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volatile
vola·tile / ˈvɔlətail; NAmE ˈvɑːlətl /
adjective
1. (often disapproving) (of a person or their moods 人或其情绪) changing easily from one mood to another
易变的；无定性的；无常性的:
a highly volatile personality
反覆无常的个性
2. (of a situation 情况) likely to change suddenly; easily becoming dangerous
可能急剧波动的；不稳定的；易恶化的
SYN unstable :
a highly volatile situation from which riots might develop
可能会出现动乱的极不稳定的局势
a volatile exchange rate
剧烈波动的汇率
3. (technical 术语) (of a substance 物质) that changes easily into a gas
易挥发的；易发散的:
Petrol is a volatile substance.
汽油是挥发性物质。
• vola·til·ity / ˌvɔləˈtiləti; NAmE ˌvɑːl- / noun [U]
volatile
vol·a·tile
I
/ˈvɑːlətəl, Brit ˈvɒləˌtajəl/ adj [more ~; most ~]
1 a : likely to change in a very sudden or extreme way
The stock market can be very volatile.
1 b : having or showing extreme or sudden changes of emotion
She is a volatile woman.
He has a very volatile temper. [=he gets angry very suddenly and violently]
2 : likely to become dangerous or out of control
The protests are increasing, creating a volatile situation in the capital.
3 technical : easily becoming a gas at a fairly low temperature
a volatile solvent
highly volatile compounds
vol·a·til·i·ty /ˌvɑːləˈtıləti/ noun [ noncount ]
————————
II
noun , pl -tiles [ count ]
technical : a chemical or compound that changes into a gas easily
volatile 搭配和用法
adj.
• VERBS be | become | remain
• ADVERB extremely, fairly, very, etc. | highly Edwards was a highly ~ character. | increasingly | potentially a potentially ~ situation | notoriously | politically | emotionally
Volatile is used with these nouns: character, chemical, compound, liquid, mix, mixture, personality, relationship, situation, solvent, substance, temper, temperament
词源和关联语境的词语（更多相关词见回帖）
volatility (n.)
1620s, noun from volatile (adj.).
volatile (adj.)
1590s "fine or light," also "evaporating rapidly" (c. 1600), from French volatile, from Latin volatilis "fleeting, transitory; swift, rapid; flying, winged," from past participle stem of volare "to fly" (see volant). Sense of "readily changing, flighty, fickle" is first recorded 1640s. Volatiles in Middle English meant "birds, butterflies, and other winged creatures" (c. 1300).
sal (n.)
name for salt formerly much used in pharmacy and old chemistry, late 14c., from Old French sal, from Latin sal (genitive salis) "salt" (from PIE root *sal- "salt"). For sal ammoniac "ammonium chloride" (early 14c.), see ammonia. Sal volatile, "ammonium carbonate," especially as used in reviving persons who have fainted, is by 1650s, Modern Latin, literally "volatile salt" (see volatile).
hellcat (n.)
also hell-cat, "volatile woman," c. 1600, from hell + cat (n.). OED suggests "possibly suggested by Hecat," a spelling of Hecate.
ammonia (n.)
volatile alkali, a colorless gas with a strong pungent smell, 1799, coined in scientific Latin 1782 by Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman as a name for the gas obtained from sal ammoniac, salt deposits containing ammonium chloride found near temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya (see Ammon, and compare ammoniac). The shrine was ancient already in Augustus' day, and the salts, traditionally, first were prepared from mineral deposits "from the sands where the camels waited while their masters prayed for good omens" [Shipley, "Origins of English Words"]. Also known as spirit of hartshorn and volatile alkali or animal alkali.
acetone (n.)
colorless volatile liquid, 1839, literally "a derivative of acetic acid," from Latin acetum "vinegar" (see acetic) + Greek-based chemical suffix -one, which owes its use in chemistry to this word.
chloroform (n.)
"trichloromethane," volatile, colorless liquid used as an anaesthetic, 1835, from French chloroforme, a hybrid coined 1834 by French chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800-1884) from chloro-, combining form meaning "chlorine" (see chlorine), + formique "formic (acid)" (see formic (adj.)).
