| 释义 |
▪ I. assert, v.|əˈsɜːt|
[f. L. assert- ppl. stem of as-serĕre (f. ad to + serĕre to join, put) to put one's hand on the head of a slave, either to set him free or claim him for servitude, hence, to set free, protect, defend; to appropriate, claim; to affirm, declare, state. Cf. also med.L. assertāre (freq. of asserĕre) to affirm.]
I. To grant or ensure liberty, to protect.
†1. trans. To bring into freedom, set free. (Cf. L. asserere in libertatem.) Obs. rare.
1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. iv. §13. 196 He that could assert Christians to that liberty which Christ and his Apostles left them. 1699Bp. Patrick Comm. Numb. xxiii. 22 (T.) The people of Israel..were asserted by God into a state of liberty.
†2. To maintain the cause of, take the part of; to champion, protect, defend. Obs. exc. with cause as object (where it passes into 5).
1652W. Cartwright Offspr. Mercy 19 His [Christ's] father's foreknowledge..asserted his death from casualty. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. vi. §32 III. 283 Engaged to assert their good Patron..in his just vindication from this unjust aspersion. 1667Milton P.L. i. 25 That..I may assert th' eternal Providence, And justifie the wayes of God to men. 1705Stanhope Paraphr. III. 53 God..could not so receive and assert an Impostor. 1718Pope Iliad ii. 339 Sedition silence, and assert the throne. 1814Scott Wav. iv, The cause that I shall assert I shall dare support in every danger.
II. To lay claim to.
3. trans. To claim (something) as belonging to (oneself or another); to declare one's right to, or possession of. arch.
1652Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 210 Julius Cæsar did assert to himself a Dominion over British Isle and Sea. 1836–7Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. xxxviii. (1870) II. 374 The few who assert to man a knowledge of the infinite.
†4. To lay claim to, claim. Obs.
1649Milton Eikon. Wks. 1738 I. 393 Their Principles too much asserted Liberty. 1656Bramhall Replic. vii. 292 Here is no power asserted, no punishment to be inflicted..but only politicall. 1714Gay Trivia i. 4 When to assert the Wall, and when resign. 1791Cowper Iliad xxiii. 764 The fourth awarded lot..Meriones asserted next, The golden talents.
5. To maintain practically, insist upon, or vindicate, a (disputed) claim to (anything).
1649Howell Pre-em. Parl. 11 How infinitely necessary the Parlement is, to assert, to prop up, and preserve the Public Liberty. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 157 A third part of the Gods, in Synod met Thir Deities to assert. 1769Junius Lett. xxxv. 164 A generous people..dare openly assert their rights. 1835Marryat Jac. Faithf. xlvi, He who would assert his independence.
6. to assert oneself: to insist upon the recognition of one's rights or claims, and take means to secure them.
1879Mrs. Oliphant Within Precincts xxxviii, He was all the more anxious not to lose her..that she had thus asserted herself. 1883Wace Gosp. & Witn. iv. 80 That agnostic philosophy which now asserts itself so loudly.
III. To declare, state.
7. trans. To declare formally and distinctly, to state positively, aver, affirm:
a. a thing to be, or that it is.
a1604Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 21 Polycronicon assircteth..that they came to the North of Ireland in Vespasian's time. 1691Ray Creation (R.) Nothing is more..unworthy a natural philosopher than to assert any thing to be done without a cause. 1750Harris Hermes i. ii. (1786) 16 To assert [is]..to publish some Perception either of the Senses or the Intellect. 1857Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 15 Would you not at once assert of that mistress, that she knew nothing of her duties?
b. with pronominal obj. standing for a clause.
1661Bramhall Just Vind. iii. 46 Which is all that we assert. 1795Sewel Hist. Quakers I. Pref. 9, I have endeavoured to assert nothing but what I had good authority for. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 650 It is not directly asserted, but it seems to be implied.
c. with n. as object.
1667Milton P.L. v. 798 Those Imperial Titles which assert Our being ordain'd to govern. 1839Keightley Hist. Eng. II. 37 She asserted her innocence in the strongest terms. 1862H. Spencer First Princ. i. v. §27 (1875) 99 Common Sense asserts the existence of a reality.
†8. To declare or affirm the existence of.
1660Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 184/1 He likewise asserteth Faith and Imagination. 1724A. Collins Gr. Chr. Relig. 264 Justin Martyr asserts a double sense of some prophesies.
†b. To bear evidence of, bespeak. Obs. rare.
1823Lamb Elia i. xviii. (1865) 138 Their air and dress asserted the parade.
†9. To declare the extent of, to state. Obs.
1675Ogilby Brit. Pref. 4 Some have deviated..in Asserting the Distance. 1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 170 No size for..the Puppets can be well asserted.
▪ II. † aˈssert Obs. rare.
[f. prec. vb.]
Assertion, declaration.
1649G. Daniel Trinarch. Hen. V, lii, Treason strongly back't In the Assert of Language. 1655Lestrange K. Chas. I, 79 His assert being entred upon record.
▪ III. assert
obsolete form of assart. |
