| 释义 |
trivial, a. (n.)|ˈtrɪvɪəl|
[ad. L. triviālis, in sense 5 below, f. trivium (see trivium); cf. F. trivial (16th c. in Godef. Compl.).]
A. adj.
I.
1. Belonging to the trivium of mediæval university studies.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) VI. 333 Sche..hade noble auditors and disciples, to whom sche redde the arte trivialle [L. trivium legeret]. 1515Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) Cvj/1 If they haue smelled the artes triuiall, They count them Poetes hye and heroicall. 1597–8Bp. Hall Sat. iv. i. 173 Hath..thrise rehearsed them in his triviall floare. 1807–8Syd. Smith Plymley's Lett. x. Wks. 1859 II. 178/2 The Protestants may likewise retain their trivial and grammar schools. 1904Ker Dark Ages 27 Plato does not allow the mediæval classification of Dialectic as a Trivial Art along with Grammar and Rhetoric.
†2. Threefold, triple. Obs. rare—1.
Cf. late L. use of triviālis (Arnobius).
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 25 Giraldus of Wales, which describede Topographie of Irlonde, Itinerary of Wales, and the Lyfe of Kinge Henry the Secunde, under a triuialle distinccion [L. sub triplici distinctione].
†3. Placed where three roads meet. Obs. rare—1.
1614Selden Titles Hon. 129 Their other sacred Triuiall Statues.
4. Zool. Belonging to the trivium of an echinoderm.
1891in Cent. Dict.
II.
5. Such as may be met with anywhere; common, commonplace, ordinary, everyday, familiar, trite. Now rare (passing into 6).
1589Nashe Pref. Greene's Menaphon (Arb.) 9 A few of our triviall translators. 1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God viii. v. 291 It is triuiall in the Schooles: ‘Nothing is in the vnderstanding that was not first in the sense’. 1665Glanvill Scepsis Sci. i. 8 The most ordinary and trivial Phænomena in nature. 1704F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 37 Explain the manner of this by a trivial Observation. 1827Keble Chr. Y., Morning xiv, The trivial round, the common task. 1895MacEwen Life Dr. Cairns 161 This..is now the trivial definition and ground principle.
6. a. Of small account, little esteemed, paltry, poor; trifling, inconsiderable, unimportant, slight.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 241 We haue but triuiall argument, More then mistrust, that shewes him worthy death. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. i. §5 To demurre to the Truth of his so frequent Miracles, being so Redundant in working them on Triviall Occasions. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 94 They..are ready..to abandon for a very trivial interest what they find of very trivial value. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xii. 251 The offence..could..be passed by as altogether trivial.
b. Math. Of no consequence or interest, e.g. because equal to zero; satisfying a given relation on a set with every member of the set; spec. applied to a subgroup of a given group that either contains only the identity element or is identical with the given group.
1915R. D. Carmichael Diophantine Analysis ii. 28 We have thus established the fact that Eq. (2) has at least one integral solution which is not trivial. 1941Birkhoff & MacLane Surv. Mod. Algebra vi. 135 The reflexive property is trivial (every group is isomorphic to itself by the identity transformation). 1949S. Kravetz tr. H. Zassenhaus' Theory of Groups i. 10 𝔊 and e are trivial subgroups of 𝔊. 1953[see proper a. 5 c (ii)]. 1957L. Fox Two-Point Boundary Probl. vii. 192 If y vanishes at x = 1 then all the derivatives, if finite, are also zero, giving the trivial solution. 1971G. Glauberman in Powell & Higman Finite Simple Groups i. 35 These subgroups..will therefore be non-trivial when P is not trivial. 1979Proc. London Math. Soc. XXXVIII. 508 Strong spectrality is trivial since A(K) = A.
