▪ I. † eˈxhibit, pple. Obs.
Forms: 6 exhibet, -yte, exhybet, exibite, 6–7 exhibit(e.
[ad. L. exhibit-us, pa. pple. of exhibēre: see exhibit v.]
= exhibited, pa. pple. of exhibit v.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 192 b, Worshyp exhibyte and done to the sayntes of God. 1529 Wolsey in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 104 II. 8 Thys kyndnes exibite from the Kyngs Hyghnes shall prolong my lyff. 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices ii. (1540) 103 Who is he..that wyll not prefer in his dyligence exhybet the fauour of a ryche man. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 4 We have exhibet to you this present Catechisme. 1639 Chas. I Proclam. Scot. 4 Some whereof were produced and exhibit by our Commissioner. |
▪ II. exhibit, n.
(ɛgˈzɪbɪt)
[ad. L. exhibit-um pa. pple. neut. of exhibēre: see exhibit v.]
1. Law. a. (See quot. 1672.) b. Any document (or, more recently, any material object) produced in court and referred to and identified in written evidence.
| 1626 Impeachm. Dk. Buckhm. (Camden) 40 The exhibite..shewed unto him..is the true..bill of ladeinge. 1636 Divine Trag. 43 Suppressing the Gentlemans exhibits and defence. 1662 Act. 14 Chas. II, c. 14 All the Processes, Exhibites, Writings..and Orders were had, taken, made and done in the said Court of Admiralty. 1667 E. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. ii. viii. (1743) 73 The office of the Register is to attend the court, to receive all libels, or bills, allegations and exhibits of witnesses. 1672 J. Cowell Interpr., Exhibit, Exhibitum, When a Deed, Acquittance, or other writing is in a Chancery-suit exhibited to be proved by Witnesse, and the Examiner writes on the back that it was shewed to such a one at the time of his Examination; this is there called an Exhibit. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 46/2 Nagree paper fixed and marked exhibit M. 1798 St. Papers in Ann. Reg. 288 Eight pages of ciphered exhibits. 1888 Chitty 5 Rep. Pat., etc. Cases 673, I have also an exhibit of goods which the Applicants manufacture or sell. |
c. exhibit A: the first document or object produced in court as evidence; hence transf. and fig., an object or person considered as a piece of evidence, esp. the most important evidence.
| [1902 J. M. Lely Wharton's Law-lex. (ed. 10) 303 Exhibit, a document..referred to in, but not annexed to, an affidavit... Usually the deponent merely refers to it in the affidavit as ‘the exhibit hereto annexed marked A’, or as the case may be.] 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands iv. 49 John was..so limp that the policeman had to hold him up, like exhibit A. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August (1933) xv. 325 To preach to them [sc. Negroes] humility before all skins lighter than theirs, preaching the superiority of the white race, himself his own exhibit A. 1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident iv. 47 The button—let us call it Exhibit A—was found by me. 1963 K. Eble F. Scott Fitzgerald x. 158 His short stories will be the supporting evidence—The Great Gatsby is Exhibit A—of his lasting claim to attention. 1970 J. Porter Rather Common Sort of Crime xiv. 163 Pimp..tossed a crumpled looking paper bag over to the Hon. Con. ‘Exhibit A,’ said Jack the John. |
2. A detailed and formal statement of particulars (as debts, liabilities, etc.); orig. one intended for production in court; hence gen.
| 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3778/4 They are desired..to bring or send such their Exhibits of Book Debts, Bonds, etc. 1864 D. A. Wells Our Burden & Str. 6 Having thus presented an exhibit of our present and prospective national liabilities. |
3. Eccl. in pl. The documents (letters of orders, institution and induction, etc.) which a beneficed or licensed clergyman may be required to produce at the first visitation after his admission. Hence, the fees payable on presenting these documents.
