| 释义 |
corpus vile|ˈkɔːpəs ˈvaɪlɪ|
Pl. corpora vilia |ˈkɔːpərə ˈvaɪlɪə|.
[L., = ‘cheap body’. Orig. in phr. (see quot. 1822) meaning ‘let the experiment be done on a cheap (or worthless) body’.]
A living or dead body that is of so little value that it can be used for experiment without regard for the outcome; transf., experimental material of any kind, or something which has no value except as the object of experimentation.
[1822De Quincey Confess. App. 189 Fiat experimentum in corpore vili is a just rule where there is any reasonable presumption of benefit to arise on a large scale.] 1860Once a Week 14 Apr. 343/1 It appeared that when she was in want of a chapter, she was in the habit of practising upon poor G. as a corpus vile. 1861C. Lever in All Yr. Round 5 Jan. 310/1 It was making the experiment in the ‘corpore vile’ [sic] of accident, to see what might come of it. 1865C. M. Yonge Clever Woman I. iii. 80 The only difficulty was to find poor people enough who would submit to serve as the corpus vile for their charitable treatment. 1867J. S. Mill Lett. (1910) II. 94 Ireland may be tried as a corpus vile for experimentation on Government management of railways and telegraphs. 1884Athenæum 23 Feb. 242/1 There is too great tendency for the psychological novelist to regard his characters as so many corpora vilia for his scientific theories. 1933Week-end Rev. 16 Sept. 277/1 Judith is much more than a corpus vile for the infliction of her foster-mother's spite. 1953Essays in Criticism III. i. 4, I am not proposing to include among these initial corpora vilia passages from either Mr Eliot's criticism or Dr Leavis's. |
