| 释义 |
dictator|dɪkˈteɪtə(r)|
[a. L. dictātor, agent-n. from dictāre to dictate. Cf. F. dictateur.]
1. A ruler or governor whose word is law; an absolute ruler of a state.
a. orig. The appellation of a chief magistrate invested with absolute authority, elected in seasons of emergency by the Romans, and by other Italian states.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 273 After consuls, tribunes plebis and dictatores rulede the comounte. 1470–85Malory Arthur v. i, The Emperour Lucyus whiche was called at that tyme Dictatour or procurour of the publyke wele of Rome. 1592Greene Upst. Courtier, Was he not called to be dictator from the plough? 1607Shakes. Cor. ii. ii. 93 Our then Dictator..saw him fight. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. iv, As in old Rome, when the Dictator was created, all inferiour magistracies ceased. 1735–8Bolingbroke On Parties 164 A Dictator was a Tyrant for six Months. 1874Morley Compromise (1886) 11 Our people..have long ago superseded the barbarous device of dictator and Cæsar by the manly arts of self-government.
b. A person exercising similar authority in a mediæval or modern state; esp. one who attains to such a position in a republic. Also transf.
c1592Marlowe Massacre Paris ii. vi, Guise, wear our crown..And, as dictator, make or war or peace. 1671Milton P.R. i. 113 To him their great Dictator, whose attempt At first against mankind so well had thriv'd. 1840Penny Cycl. XVII. 227 After some changes in the government, Doctor Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia became dictator [of Paraguay]. 1863Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. xiv. 235 Numbers in France..would have been heartily glad to see the Republic crushed by some able dictator.
2. A person exercising absolute authority of any kind or in any sphere; one who authoritatively prescribes a course of action or dictates what is to be done.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. iv. §12 The overmuch credit that hath been given unto authors in sciences, in making them dictators. 1625B. Jonson Staple of N. iii. ii, Say that you were the emperor of pleasures, The great dictator of fashions, for all Europe. a1654Selden Table-t. (Arb.) 4 He..was usually stiled the great dictator of learning of the English nation. 1700Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 893 Arbitrators, who are sometimes called Assessors, sometimes Dictators of Amends. 1720Swift Mod. Educ. Wks. 1755 II. ii. 34 The dictators of behaviour, dress, and politeness. 1875Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xxi. 525 The medieval church of England stood before the self-willed dictator [Henry VIII]. 1892F. Lawley Pref. to Racing Life Ld. G. C. Bentinck 7, I inquired who was now the Dictator of the Turf.
3. One who dictates to a writer.
1617Minsheu, Ductor in Ling., A Dictator, or inditer. 1721Bailey, Dictator, he that tells another what to write. 1873J. Raine Lett. fr. N. Registers Pref. 18 Marks of interest which delineate to a certain extent both the dictator and his amanuensis. 1883Athenæum 16 June 759/1 Reminiscences..dictated to a scribe and checked here and there by reference to documents in the dictator's possession.
4. attrib.
1825J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 22 Certainly these are not dictator times. |