Literary notes about Exponent (AI summary)
The term "exponent" is employed in literature as a multifaceted descriptor of someone or something that embodies or represents a larger idea, quality, or tradition. In some texts it denotes a foundational or canonical example—as seen when the Kojiki is dubbed the "real, the dogmatic exponent" of Shintō [1] and when Hirata is identified as a "famous exponent of Shintō" in his writings on prayer [2]. The word also functions to highlight a personal, almost emblematic role, such as the man portrayed as the "intimate exponent of Sara" after a single encounter [3] or the actor characterized as an "exponent of Shakespeare" on stage [4]. Beyond individuals, "exponent" can refer to a product of a broader cultural or social milieu, exemplified when decorum is described as a "product and an exponent of the leisure-class life" [5]. Even within spiritual or academic contexts, the term stretches to include the representative of ancient practices like yoga [6] and symbolic expressions in literature and art [7]. This versatility is underscored by its occasional technical, mathematical usage, as in the notion of "exponent zero" in polynomial division [8].
- The "Kojiki" is the real, the dogmatic exponent, or, if we may so say, the Bible, of Shint[=o].
— from The Religions of Japan, from the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis - Concerning the method and words of prayer, Hirata, a famous exponent of Shint[=o], thus writes:
— from The Religions of Japan, from the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis - He was in this place as the intimate exponent of Sara, though she had only spoken to him once.
— from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett - On the stage, modern or Shakespearean: exemplars, Charles Wyndham, high comedian, Osmond Tearle († 1901), exponent of Shakespeare.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - Very fitly does Mr. Veblen, in his interesting book, [11] call decorum "a product and an exponent of the leisure-class life."
— from Bushido, the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe - " 7-1: Methods of controlling life-force through regulation of breath. 7-2: The foremost ancient exponent of yoga.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - As one word may become the general exponent of many, so by association a simple image may represent a whole class.
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Exponent zero .—Division of polynomials.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
