| 释义 |
stillness|ˈstɪlnɪs|
[OE. stilnes, -nys, f. stille adj. See still a. and -ness. Cf. OHG. stilnissi.]
The condition or quality of being still.
1. Absence of movement or physical disturbance; motionlessness.
c1000ælfric Saints' Lives xxxi. 1053 Heo oncneow sona þæt heo alysed wæs and læg aþenod ætforan his fotum onfangenre stilnysse. c1440Promp. Parv. 475/2 Stylnesse, wytheowt mevynge, tranquillitas. 1585Higins Junius' Nomencl. 363/2 Malacia,..calmenesse or stillnesse of the sea. 1617Purchas Pilgrimage iv. xviii. (ed. 3) 498 A pleasant Riuer of fresh water, if it may not rather be called a Lake for the stillnesse. 1650Fuller Pisgah iv. ii. 20 They will admire as much at the stilness of our station, and dulness of our constant dwelling in one place. 1711Swift Cond. Allies 10 If a House be on fire,..those at next Door may escape, by a Shower from Heaven, or the stillness of the Weather. 1845Maurice Mor. Philos. in Encycl. Metrop. II. 614/1 The capacity of health and sickness is the same; of stillness and movement; of being raised up and of falling down. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. vii, The background of green and grey stillness. 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay ii, She..would have been rather handsome but for her extreme stillness, coldness, and want of colour. 1898F. Montgomery Tony 19 The stillness of his figure and his utter silence. 1908[Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 12 The stillness often betokens rain.
2. Freedom from tumult, strife, or agitation; tranquillity.
c888ælfred Boeth. vii. §1 Forðæm þu eart eac nu of þinre stilnesse ahworfen. a1122O.E. Chron. (MS. C.) an. 1065, Her wearð Harold eac to kynge ᵹehalᵹod & he lytle stillnesse þar on ᵹebad þa hwile þe he rices weold. c1175Lamb. Hom. 115 He scal..beon on erfeðnesse anred and edmod on stilnesse. 1388Wyclif Isa. xxxii. 17 The tilthe of riȝtfulnesse schal be stilnesse and sikirnesse. 1663Patrick Parab. Pilgrim xvii. (1687) 166 Prayer is the silence of our Souls: the stilness and calm of all our Passions. 1807Wordsw. White Doe iv. 150 On my Mind A passive stillness is enjoined. 1828Lytton Pelham xliii, That air of perfect repose—the stillness of a deep soul, which rests over their writings. 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay i, I love quietness, stillness—being with a few people I like.
3. Silence; freedom from noise; abstinence from speech, taciturnity.
c1050in Assmann Ags. Hom. xii. 7 Þæt we..mid micelre eadmodnysse & stilnysse us to urum drihtne ᵹebiddan. a1225Ancr. R. 156 Of þisse stilnesse he spekeð þer biuoren lutel. c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. i. l. 2 After that she hadde gadered by atempre stillenesse [modesta taciturnitate] myn attencioun. c1440Promp. Parv. 475/2 Stylnesse, nowt spekynge..taciturnitas, silencium. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 56 Soft stilnes, and the night Become the tutches of sweet harmonie. 1663Patrick Parab. Pilgrim (1687) 177 Who all this while had been in a profound stilness. 1750Gray Elegy 6 All the air a solemn stillness holds. 1784J. King Cook's 3rd Voy. v. iv. III. 55 We afterward saw the natives flying, the boats retire from the shore, and passing and repassing, in great stillness, between the ships. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 425 A certain stillness and gravity of manner, perhaps in some degree peculiar to commercial people. 1821Lamb Elia Ser. i. Quaker's Meeting, What is the stillness of the desert, compared with this place? 1838Dickens O. Twist xii, The darkness and the deep stillness of the room were very solemn. 1843Ruskin Arrows of Chace (1880) I. 28 Wordsworth, read in the stillness of a mountain hollow, has the force of the mountain waters. 1892Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 174 They are lifting their heads in the stillness to yelp at the English flag!
†b. Secrecy. Obs.
a1400Hymns Virgin etc. (1895) 110 Stele þou nouȝt þi neiȝebors þing, Nouþur wiþ stillenes ne wiþ strif. a1779Warburton Serm. vi. Wks. 1788 V. 105 In all the depth and stillness of Politics.
4. Quietness of temper or behaviour; freedom from turbulence or self-assertion. (See also still a. 4 d.)
a1225Ancr. R. 414 Marie dole is stilnesse and reste of alle worldes noise. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1013 But we labour in trauaillous stilnesse. a1564Becon Commonpl. Script. Wks. III. 93 The goodman with stilnesse and pacience taryeth for y⊇ health of the Lorde. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. i. 4 In Peace, there's nothing so becomes a man, As modest stillnesse, and humilitie. 1738Wesley Hymns ‘Meek, patient Lamb of God’ ii, Give me in Stillness to sustaine Whate'er thy Wisdom shall ordain. 1745― Answ. Ch. 19 Your Notion of True Stillness is, ‘A patient waiting upon God’. |