▪ I. oblique, a. (n.)
(əˈbliːk, -ˈlaɪk)
Also 5 oblyke, 5–7 -like, 7 -lick.
[ad. L. oblīqu-us, f. ob- pref. + an element līqu-, līc- (cf. licinus bent upward): cf. F. oblique (13–14th c. in Godef.).]
A. adj.
1. a. Having a slanting or sloping direction or position; declining from the upright or vertical, or from the horizontal; lying aslant; diverging from a given straight line or course.
oblique pianoforte: see quot. 1880.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 207 The stappes þer [in sowthe parte of Ethioppe] be oblike and contrarious [ubi obliqua et pæne contraria fiunt vestigia] to theyme whiche dwelle..vnder that pole artike. 1603 B. Jonson Jas. I.'s Entertainm., She [Anna] fills the year, And knits the oblique scarf that girts the sphere. 1626 Bacon Sylva §139 Hunter's Horns..are sometimes made straight, and not Oblique. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 420 Four Windows are contriv'd, that strike To the four Winds oppos'd their Beams oblique. 1713 Steele Guard. No. 20 ¶2 The oblique glance with which hatred doth always see things. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xviii. II. 120 Advancing their whole wing of cavalry in an oblique line. 1842 Tennyson Two Voices 193 If straight thy track, or if oblique [rimes strike, like], Thou know'st not. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. ii. 17 My shadow was oblique to the river. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Oblique Arch..also called a skew-arch. 1880 A. J. Hipkins in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 486/1 Oblique Piano, a cottage pianoforte the strings of which are disposed diagonally, instead of vertically as is usual in upright instruments. |
b. quasi-adv. = obliquely 1.
| 1667 Milton P.L. x. 671 They with labour push'd Oblique the Centric Globe. 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 88 If the column halts oblique..to the new line, the divisions will proportionally wheel so as [etc.]. |
2. Specific uses. a. Geom. Of a line, a plane figure, or surface: Inclined at some angle other than a right angle. Of an angle (less than two right angles): Either greater or less than a right angle. Of a solid, as a cone, cylinder, or prism: Having its axis not perpendicular to the plane of its base.
oblique hyperbola, a hyperbola the asymptotes of which are not at right angles to one another.
| 1571 Digges Pantom. iii. i. Q j, Of Solides called Prismata, there are two kindes, the one directe or vpright..the other oblique or declining, whose Paralelogrammes are obliquely situate on their bases. 1695 W. Alingham Geom. Epit. 7 An Oblique Angle, is either Acute or Obtuse. 1709 J. Ward Introd. Math. iv. i. (1734) 362 A Scalene, or Oblique Cone. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Oblique Planes, in dialing, are such as recline from the zenith, or incline toward the horizon. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey vi. i, His Highness held the bottle at an oblique angle with the chandelier. 1837 Brewster Magnet. 177 A position more or less oblique to the plane of the paper. |
b. Astron. oblique sphere, the celestial or terrestrial sphere when its axis is oblique to the horizon of the place; which it is at any part of the earth's surface except the poles and the equator. oblique ascension, oblique descension: see ascension 3, descension 5. oblique horizon, † oblique climate, one which is oblique to the celestial equator.
| 1503 Kalender of Shepherdes I ij, They the qwych dwellys other placys bot wnder the eqwynoxyal they haue thayr oryzon oblyk. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. ii. (1636) 116 If the declination be Southward, then adde the ascentionall difference unto the right ascention, and the sum shall be the oblique ascention. Ibid. iii. i. xvii. 313 When is it said to be an oblique Horizon, and therby to make an oblique Spheare? 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 293 In such Countries where the seasons and variations of weather more exactly followed the Cœlestial Configurations, than in these more oblique Climates. 1726 tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 223 In an Oblique Sphere, where the Horizon..cuts the Equator..at oblique Angles; neither of them passes through the Poles of the other. 1854 Tomlinson tr. Arago's Astron. 37 The circles described by the stars are inclined to the horizon; whence this position of the sphere derives its name of oblique. |
c. Anat. Having a direction parallel neither to the long axis of the body or limb, nor to its transverse section; said esp. of certain muscles; also of various lines, ridges, ligaments, etc.
oblique processes of the vertebræ: = zygapophyses.
