conspectus (n.)

1540年代，"可见的，引人注目的"，源自拉丁语 conspicuus "可见的，开放的； 吸引注意的，引人注目的"，源自 conspicere "看，观察，看到，注意到"，源自 com- 的同化形式，这里可能是一个强调前缀（参见 com-），加上 specere "看"（源自 PIE 词根 *spek- "观察"）。

意思是"对思维明显的，强迫注意的"，来自1610年代； 因此"杰出的，显著的，著名的"。相关词： Conspicuously; conspicuousness。短语 conspicuous by its absence（1859）据说出自 Tacitus（《Annals》第三卷76节），讲述了关于某些形象的一段话： "sed præfulgebant ... eo ipso quod effigies eorum non visebantur."

Conspicuous consumption "以奢华的规模增强声望的开支"可追溯到1895年挪威裔美国经济学家和社会学家 Thorstein Vebeln 的出版著作，他在他的《闲暇阶级理论》（1899年）中走红。

Not only must wealth be possessed, but there must be a show of its possession. It must be made obvious to all that there is an inexhaustible reserve. Hence leisure must be made conspicuous by "conspicuous consumption" and "conspicuous waste." If only enough persons and the right persons could see it and know it, it would be highly honorific to light a cigar occasionally with a thousand-dollar bill. A man must not limit his consumption to himself and his family. He must live in a palace many times larger than he can possibly fill, and have a large retinue of servants and retainers, ostensibly to minister to his wants, but really to make clear his ability to pay. [Lester F. Ward, review of "Theory of the Leisure Class" in The American Journal of Sociology, May 1900]

不仅必须拥有财富，还必须展示其拥有。必须让所有人都明显地知道有一个无穷无尽的储备。因此，闲暇必须通过"显眼的消费"和"显眼的浪费"来显眼。如果只有足够多的人和合适的人能看到并知道，用一张千元钞票偶尔点一支雪茄将是非常荣誉的。一个人不能将消费局限于自己和家人。他必须住在一个比他能填满的宫殿中，拥有大量的仆人和随从，表面上是为了满足他的需求，但实际上是为了清楚地显示他的支付能力。[莱斯特·F·沃德（Lester F. Ward），《闲暇阶级理论》评论，《美国社会学杂志》，1900年5月]