital capacity n. Physiology the breathing or respiratory capacity of the lungs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > respiratory organs > [noun] > lungs > capacity of
vital capacity1852
1852 J. Hutchinson Spirometer §4 The most complete voluntary expiration immediately following the most complete inspiration, which we denominate the ‘vital capacity’.
1876 J. S. Bristowe Treat. Theory & Pract. Med. ii. ii. 346 The vital capacity of women is much less that of men.
vital contractility n. Physiology = irritability n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > stimulation > [noun] > stimulability or irritability
irritability1755
excitability1788
vital contractility1830
reactivity1888
stimulability1975
1830 R. Knox tr. P. A. Béclard Elements Gen. Anat. 216 These vessels are extensible, and are even possessed of a high degree of retractility... Their irritability or vital contractility is not less evident.
vital germ theory n. = germ theory n. at germ n. Compounds 3, (1891 Cent. Dict.).
vital indication n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Vital Indication, in the Art of Medicine, is such an one as requires the restoring and reserving of the Natural Strength of the Body.
vital line n. Palmistry Obsolete = line of life at line n.2 8b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > palmistry > [noun] > mark on the hand > line of life
line of life1538
lifeline1571
vital line1653
vitala1824
1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 100 The Vital line forked in the end, towards the wrist.
1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 102 The Liver line at a distance, and not touching the Vital line.
a1824 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XVI. 602/2 The Vital line thicker than ordinary..denotes a laborious old age.
vital sister n.
ΚΠ
a1824 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XVI. 604 Of the Via Martis, the way or Line of Mars, or the Vital~sister.
vital statistics n. (see sense A. 4d).
vital union n. a union involving common life; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or fact of uniting or being united > [noun] > a union involving common life
vital union1662
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. iii. §6 Those inferiour terrestrial Beings with which it [i.e. the soul] communicates through the vital union which it hath with the body.
1694 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding (new ed.) ii. xxvii. 189 Several substances..which, whilst they continued in a vital union with that,..made a part of that same self.
1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 8 Is this our Duty, Wisdom, Glory, Gain? (These Heaven benign in vital Union binds).
1746 J. Wesley Princ. Methodist farther Explain'd 49 I believe there was a supernatural Power..which occasion'd their Bodies to be so affected by the natural Laws of the vital Union.

Draft additions March 2003

vital sign n. (a) evidence of viability (obsolete); (b) Medicine a clinical measurement that indicates the state of a patient's essential body functions, spec. pulse rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, or temperature; chiefly in plural.
ΚΠ
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. ii. i. 37 After I had from my first yeeres..bin exercis'd to the tongues.., it was found that whether ought was impos'd me by them that had the overlooking, or betak'n to of mine own choise in English, or other tongue, prosing or versing, but chiefly this latter, the stile by certain vital signes it had, was likely to live.
1871 E. Seguin in C. A. Wunderlich & E. Seguin Med. Thermometry & Human Temperature ii. 232 The latest records taken..with instruments.., of physiological and pathological temperature, and of other vital signs.
1951 Science 18 May 581/2 Blood pressure, pulse, color, and other vital signs were within normal limits.
1966 Arch. Otolaryngol. 84 255 (title) Acoustic tumor surgery. The significance of vital sign changes.
1993 Lancet 19 June 1586/2 Meanwhile, the repeated postponements and rising arguments over who gets what in a national health plan..have directed attention to the political calendar and the drooping vital signs of the Clinton presidency.
1996 Sunday Times (Electronic ed.) 11 Aug. Now take the car for a spin... Check vital signs such as coolant temperature.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1920; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
adj.n.c1405
随便看

 

英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条,基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法,是英语学习的有利工具。

 

Copyright © 2004-2022 Newdu.com All Rights Reserved
更新时间:2025/2/5 16:01:17