penetration
(pɛnɪˈtreɪʃən)
[ad. late L. penetrātiōn-em, n. of action from penetrāre to penetrate; cf. F. pénétration (Oresme, 14th c.).]
1. a. The action, or an act, of penetrating or piercing; the passage of anything into or through a body; also, mutual permeation as of two fluids.
| 1623 Cockeram, Penetration, a piercing. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 585 His Magnetic beam,..to each inward part With gentle penetration, though unseen, Shoots invisible vertue even to the deep. 1800 Wollaston in Phil. Trans. XC. 241 Two fluids of unequal density are brought into contact, and unite by mutual penetration. 1803 Ibid. XCIII. 112 Mr. Brisson..has observed, that a mutual penetration takes place, when eleven parts of gold are alloyed with one of copper. 1826 R. Scott Hayling Island 95 Curiosity..has never induced the proprietor..to descend below the penetrations of the ploughshare. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. App. 301 It became my duty..to attempt the penetration of this ice. |
b. Nat. Philos. Used for a supposed or conceived occupation of the same space by two bodies at the same time: formerly
penetration of dimensions (Scholastic L.
penetratio dimensionum).
Cf. impenetrability 2.
| 1661 Boyle Spring of Air ii. iii. (1682) 44, I see not how the examiner's condensation can be performed without penetration of dimensions: a thing that philosophers in all ages have looked upon as by no means admitted by nature. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Penetration of Dimensions, is a Philosophical way of expressing, That two Bodies are in the same Place, so that the Parts of one do every where penetrate into, and adequately fill up the Dimensions or Places of the Parts of the other; which is manifestly impossible, and contradictory to Reason. 1830 Kater & Lardner Mech. i. 5 There are many instances of apparent penetration; but in all these, the parts of the body which seem to be penetrated are displaced. |
c. The insertion of the penis into the vagina in copulation.
| 1613 J. Chamberlain Let. 9 Sept. (1939) I. 475 What would you say yf you shold heare a churchman in open audience demaund of him..whether he had affection, erection, application, penetration, ejaculation. 1729 G. Jacob New Law-Dict. s.v. Rape of women, There must be Penetration and Emission, to make this Crime. 1848 Wharton Law Lexicon 569/2 In Scotland..the following facts are necessary to be proved on a charge of rape: 1, penetration..; 2, actual force in the consummation. 1957 L. Durrell Justine iii. 185 The whole portentous scrimmage of sex itself, the act of penetration. 1960 [see penetrate v. 1 c] 1963 A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex 65 ‘Frigidity’ ..implies more than failure to have orgasm: it is the inability to enjoy love-making and penetration. |
d. The infiltration of a country, organization, etc., by political, financial, etc., means in order to gain influence, power, or information. Also used as a marketing term.
| 1931 F. L. Allen Only Yesterday vii. 176 In general the country extended its empire not by military conquest or political dictation, but by financial penetration. 1951 E. E. Cummings Let. 3 Aug. (1969) 214 You should glimpse a huge map..to show the Soviet penetration of Greece—all but a little strip in the middle. 1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin 257 The detection and penetration of intelligence. 1971 I. Deutscher Marxism in our Time 155 The fall in the ideological level of most of the militants..had facilitated to a certain extent the penetration of police agents into the Party. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 21 Feb. 1/2 The relative decline in circulation of daily newspapers and their absolute decline in ‘household penetration’, has been accompanied by a growth of other printed media that duplicate one of the local daily's functions, but often better. |
2. Power of penetrating, as a measurable quantity or quality.
a. Gunnery. The depth to which a bullet or other projectile will penetrate any material, as earth or metal, against which it is fired.
| 1807 Hutton Course Math. II. 336 Mr. Robins found this penetration, by experiment, to be only 5 inches. 1892 Greener Breech Loader 125 The rack is placed about 4 ft. from the ground, and fired at from the standard distance (40 yards); the number of sheets pierced by one or more shots is the penetration. 1901 Daily Chron. 25 May 3/2 The more penetration shells have the better. |
b. Optics. The power of an optical instrument to enable the observer to see into space, or into an object.
(
a) In a telescope: Power of rendering distant objects visible or distinct, considered in relation to their distance; ‘space-penetrating power’. It is measured by the number of times that the distance of an object would have to be increased in order that it should appear, when viewed through the telescope, exactly as it does to the naked eye at its actual distance. (
b) In a microscope: Power of the object-glass to give distinct vision for some distance both beyond and within its exact focus.
| 1799 Sir W. Herschel in Phil. Trans. (1800) 82 My telescope..possessed a power of penetration, which exceeded that of natural vision 61.18 times. Ibid. 83 We did not stop at the single stars..when the penetration of the natural eye was to be ascertained. 1867 J. Hogg Microsc. i. ii. 72 Penetration, or that power which enables the observer to see deep into the structure of objects without any alteration of focus. |
3. fig. The action, or capacity, of penetrating something with the mind; ability to see mentally into or through a thing; keenness of perception or understanding; insight, acuteness, discernment.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. To the King §2, I have been..possessed with an extreme woonder at..the penetration of your Iudgement. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 57 ¶2 You can pretend to be a Man of Penetration. 1769 Junius Lett. xv. (1771) 73 Common sense foresees consequences which have escaped your..penetration. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. v, Mrs. Lammle [was] a woman of penetration and taste. |
4. attrib., as
penetration tariff: see
quot.;
penetration agent, a spy sent to penetrate an enemy organization;
penetration aid, an object released from a missile as a decoy to draw off any attacking missiles;
penetration twin Cryst., a twin crystal that presents the appearance of two interpenetrating crystals; so
penetration twinning.
| 1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive ii. 22 This is a police job. I'm a penetration agent..they've made a mistake. 1976 P. Henissart Winter Quarry iii. xxvi. 270 As soon as I learned of McGuire's existence, I mistrusted him—a shiftless contract-agent for the CIA... I know your taste for penetration agents. |
| 1966 N.Y. Times Mag. 20 Mar. 59 The decoys— ‘penetration aids’ in the missilemen's jargon—would range from dummy warheads to metalized-plastic warhead shapes. 1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 50/2 It is researching the key problem: how to distinguish the lethal reentry vehicle from the penetration aids. |
| 1890 Times 24 Dec. 3/4 M. Noblemaire..has in this pamphlet defended..‘penetration tariffs’. By this expression is meant tariffs which diminish with the distances over which goods are conveyed. |
| 1868 J. D. Dana Syst. Min. (ed. 5) 191 Penetration-twins, the forms not corresponding to a regular revolution, but to an irregular interpenetration of unlike parts of the crystal. 1971 C. S. Hurlbut Dana's Man. Min. (ed. 18) ii. 97 Twin crystals are usually designated as either contact twins or penetration twins... Penetration twins are made up of interpenetrating individuals having an irregular composition surface, and the twin law is usually defined by a twin axis. |
| 1953 F. H. Pough Field Guide Rocks & Minerals i. iv. 53 We also find attractive penetration twinning in phenakite. |
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Add:
[1.] e. Sport. The capacity to breach or get through an opponent's defence.
| 1958 Listener 16 Oct. 604/1 On wickets which make the batsmen cosy, the wrist-spinner comes into his own, is the one type of bowler who has penetration. 1988 Sports Illustr. (Special Issue) Nov. 72/1 His development has given the Wildcats a third dimension to supplement..the penetration of guard Kenny Wilson. |