| 释义 |
▪ I. dingy, a.|ˈdɪndʒɪ|
[A recent word of obscure orgin: not recognized by Dr. Johnson. Richardson (1837) says ‘Dingy and dinginess are common in speech, but not in writing’, and gives only quot. 1790 (sense 2). If Pegge's and Ellis's word be the same (which from the ambiguity of the spelling ng is uncertain) it would appear to be a south-eastern dialect word which has slowly made its way into literary use.
It has been conjectured to be a deriv. of dung, which is favoured by the explanation of sense 1, given by Pegge, and in other dialect glossaries; but the pronunciation should then have been |dɪŋɪ|. Also the early quots. for sense 2 appear to refer solely to colour.]
1. dial. Dirty.
1736Pegge Kenticisms, Dingy, dirty. 1749W. Ellis Shepherd's Guide 351 What we, in Hertfordshire, call tagging a sheep..is cutting..away, with a pair of shears, the dingy wool from the hinder parts. 1888Berksh. Gloss., Dingey (‘g’ soft), coated with dirt.
2. a. Of a (disagreeably) dark and dull colour or appearance; formerly applied to a naturally blackish or dusky brown colour; but now usually implying a dirty colour or aspect due to smoke, grime, dust, weathering, or to deficiency of daylight and freshness of hue; and so of depreciatory connotation.
1751R. Lloyd Progress of Error xxiii, Black was her [Envy's] chariot, drawn by dragons dire..And land their dingy car on Caledonian plain. 1752Sir J. Hill. Hist. Anim. 56 (Jod.) The smoaky and dingy black are easily distinguishable in it. 1790G. Ellis tr. Athelstan's Ode Victory 27 in Spec. Eng. Poetry (T.), On the dingy sea [mistransl. of OE. on dinges (dynges, dyniges, dinnes) mere] Over deep waters, Dublin they seek. 1794Sullivan View Nat. II. 374 The dingy vault, in whose profundity we were lost. 1796Hull Advertiser 27 Feb. 2/3 The dingy mother [an African woman] rov'd With eager step, and sought her child. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. vii, Its plumage of a dingy, yellowish white. 1837–9Hallam Hist. Lit. I. iii. i. §60. 180 Herds of buffaloes, whose dingy hide..contrasted with the greyish hue of the Tuscan oxen. 1854Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1879) I. 358 A dim, dingy morning. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 603 Wretchedly printed on scraps of dingy paper such as would not now be thought good enough for street ballads. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xiii. (1878) 268 A great faded room, in which the prevailing colour was a dingy gold. 1877Black Green Past. xxxv. (1878) 280 His clothes getting dingier..summer by summer. 1884Manch. Exam. 13 May 5/2 More disagreeable than the dingy weather and unlovely streets without.
b. fig. Shabby, shady in reputation. Also, ‘drab’; dull.
1855Thackeray Newcomes II. 319 Doing me the honour to introduce me by name to several dingy acquaintances. 1881H. James Portr. Lady xxi, I know plenty of dingy people; I don't want to know any more. 1920H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. 201 Narrow and dingy-spirited specialists.
c. As an epithet in the vernacular name of certain butterflies and moths.
1832J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 20 The Dingy Skipper..appears about the end of May and middle of July. Ibid. 69 The Dingy (M[amestra] furva). Ibid. 142 The Dingy Wave..appears in June. 1876Encycl. Brit. IV. 596 Plate xxix, Hesperia tages (Dingy Skipper). 1907R. South Moths Brit. Isles I. 181 The Dingy Footman (Lithosia griseola). 1908Ibid. II. 8 The Dingy Shears (Dyschorista fissipuncta). Ibid. 139 Dingy Mocha (Ephyra orbicularia). Ibid. 219 [The] Dingy Shell..is in the male..sprinkled and shaded with darker brown. 1955E. B. Ford Moths v. 70 The Dingy Footman, Eilema griseola Hb...is usually of a light greyish shade. 1970Higgins & Riley Butterflies of Britain & Europe 331 Erynnis tages Dingy Skipper.
3. Comb., as dingy-looking adj.; frequently qualifying colours, as dingy white, dingy yellow, etc.
1774Strange in Phil. Trans. LXV. 40 Angular lapilli..of a dingy-whitish colour. 1838T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale (1839) 377 A crowd of dingy-looking natives. 1875W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 45 The church is a dingy-looking edifice.
▪ II. dingy
var. of dinghy.
▪ III. dingy
var. dinge n.3 |