| 1629–30 Bp. W. Bedell in Ussher's Lett. (1686) 422 By Fees, he..seeks to take..for Exhibits at Visitations. 1767 Burn Eccl. Law. (1824) IV. 19 None but the bishop, or [his representative] hath right de jure communi to require these exhibits of the clergy. 1863 Blyth Hist. Notices Fincham 72 At the Bishop's primary visitation in 1858 the synodals were 5s. and the exhibits 13s. 4d. |
4. Something exhibited or presented to view. † a. gen. A spectacle, sight. Obs.
| 1676 Hale Contempl. i. 449 In the study of a poor Fly, there would be such a confluence of so many wonderful and difficult Exhibits in it. |
b. One of the objects composing an ‘exhibition’.
| 1862 Leader (Melbourne) 5 July, Exhibits for the Geelong and Western District Agricultural and Horticultural Society's Show. 1876 Fam. Herald 2 Dec. 79/2 An exhibit..in the Peruvian section..attracted an unusual share of attention. 1884 Graphic 16 Aug. 166/2 The horses were a grand show of 390 exhibits. |
c. The collection of articles sent by any one person, firm, country, etc. to an ‘exhibition’.
| 1871 Daily News 7 Dec., There is not much the matter..with his exhibit [of cattle]. 1881 Harper's Mag. June 50 The Portuguese exhibit at the last Universal Exposition at Paris. 1887 F. E. Chadwick in Scribn. Mag. I. 517/1 The only French exhibit was that of the Bureau Veritas. |
5. A showing, producing in evidence, display.
| 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iii. v. 95 The Play was to be presented to some few friends before the publick exhibit. 1864 Fessenden in Times 24 Dec., The power to compel an exhibit of books of account. 1886 B. W. Richardson in Pall Mall G. 27 Sept. 6/2 There was no exhibit in these workers of any deficiency of muscular perception or skill. |
Add: [4.] d. = exhibition n. 6 a. N. Amer.
| 1894 Official Guide Calif. Midwinter Exposition v. 45 The following are the groups into which the exhibit in the Agricultural building is divided. 1915 A. Pollitzer Let. 26 July in Lovingly, Georgia (1990) 7, I have fixed up one of the rooms in our big old barn—as a kind of studio—& I took them [sc. the drawings] up—thumb-tacked them on the walls & had a real exhibit. 1928 N.Y. Times 29 Apr. x.19/1 While the exhibit closed yesterday, it will be continued this week at the Washington School. 1944 S. Bellow Dangling Man 90 John Pearl writes of an exhibit of his pictures at a women's club in New York. 1974 G. Paley Enormous Changes at Last Minute 104 They had gone to see the missile exhibit on Fourteenth Street. 1985 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 Oct. d3/2 Douglas E. Brown: Swell Times, paintings at the New Art Gallery of Toronto... This is a streetwise exhibit that's all over the place in terms of subjects. |
▪ III. exhibit, v.
(ɛgˈzɪbɪt)
Forms: 5 exhibete, 6–7 exhibite, (6 exhybet, exibyte), 6– exhibit.
[f. L. exhibit- ppl. stem of exhibēre, f. ex- out + habēre to hold.]
I. To offer, furnish, administer.
† 1. trans. To offer, present (sacrifice, etc.); to administer (an oath). Obs.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos v. (1890) 21 His felaushyppe chosen by hym for to make and exhibete the sayd sacrefyce. 1532 More Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 805/2 We..exhibite our bodies a liuely host. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xii. (Arb.) 44 To him [God] we can not exhibit ouermuch praise. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. xii. 54 The worship which naturally men exhibite to Powers invisible. 1657 Howell Londinop. 37 That the said Commissioners should have power to exhibit an Oath. |
† 2. To grant, provide, furnish; const. to, unto; hence, to defray (expense). Obs.
| 1548 Hall Chron. 195 b, Frendes..will not..remember a great gratuitie and benefite in time of necessitie, to them shewed and exhibited. 1563–83 Foxe A. & M. II. 997/1 To D. Royston..he [Humfrey Mummuth] exhibited fortie or fiftie pounds. 1577 T. Vautrollier Luther on Ep. Gal. 178 The blessing promised to Abraham and exhibited by Christ. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 107 Whose necessary expences and charges Ambrose exhibited. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lx. (1611) 319 Wee defraude them of such outward helps as wee ought to exhibit. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 32 We will exhibite you a market. 1654 Triana in Fuller Cause & Cure (1867) 162 He kept Feliciano..as a gentle almsman, exhibiting diet and some slender accommodations unto him. |
† b. intr. To provide maintenance; to give an ‘exhibition’; to minister (to a person's wants). Const. to, unto. Obs. Rarely trans.: To give an exhibition to (a student).