| 1615 Crooke Body of Man 801 If each Muscle worke by it selfe, then the oblique descendent drawes the haunch obliquely to his owne side..the oblique ascendent leadeth the chest obliquely to the haunches. 1658 Sir T. Browne Gard. Cyrus iii. 55 Wherein according to common Anatomy the right and transverse fibres are decussated, by the oblick fibres. 1741 Monro Anat. Bones (ed. 3) 168 The two inferior oblique Processes of each Vertebra. 1838 Penny Cycl. X. 141/1 When the oblique muscles act together with force, they hold the eye-ball firmly against the lids and to the nasal side of the orbit. |
d. Bot. Of a leaf: Having unequal sides, inequilateral; see also quot. 1776.
| 1776 J. Lee Introd. Bot. (1788) 206 Oblique, when the Base of the Leaf looks towards Heaven, and the Apex or Tip towards the Horizon; as in Protea and Fritillaria. 1835 Hooker Brit. Flora 145 Ulmus major..leaves ovato⁓acuminate, very oblique at the base. 1857 Henfrey Elem. Bot. 53 Oblique, is applied to leaves where the portions on either side of the midrib are unequal, as in the Begonias. |
e. Cryst. = monoclinic.
| 1878 Gurney Crystallogr. 37 Crystals of..the Oblique or Monoclinic System. |
f. Naut. oblique sailing. (See quots.)
| 1706 Phillips, Oblique Sailing (among Sea-men), is when a Ship runs upon some Rhumb, between any of the four Cardinal Points, and makes an Oblique Angle with the Meridian. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Oblique Sailing, is the reduction of the position of the ship from the various courses made good, oblique to the meridian or parallel of latitude. |
g. oblique perspective: see perspective.
3. fig. a. Not taking the straight or direct course to the end in view; not going straight to the point; indirectly stated or expressed; indirect.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 407 The office of a poete is to transmute those thynges whiche be doen truly in to other similitudes in oblike figuraciones with pulcritude. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. i. 60 The primatiue Statue, and oblique memoriall of Cuckolds. 1618 in Gutch Coll. Cur. II. 423 His pleading Innocency was an oblique taxing of the Justice of the Realms upon him. 1735 Bolingbroke On Parties Ded. (1738) 27 Innuendo's, and Parallels, and oblique Meanings. 1778 Johnson in Boswell 25 Apr., All censure of a man's self is oblique praise. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. vii. 255 Good reasons existed for precluding the Governor from such oblique channels of gain. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. vi. 134 The language of oblique and indirect expression. 1883 Froude Short Stud. IV. i. iv. 45 Oblique accusations..were raised against him. |
b. Of an end, result, etc.: Indirectly aimed at; resulting or arising indirectly.
| 1528 Fox Let. to Gardiner in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. App. xxvi. 80 Wherby may arise..oblique dammage or prejudice to the see apostolique. 1630 Drayton Muses' Elys. iii. Poems (1810) 453/2 For that the love we bear our friends..Hath in it certain oblique ends. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 59 ¶4 Not..for any oblique Reason..but purely for the sake of being Witty. 1825–80 Jamieson s.v. Hirst, This is only an oblique sense. |
4. Deviating from right conduct or thought; morally or mentally one-sided or perverse.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 82 Albeit he follow an oblique and crooked opinion. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles iv. 182 Oblique regard to private interests doth subvert and over⁓throw them [Republics]. a 1770 Jortin Serm. (1771) I. vii. 128 There are persons to be found..who grow rich and great..by various oblique and scandalous ways. 1837–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. iii. ii. §80 (1855) II. 464 It is..seldom discussed with all the temper and freedom from oblique views which the subject demands. |
5. Gram. a. oblique case, any case except the nominative and vocative (or sometimes, except the nominative, vocative, and accusative): see case n.1 9. b. Of speech or narration: Put in a reported form, with consequent change of person and tense: = indirect 3 b (L. oratio obliqua).
| 1530 Palsgr. Introd. 30 Pronownes.. have but thre cases, nominatyve, accusatyve and oblique, as, je, me, moy. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 158 Salust [hath] Multis sibi quisque imperium petentibus. I beleue, the best Grammarien in England can scarse giue a good reule, why quisque the nominatiue case..is so thrust vp amongest so many oblique cases. 1678 Phillips (ed. 4), Oblique Cases in Grammar, are most properly the Genitive, the Dative, and Ablative; however, some will have all Oblique but the Nominative. 1860 J. C. Jeaffreson Bk. Doctors II. 17 We have adopted the oblique narration instead of his form, which uses the first person. 1868 Gladstone Juv. Mundi v. (1870) 169 He is mentioned six times in oblique cases..and five times in the nominative. 1882 Farrar Early Chr. II. 385 There is scarcely a single oblique sentence throughout St. John's Gospel. |
6. Mus. oblique motion: see quots. (Opp. to similar and contrary.)
| 1811 Busby Dict. Mus. (ed. 3), Oblique Motion, that motion of the parts of a composition in which one voice or instrument repeats the same note, while another, by ascending or descending, recedes from or approaches it. 1875 Ouseley Harmony i. 11 Oblique motion is when one part remains without moving while another ascends or descends. |
