| 释义 |
mo·sa·ic
I. \mōˈzāik, -āēk, məˈ-\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English musycke, from Middle French mosaique, from Old Italian mosaico, from Medieval Latin musaicum, alteration of Late Latin musivum, from neuter of musivus of a muse, artistic, from Latin musa muse + -ivus -ive
1.
a. : a surface decoration made by inlaying small pieces of variously colored material (as tile, marble, or glass) to form patterns or pictures
b. : the process of making such a decoration
2.
a. : a picture or design made in mosaic
b. : an article decorated in mosaic
3. : something resembling a mosaic
< passages that are mosaics of quotations — Malcolm Cowley >
< a mosaic of colorful bits from history — College English >
< great cities turn out … to be a mosaic of segregated peoples — R.E.Park >
4. : a mosaic individual : chimera
5.
a. : leaf mosaic 1
b. also mosaic disease : any of several virus diseases of plants characterized especially by more or less diffuse light and dark green or yellow and green mottling or spotting of the foliage and sometimes by pronounced curling, dwarfing, and narrowing of the leaves
6. : a composite photographic map formed by matching a series of overlapping photographs of adjoining areas of the earth's surface taken vertically from the air at a constant height
7. : the photosensitive element in a television camera tube consisting of a layer of many minute photoelectric particles that convert light to an electric charge
II. adjective
1.
a. also mosaical \-āə̇kəl\ : of, relating to, or produced by mosaic
< a mosaic floor >
< bright mosaic tile >
b. : resembling mosaic especially in pattern, variegation, or composition
< a mosaic compilation >
2. : exhibiting mosaicism:
a. : chimeral
b. : of, relating to, or constituting a mosaic hybrid or mosaic inheritance
3. of a plant : affected with mosaic
4. : granoblastic
5. : determinate 6
6. : of or relating to the mosaic of a television camera tube
• mo·sa·i·cal·ly \-āə̇k(ə)lē\ adverb
III. transitive verb
(mosaicked also mosaiced \-ikt, -ēkt\ ; mosaicked also mosaiced ; mosaicking also mosaicing \-āə̇kiŋ\ ; mosaics)
Etymology: mosaic (I)
1. : to decorate with or as if with mosaics
< doors and roofs were carved and sculptured and painted and mosaicked — Rose Macaulay >
2. : to form into or as if into a mosaic
< an artificial patchwork … mosaicked out of bought, stolen, and plundered provinces — J.L.Motley >
IV. adjective
also mo·sa·i·cal \-āə̇kəl\
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Mosaic from New Latin Mosaicus, from Moses Biblical prophet and lawgiver + Latin -icus -ic; Mosaical from New Latin Mosaicus + English -al — more at moses
: of or relating to Moses or the institutions or writings attributed to him
< the Mosaic code > |