As a verb, "to subject to the influence of chloroform," from 1848, the year its anaesthetic properties were discovered. Related: Chloroformed.
camphor (n.)
whitish, translucent, volatile substance with a penetrating odor, the product of trees in east Asia and Indonesia, extensively used in medicine, early 14c., caumfre, from Old French camphre, from Medieval Latin camfora, from Arabic kafur, perhaps via Sanskrit karpuram, from Malay (Austronesian) kapur "camphor tree." Related: Camphorated.
fixation (n.)
late 14c., fixacion, an alchemical word, "action of reducing a volatile substance to a permanent bodily form," from Medieval Latin fixationem (nominative fixatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin fixare, frequentative of figere "to fasten, fix" (from PIE root *dheigw- "to stick, fix"). Meaning "condition of being fixed" is from 1630s. Used in the Freudian sense since 1910.
nicotine (n.)
also nicotin, poisonous volatile alkaloid base found in tobacco leaves, 1819, from French nicotine, earlier nicotiane, from Modern Latin Nicotiana, the formal botanical name for the tobacco plant, named for Jean Nicot (c. 1530-1600), French ambassador to Portugal, who sent tobacco seeds and powdered leaves from Lisbon to France 1561. His name is a diminutive of Nicolas (see Nicholas).
naphtha (n.)
1570s, from Latin, from Greek naphtha "bitumen," perhaps from Persian neft "pitch," or Aramaic (Semitic) naphta, nephta, but these could as well be from Greek. In Middle English as napte (late 14c.), from Old French napte, but the modern word is a re-introduction. In ancient writers it refers to a more fluid and volatile variety of natural asphalt or bitumen. In modern use, a colorless inflammable liquid distilled from petroleum.
carburetor (n.)
also carburator, carburettor, device to enhance a gas flame by adding volatile hydrocarbons, 1866, from carburet "compound of carbon and another substance" (1795, now displaced by carbide), also used as a verb, "to combine with carbon" (1802); from carb-, combining form of carbon, + -uret, an archaic suffix from Modern Latin -uretum, used in English to parallel French words in -ure. Motor vehicle sense "apparatus for injecting fuel in fine particles into air to prepare it for the cylinder" is from 1896.
gasoline (n.)
"light, volatile liquid obtained from distillation of petroleum," 1864, a variant of gasolene (from 1863 in Britain), which apparently was a trade name at first, from gas (n.1) in its then-popular loose sense of "compound of gases used for illuminating and heating purposes;" the -ol probably here represents Latin oleum "oil" and the ending is from the chemical suffix -ine (2). Shortened form gas was in common use in U.S. by 1897. Gas station as a fuel filling station for automobiles recorded by 1924.
mercurial (adj.)
late 14c., "pertaining to or under the influence of the planet Mercury," from Latin Mercurialis, from Mercurius (see Mercury). Meaning "pertaining to the god Mercury, having the form or qualities attributed to Mercury" (in reference to his role as god of trade or as herald and guide) is from 1590s. Meaning "light-hearted, sprightly, volatile, changeable, quick" (1640s) is from the qualities supposed to characterize those born under the planet Mercury (they also are the qualities of the god Mercury), probably also partly by association with the qualities of quicksilver. A variant in this sense was mercurious (1590s). Related: Mercurially; mercuriality.
spirit (n.)
Origin and meaning of spirit
mid-13c., "animating or vital principle in man and animals," from Anglo-French spirit, Old French espirit "spirit, soul" (12c., Modern French esprit) and directly from Latin spiritus "a breathing (respiration, and of the wind), breath; breath of a god," hence "inspiration; breath of life," hence "life;" also "disposition, character; high spirit, vigor, courage; pride, arrogance," related to spirare "to breathe," perhaps from PIE *(s)peis- "to blow" (source also of Old Church Slavonic pisto "to play on the flute"). But de Vaan says "Possibly an onomatopoeic formation imitating the sound of breathing. There are no direct cognates."
Meaning "supernatural immaterial creature; angel, demon; an apparition, invisible corporeal being of an airy nature" is attested from mid-14c.; from late 14c. as "a ghost" (see ghost (n.)). From c. 1500 as "a nature, character"; sense of "essential principle of something" (in a non-theological context, as in Spirit of St. Louis) is attested from 1680s, common after 1800; Spirit of '76 in reference to the qualities that sparked and sustained the American Revolution is attested by 1797 in William Cobbett's "Porcupine's Gazette and Daily Advertiser."
From late 14c. in alchemy as "volatile substance; distillate;" from c. 1500 as "substance capable of uniting the fixed and the volatile elements of the philosopher's stone." Hence spirits "volatile substance;" sense narrowed to "strong alcoholic liquor" by 1670s. This also is the sense in spirit level (1768). Also from mid-14c. as "character, disposition; way of thinking and feeling, state of mind; source of a human desire;" in Middle English freedom of spirit meant "freedom of choice." From late 14c. as "divine substance, divine mind, God;" also "Christ" or His divine nature; "the Holy Ghost; divine power;" also, "extension of divine power to man; inspiration, a charismatic state; charismatic power, especially of prophecy." Also "essential nature, essential quality." From 1580s in metaphoric sense "animation, vitality."
