receptacle
(rɪˈsɛptək(ə)l)
[ad. L. receptāculum, f. ppl. stem of recipĕre to receive. Cf. F. réceptacle (14th c.).]
1. That which receives and holds a thing; something into which another thing may be put; a containing vessel, place, or space; a repository.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 497 But clene, Thyn oiles receptaclis thow demene. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters B iv/1 Ye shal set a receptacle or vyole so that the pype of the alembyke hange within it. 1555 Eden Decades 85 They may be the receptacles of the water passing through the landes. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 153 In this receiveth he his meat, having no other receptacle for it. 1675 tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. ii. (1688) 249 He fired a rich Receptacle or Store-house of Merchandise. 1783 Cowper Let. to J. Hill 23 Nov., His receptacle of my squibs is the Public Advertiser. 1834 Lytton Pompeii iii. i, His belt, or girdle, contained a small receptacle for ink. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 117 The river becomes the common receptacle for all the soluble matter delivered by its tributary streams. |
b. fig. in ref. to qualities, feelings, etc.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. xxxv, They be in theyr entente Of couetyse very receptacle. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 43 The receptakle of heauenly influence. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxvii. §2 The soule of man is the receptacle of Christ's presence. a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour v. i, Away, receptacle Of luxury and dishonour! 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 2 One would wonder at the great strength lodged in so small a Receptacle. 1709 Atterbury Serm. (1726) II. vii. 221 Some of these Publick Funds and Receptacles of Charity. 1827 Lytton Falkland i. 37, I have descended into the receptacles of vice. 1863 Goulburn Pers. Relig. i. iii. (ed. 2) 26 His glorified humanity is the appointed receptacle of Grace. |
2. Any place into which persons (ships, animals, etc.) are received or retire, esp. for shelter or security; † a room or apartment in a building.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. xxi, From storme and rayne them selfe for to saue They deuysed other habytacles Tiguryes and smalle receptacles. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV (1550) 35 Lest his neighbors countrey might be an harborough, or receptacle of his foes and aduersaries. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. I. 127 An Hauen..which is a commodious and safe receptacle for all ships directing their course for the same. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. Ded., Those rich lands..remaine waste and ouergrowne with bushes, receptacles of wild beasts. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 59 A third Chamber..was a receptacle for the Queene and Ladies. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. xii. in Tracts (1769) 364 Holy-wells, rocks and caves, which have been the reputed cells and receptacles of men reputed saints. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 91 ¶11 They entered this general receptacle [the Hall of Expectation] with ardour. 1809 N. Pinkney Trav. France 196 It was a standing receptacle for all vagabonds and beggars. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. viii. 224 Now applied to the degrading purposes of a receptacle of French cavalry. |
† b. Without article: Receipt, admittance. Obs.
| 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. lxxxix. (1674) 119 Whosoever durst give receptacle to so pernicious a man in his Library. |
3. spec. in scientific use. (The L. form receptaculum is also used in the same senses.) a. Anat. and Bot. An organ or space which receives a secretion, esp. receptacle of chyle (the dilated lower portion of the thoracic duct), receptacle of secretion (in plants).
| 1543 Traheron tr. Vigo's Chirurg. viii. xii. 205 b/1 By oppilation of the pores..as by stronge bynding and replecyon of the receptacles. 1722 Quincy Physical Dict. s.v. Lacteal Veins, The Receptacle of the Chyle is easily found in live Bodies... The Receptacle receives all the second order of Lacteals. 1819 Pantologia s.v. Receptaculum, In brute animals the receptacle of the chyle is situated on the dorsal vertebræ where the lacteals all meet. 1832 Lindley Introd. Bot. i. i. 27 The receptacles..in the leaves of the Orange and of all Myrtaceæ..are called..receptacles of oil. Ibid., Although the receptacles of secretion have no proper coat, yet they are so surrounded by cellular tissue that a lining or wall is formed. 1882 Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 93 The canal-like Receptacles for Secretions are formed, in many plants, by cells,..separating from one another and leaving an intercellular space. |
b. Bot. The common base which supports the floral organs, the torus or thalamus (floral receptacle). Also, the axis or rachis of a head, spike, or other cluster (receptacle of inflorescence).
proper receptacle, the apex of the peduncle or pedicel supporting a single flower. common receptacle, the support of the florets in a composite flower-head; the clinanthium; also = receptacle of inflorescence.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Receptaculum, The disk of the receptacle is of various shapes in the various plants. 1777 W. Curtis Flora Lond. I. 58 Receptacle [of Dandelion] naked and full of little holes. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 198 Flowers..collected in dense heads upon a common receptacle. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 254 Nutlets..attached by the edge to an elevated receptacle. |
c. Bot. In Ferns, Mosses, Algæ, and Fungi, the support of the fructification or reproductive organs; an apothecium, pycnidium, sporophore, etc.
| 1842 in Brande Dict. Sci., etc. 1852 Henslow Dict. Bot. Terms s.v., Receptacle..is also applied to various forms of support to the fructification of cryptogamous plants. 1874 Cooke Fungi 59 There is manifestly a succession in formation and maturity of the asci in a receptacle. 1882 Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 370 The receptacle of Mosses either terminates the growth of a primary axis,..or the axis is indeterminate, and the receptacle is placed at the end of an axis of the second or third order. |