| 1601 F. Godwin Bps. of Eng. 312 [The] Deane of York.. sent him to Oxeford, and so long as he liued..exhibited vnto him there. a 1695 Wood (cited by Webster) He was a special friend to the university..exhibiting to the wants of certain scholars. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xlviii. 520 Well disposed people..used to exhibit to poor students. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. iv. 107 The sum paid out of endowments to students exhibited. |
3. trans. (Med.) To administer (a remedy, etc.).
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 251 They were wont to exhibit it [Scammony] for a purgation. 1620 Venner Via Recta viii. 168 If the meat desired be of a very naughty and ill property, then it is not to be exhibited. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 233 As if they would exhibit a medicine to the Head. 1725 N. Robinson Th. Physick 295 Let a Vomit be exhibited in the first Place. 1821 T. Sandwith Observ. Med. & Surg. 16 A tea-spoonful of the antimonial wine was exhibited every hour. 1874 A. B. Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 4) 166 The patient should fast for four or five hours before chloroform is exhibited. |
II. To submit or expose to view; to show, display.
4. To hold out, or submit (a document) for inspection; esp. to produce, lodge, put in (a document) in a court of law, to append as an ‘exhibit’ to written evidence. Const. to; also † into (a court).
| 1529 Act. 21 Hen. VIII, c. 5 So that the said testament be exhibited to him..in wrytyng. c 1538 Starkey Lett. p. lxxv, I haue not fayned to exibyte to your grace this rude commentary. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. i. 151 Accept this Scrowle..Which..We doe exhibite to your Maiestie. a 1626 Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law 67 They are to exhibite the will into the Bishops court. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 44 One of the persons to whom the manuscripts were exhibited was Archbishop Sancroft. 1884 Law Rep. 14 Q. Bench Div. 205 The records..exhibited to the affidavits filed in the cause. |
| absol. 1880 Muirhead tr. Instit. Gaius iv. §163 His application for an arbiter involved an admission that he was bound to restore or exhibit. |
† b. To give up (oneself to justice). Obs. rare—1.
| 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 64 Pausanias..came forth and exhibited himself to justice. |
5. a. To submit for consideration; to present, prefer (a petition, an accusation, etc.). Cf. 1.
| 1529 Act 21 Hen. VIII, c. 16 §11 Our true and faithful Subjects..exhibited unto us a lamentable Bill of Complaint. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 29 Why Ile Exhibit a Bill in the Parliament for the putting downe of men. 1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. 66 May easily impetrate at Gods hands any supplication you shall exhibite. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 10/1 He..exhibited another charge of high treason against the duke. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. iii. 75 A discourse exhibited to the Queen's Council. 1747 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. V. 99 The several Charges exhibited by the Complainants against Mr. Ruston were frivolous and malicious. 1805 East's Rep. V. 353 Where two libels are exhibited against two inhabitants of a parish for tithes. 1829 I. Taylor Enthus. iv. (1867) 79 Our part is merely to exhibit against the system the charge of delusion or enthusiasm. 1883 Rules Supreme Court xxxi. §7 Any interrogatories may be set aside on the ground that they have been exhibited unreasonably. |
† b. To promulgate, publish (a decree or order).
| 1693 Mem. Ct. Teckely iii. 2 Orders should be exhibited for maintaining Officers and Souldiers. |
6. To set forth (in words or figures); to detail.
| 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 27 In exhybetynge these offyces and dutyes, we must, etc. a 1656 Hales Gold. Rem. (1688) 420 Leave to exhibit their Mind in writing. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. viii. (1691) 109 Mr. Samuel Fortry..exhibits the particulars. 1774 Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry ii. (1840) I. 82 Which [entries] I choose to exhibit in the words of the original. 1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 381 The following Table exhibits the result of these experiments. 1846 Mill Logic. i. iii. §1 To exhibit an enumeration of all kinds of things which are capable of being made predicates. |