According to Barnhart and OED, originally in English mainly from passages in Vulgate, where the Latin word translates Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruah. Distinction between "soul" and "spirit" (as "seat of emotions") became current in Christian terminology (such as Greek psykhe vs. pneuma, Latin anima vs. spiritus) but "is without significance for earlier periods" [Buck]. Latin spiritus, usually in classical Latin "breath," replaces animus in the sense "spirit" in the imperial period and appears in Christian writings as the usual equivalent of Greek pneuma. Spirit-rapping is from 1852.
smoke (n.1)
late Old English smoca (rare) "fumes and volatile material given off by burning substances," related to smeocan "give off smoke," from Proto-Germanic *smuk- (source also of Middle Dutch smooc, Dutch smook, Middle High German smouch, German Schmauch), from PIE root *smeug- "to smoke; smoke" (source also of Armenian mux "smoke," Greek smykhein "to burn with smoldering flame," Old Irish much, Welsh mwg "smoke").
There is no fyre without some smoke [Heywood, 1562]
The more usual noun was Old English smec, which became dialectal smeech. Abusive meaning "black person" attested from 1913, American English. Smoke-eater "firefighter" is c. 1930. Figurative phrase go up in smoke "be destroyed" (as if by fire) is from 1933. Smoke-alarm first attested 1936; smoke-detector from 1957.
alcohol (n.)
1540s (early 15c. as alcofol), "fine powder produced by sublimation," from Medieval Latin alcohol "powdered ore of antimony," from Arabic al-kuhul "kohl," the fine metallic powder used to darken the eyelids, from kahala "to stain, paint." The al- is the Arabic definite article, "the."
Paracelsus (1493-1541) used the word to refer to a fine powder but also a volatile liquid. By 1670s it was being used in English for "any sublimated substance, the pure spirit of anything," including liquids.
The sense of "intoxicating ingredient in strong liquor" is attested by 1753, short for alcohol of wine, which then was extended to the intoxicating element in fermented liquors. The formerly preferred terms for the substance were rectified spirits or brandy.
In organic chemistry, the word was extended by 1808 to the class of compounds of the same type as this (a 1790 translation of Lavoisier's "Elements of Chemistry" has alkoholic gas for "the combination of alkohol with caloric").
perspire (v.)
1640s, of a volatile liquid, "to evaporate through the pores" (intransitive), a back-formation from perspiration and in part from Latin perspirare "blow or breathe constantly," from per "through" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "through") + spirare "to breathe, blow" (see spirit (n.)). The meaning "to sweat, to give out watery substance through the pores of the skin" (intransitive) is a polite usage attested from 1725. Medical men tried to maintain a distinction between "sensible" (sweat) and "insensible" perspiration:
[I]t is sufficient for common use to observe, that perspiration is that insensible discharge of vapour from the whole surface of the body and the lungs which is constantly going on in a healthy state; that it is always natural and always salutary; that sweat, on the contrary, is an evacuation, which never appears without some uncommon effort, or some disease to the system, that it weakens and relaxes, and is so far from coinciding with perspiration, that it obstructs and checks it. [Charles White, "A Treatise on the Management of Pregnant and Lying-in Women," London, 1791]
Related: Perspired; perspiring.
ether (n.)
late 14c., "upper regions of space," from Old French ether (12c.) and directly from Latin aether "the upper pure, bright air; sky, firmament," from Greek aithēr "upper air; bright, purer air; the sky" (opposed to aēr "the lower air"), from aithein "to burn, shine," from PIE *aidh- "to burn" (see edifice).
In ancient cosmology, the element that filled all space beyond the sphere of the moon, constituting the substance of the stars and planets. Conceived of as a purer form of fire or air, or as a fifth element. From 17c.-19c., it was the scientific word for an assumed "frame of reference" for forces in the universe, perhaps without material properties. The concept was shaken by the Michelson-Morley experiment (1887) and discarded early 20c. after the Theory of Relativity won acceptance, but before it went it gave rise to the colloquial use of ether for "the radio" (1899).
The name also was bestowed c. 1730 (Frobenius; in English by 1757) on a volatile chemical compound known since 14c. for its lightness and lack of color (its anesthetic properties weren't fully established until 1842).
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发表于 2023-1-27 13:14:40
楼主