7. Nat. Hist. Applied to names of animals and plants:
a. to a Latin name added to the generic name to distinguish the species: = specific A. 5;
b. to a name in common as distinct from scientific use: Popular, vernacular, vulgar.
a.1759B. Stillingfl. Misc. Tracts (1762) Pref. 16 In the last edition of his Systema naturæ he [Linnæus] has mentioned above 1500 species of insects, has..given them classical, generical, and trivial or specifical names. 1815Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1843) I. 181 Scolytus destructor, whose trivial name well characterises the..severity of its ravages. 1902C. D. Sherborn Index Animalium p. vii, All trivial names are entered as if they were masculine, e.g. nigra will be found under niger.
b.1815Burrow Elem. Conchol. 193 The following List of English Trivial Names will be found useful to purchasers of shells, as dealers most frequently adopt them. Ibid. 194 Trivial Names. Linnæan Name. Lepas. English Name. Acorn Shell. 1901Spectator 17 Aug. 216/1 The trivial name for the whole family of terns..is ‘sea-swallow’.
8. Chem. Of the name of a chemical species: not systematic; often used in preference to the systematic name for reasons of convenience or tradition, as neohexane (systematic name 2,2,dimethylbutane) or formaldehyde (systematic name methanal). Cf. systematic a 7.
1892Nature 19 May 58/1 The extent to which familiar trivial names shall be retained in the official system [of chemical nomenclature] is therefore a matter of great importance. 1951Chem. & Engin. News 23 July 3036/2 The alchemists used fanciful names; we would class them as ‘trivial’ names today. 1979Clark & McKervey in Barton & Ollis Comprehensive Org. Chem. I. ii. 40 Several of these trivial names are still universally accepted... However, trivial names for alkanes containing multiple branching can become cumbersome.
III. 9. Comb., as trivial-minded adj. (whence trivial-mindedness).
1872Geo. Eliot in Cross Life (1885) III. 161 We should..have patience with their trivial-mindedness. 1905A. R. Wallace My Life II. 383 Even in the most trivial-minded [I] was able to find some common ground of interest.
B. n.
†1. = trivium 1 (in quot. transf.). Obs. rare—1.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 5 The triuialle [L. trivium] of the vertues theologicalle and quadriuialle of the cardinalle vertues.
2. pl. The three subjects of study constituting the trivium. Now only Hist.
1481,1522[see quadrivial A. 2, B. 2]. 1630Hales Gold. Rem. (1673) 282 In the Trivials and Quadrivials, as old Clerks were wont to name them. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 181 Peter Heylyn..profiting in Trivials to a miracle, especially in Poetry. 1716,1886[see quadrivial B. 2].
3. A trivial matter; a triviality, trifle. Usually pl.
1715M. Davies Athen. Brit. I. 288 'Tis scarce worth disputing..about such trivials. 1886Tupper My Life as Author 334 Take these twelve as samples of many more such trivials.
4. Math. ‘A coefficient or other quantity not containing the quantities of the set considered’ (Cent. Dict. 1891).
Add:[III.] [9.] Trivial Pursuit, a proprietary name for a board-game first marketed in Canada in 1982, in which players advance by correctly answering general-knowledge questions from one of six subject areas, the subject being determined by the colour of the space on which a player lands.
1982Montreal Gaz. 12 Feb. b5/4 ‘What's great about Trivial Pursuit is the variety of questions,’ says store salesman Les Gray. ‘There are easy ones to keep you going, some incredibly impossible ones, and plenty of tricky ones.’ 1982Trade Marks Jrnl. (Ottawa) 3 Mar. 46/2 Trivial Pursuit... Board Game. Proposed use in Canada. 1983Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 8 Feb. tm176/2 Trivial Pursuit... For equipment including a playing board, die, rules of play, question and answer cards..sold as a unit for playing a board game. 1984Trade Marks Jrnl. 15 Aug. 2131/2 Trivial Pursuit... Toys, games..and playthings... 26th January, 1983. 1985New Yorker 23 Dec. 38/3 Ed, involved in a game of Trivial Pursuit in his oldest daughter's room, would see Carol sail past the door, her quick step silent. 1988Oxf. Diocesan Mag. Sept. 7/2 Even the weaker pupils found some of the short Trivial-Pursuit-type questions insulting. 1989Lit. Rev. Dec. 48/1 The first hint of this being ‘The Information Decade’ came when my aunt produced ‘Trivial Pursuit’. It kept us mildly amused for one Boxing Day afternoon; most of the answers seemed to be Elvis Presley. |