7. To manifest to the senses, esp. to the sight; to present (a material object) to view.
| 1573 (title), The Whole Works of W. Tyndall, etc...now in print here exhibited to the Church. 1659 Hammond On Ps. xxiv. 6 Annot. 138 Where God hath promised to exhibite himself to those that worthily approach him. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 318 Out of this opening they exhibit their real head and eyes. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 128 The coasts..sometimes exhibit extensive beaches. 1805 W. Saunders Min. Waters 9 Water is..made up of two substances, neither of which can be exhibited separately, except in the gaseous form. 1837 Goring & Pritchard Microgr. 187 For a solar intended to exhibit large objects. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. iv. 33 It may be that the lake simply exhibits the colour of pure water. |
b. To present to mental view.
| 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 590 We haue of this, very many examples exhibited vnto vs. 1607 C. Lever in Farr S.P.Q. Eliz. (1845) II. 522 Exhibite, Lord, my pardon in thy prayer. 1780 Johnson Let. Mrs. Thrale 18 Apr., She and her husband exhibited two very different appearances of human nature. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xli. 506 The general exhibited a memorable lesson of firmness and severity. 1802 Med. Jrnl. VIII. 532 Oxydated muriatic gas..exhibits..the surest means of checking contagion. 1821 J. Q. Adams in C. Davies Metr. Syst. iii. (1871) 84 In both, the phenomenon is still exhibited. |
† c. intr. for refl. Obs.
| 1656–81 Blount Glossogr., Exhibite..to shew it self. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 119 It is in the nature of the mind to assent to whatever appearances that exhibit when all other evidence that might correct them is removed out of her reach. |
8. To represent by a figure, drawing, etc.: said also of the drawing itself.
| 1799 Med. Jrnl. I. 210 Embellished only with 34 plates, but they exhibit mostly new, rare, and valuable plants. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 279 One of these branches is exhibited in the figure. 1831 Brewster Optics vi. 63 The following method..of exhibiting caustic curves I have found exceedingly convenient. |
b. To present a delineation or an embodiment of in words or in action.
| 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 404 In the power of exhibiting character by means of dialogue he was deficient. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 12 [They] are to exhibit in their lives that virtue which is the basis of the state. |
9. To manifest by signs, indicate the existence of, display.
| 1799 Med. Jrnl. II. 251 Countenance exhibits more distress. 1832 H. Martineau Ireland 113 More exhibited their uncomplaining poverty in their looks and dress. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 15 Gregory exhibits..a union of prudence..and unshrinking principle. 1854 Brewster More Worlds ix. 147 The power, and wisdom, and goodness of the Creator, are exhibited to us every day and every hour. |
10. To show publicly for the purpose of amusement or instruction, or in a competition; to make a show of; rarely, to perform in public.
| 1797 T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. 65 A living bird exhibited in a show. 1832 G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 31 This celebrated musician, whose laurel also is exhibited. 1845 Florist's Jrnl. 201 Mr. Eyles exhibited the best six. 1845 E. Holmes Mozart 19 One of them..happening to exhibit a solo on the violin. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 112 After supper Voltaire would exhibit a magic lantern. 1878 Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 57 Except to exhibit as curiosities. |
| absol. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xviii, Carrying their scenes..to the next village where they were to exhibit. 1806 Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 145 A theatre, where a party of strolling comedians occasionally exhibit. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. Ind. II. v. v. 493 With as much..regularity, as if they had been exhibiting on a parade. |
b. U.S. To present or declaim (a speech or an essay) in public. Also absol.
| 1817 Laws Yale Coll. iv. §11 If any student..shall exhibit anything not allowed by the Faculty. Ibid. viii. §28 No Student who shall receive any appointment to exhibit before the class..shall give any treat of wine. |
c. intr. for refl.
| 1863 Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. vi. 152 He there exhibits in rampant folly. |
Hence eˈxhibited ppl. a.
| 1730–6 Bailey (folio), Exhibitea, presented or offered. 1775 Ash, Exhibited, brought forth to view, proposed, displayed. 1861 Thornbury Turner I. 258 The ‘Moonlight at Millbank’..was his first exhibited oil-picture. |