| 释义 |
▪ I. actuate, v.|ˈæktjuːeɪt|
[f. med.L. actuāt- ppl. stem of actuā-re = ad actum redigere (Du Cange); f. actu-s, see act n.]
†1.
a. To reduce to action; to carry out in practice, to perform (a command, proposition, etc.). Obs.
1596Huarte Trial of Wits xv. 265 If there be any.. who speaketh or actuateth this in the presence of another. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. i. iii. §12, 88 He that neglects to actuate such discourses loses the benefit of his meditation. 1677Hale Contempl. ii. 68 That must..actuate such a Conviction to attain its due effect.
†b. To reduce into the form of an act. See act n. 7. Obs.
1658Bramhall Consecr. Bps. in Ang. Cath. Lib. III. 64 With their registers to actuate what is done, they do solemnly in form of law confirm the election.
†2. To render active, to stir into activity (a latent or inert property); to stir up, arouse, or excite. Obs.
1603Holland Plutarch's Morals 1347 And the cause which doth excite and actuate the same. 1609― Amm. Marcell. xvii. ii. 81 Who took this opportunity to actuate their boldnesse in doing mischiefe. 1655W. Gurnall Chr. in Armour ii. 506 So doth faith actuate sin in the Conscience. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 117 ⁋10 We must actuate our languor by taking a few turns round the centre in a garret.
3. a. To inspire (a thing) with active properties, to quicken, enliven, or vivify. arch.
1642Howell For. Trav. (1869) 82 What kind of soule doth inform, actuat, govern, and conserve that vast empire. 1664H. More Apology 498 The Soul is a Spirit that actuates the natural Body. 1824Coleridge Aids to Refl. (1848) 115 Its [spirit's] property is to improve, enliven, actuate some other thing, not constitute a thing in its own name.
b. absol.
1664Knavery in all Trades iii. D 2, A Cup of Ale-berry, or Warme-Broth exhibited to his small Guts..shall actuate in all parts of his Body.
4. To move to mechanical action, to communicate motion to, to move, impel (an instrument, machine, or agent). Also fig.
1645Rutherford Tryal & Triumph of Faith (1845) 58 The devil in his element is twice a devil; he is in his own when he formeth and actuateth bloody instruments. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 67 ⁋11 Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion. 1794G. Adams Nat. & Exper. Phil. III. xxix. 191 Either of these forces is sufficient to actuate or put in motion the system of wheels and pinions. 1832Porter Porcelain 50 It has also a piston, actuated by a screw. 1879Prescott Spkg. Telephone 3 In 1861, Reiss discovered that a vibrating diaphragm could be actuated by the human voice.
5. To act upon, or move, the will, as motives do.
1741Richardson Pamela xv. (1824) I. 255 The girl has strong passions and resentments; and she that has, will be actuated, and sometimes governed by them. 1791Boswell Johnson Ded. 1 (1816) Every liberal motive that can actuate an Authour. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 169 The motives which governed the political conduct of Charles the Second differed widely from those by which his predecessor and his successor were actuated.
6. intr. To exert activity, to act.
1620Venner Via Recta 3 Consequently it not being able to actuate as it ought, putrifieth. 1629Donne Serm. cxxxvi. V. 438 The Soul that does not think, [does] not consider, cannot be said to Actuate (which is the proper operation of the Soul) but to Evaporate, not to work through the Body, but to breathe and smoke through the body. 1657Deuine Louer §3. 9 Wee ought in soule with Loue to actuate towards God the intensest and continuallest..wee can. 1920Chambers's Jrnl. 25 Dec. 55/1 The [human] mass..came round with an almost dismaying swiftness. ‘How could such a bulk actuate with such rapidity?’ Clement thought. 1924O. Lodge Making of Man v. 113 He is beginning to learn..that the portion of consciousness now actuating and made manifest in his brain is but a small part of the whole.
Hence ˈactuator, one who or a thing which actuates.
1889in Cent. Dict. 1890C. Mercier Sanity & Insanity xii. 299 The higher nerve regions are the actuators of conduct. 1920L. Bairstow Appl. Aerodynamics vi. 281 W. E. Froude introduced into airscrew theory the idea of an actuator. 1931Electronics Sept. 107/2 The electrostatic actuator consists of a grill or slotted plate which is slipped into the front opening of a condenser microphone. 1956Spaceflight I. 24/1 Pivoting motors..to provide pitch and yaw control, movement being obtained by electro-hydraulic actuators.
▪ II. † ˈactuate, ppl. a. Obs.
[ad. med.L. actuāt-us, pa. pple. of actuā-re; see actuate v.]
Carried out in action; realized in fact; actuated.
1662South 12 Serm. Nov. 24 (1697) I. 66 And the Active informations of the Intellect, filling the Passive reception of the Will..grew actuate into a third, and distinct perfection of Practice. 1671True Non-Conf. 119 By which even the gift of Miracles was actuate, made effectual. |