7. Comb., as oblique-angled, oblique-angular, oblique-leaved adjs.
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. ii. (1636) 119 If they have right sides, such Triangles are eyther right angled Triangles, or oblique angled Triangles. 1744 Parsons in Phil. Trans. XLIII. 26 An oblique-angular Parallelogram. 1851 Richardson Geol. v. 88 An oblique-angled parallelogram. 1854 Hooker Himal. Jrnls. I. ii. 28 An oblique-leaved fig climbs the other trees. |
B. absol. as n. (usually elliptical).
1. An oblique muscle: see A. 2 c. Also in L. form obliquus (sc. musculus), pl. -i, as obliquus (abdominis) ascendens; obliquus capitis inferior; obliquus oculi inferior, etc.
| 1800 Phil. Trans. XC. 9 The obliquus,..the antagonist of the tensor muscle. 1838 Penny Cycl. X. 141/1 If the pupil be inclined either way, to the nose or to the temple, the inferior oblique increases that inclination. 1869 H. Ussher in Eng. Mech. 10 Dec. 294/3 A rolling or oblique motion [of the eye] is provided for by two..muscles called obliques. |
2. Geom. An oblique figure: see 2 a above.
| a 1608 Sir F. Vere Comm. 124 A piece of ground..stretched out in the form of a geometrical oblique or oblong. |
3. = oblique case (see oblique a. 5).
| 1695 Wheeler Royal Gram. Reformed vii. 26 Qui standing alone as a personal Relative is Englished who in the Nominatives, and whom in the Obliques. 1939 Language XV. 81 The obliques regularly have -äs. 1961 R. B. Long Sentence & its Parts 494 Obliques such as the insist of she insists on paying. |
4. Photogr. A photograph taken at an oblique angle.
| 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 27 June 10 The second photograph is an earlier oblique of a similar type of Sperrbrecher. 1955 E. Waugh Officers & Gentlemen ii. i. 158 Guy, have you still got those obliques of ‘Badger’?.. Bung 'em back to GHQ. 1958 C. B. Smith Evidence in Camera i. 19 The other two [cameras]—one on either side—were at an angle to take obliques. 1970 M. Kelly Spinifex ii. 48 Oosterman bracing the Newman cine-camera, F.245 aimed for obliques. |
5. An oblique line, spec. a sloping virgule.
| 1961 in Webster. 1965 W. S. Allen Vox Latina 9 Phonemic symbols..are conventionally set between obliques, e.g. /t/. 1973 A. H. Sommerstein Sound Pattern Anc. Greek i. 7, I follow the practice of Chomsky and Halle, who say..that they use obliques ‘for representations in which the features are functioning as classificatory devices’. |
▪ II. oblique, v.
(əˈbliːk, -ˈlaɪk)
[a. F. obliquer to march in an oblique direction, rarely, to make oblique, f. oblique adj.; cf. L. oblīqu-āre, trans., to make crooked, turn or bend aside, in med.L. intr., to go aside or astray, It. obliquare ‘to crooke, to make crooked’ (Florio).]
† 1. trans. To turn askew or in a sidelong direction. Obs.
| 1775 Sheridan Rivals iv. iii, When her love-eye was fixed on me, t'other, her eye of duty, was finely obliqued. |
2. intr. To advance obliquely or in a slanting direction, esp. (Mil.) by making a half-face to the right or left and then marching forward.
| 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 104 The leader of the head division orders his second sub-division, Left incline, March! on which it briskly obliques to the left. 1827 Aikman tr. Buchanan's Hist. Scot. II. xv. l. 368 They gradually obliqued from the direct ascent. 1857 Mayne Reid War-Trail xlii, Savage and Saxon were now obliquing towards each other. 1865 Star 3 Feb., General Curtis went into the assault under instructions from General Ames..to oblique to the right. |
b. Of a line, etc.: To slant or slope at an angle.
| 1814 Scott Wav. xi, He..achieved a communication with his plate by projecting his person towards it in a line which obliqued from the bottom of his spine. |