| 释义 |
duchess|ˈdʌtʃɪs|
Forms: 4–6 duches, 4–7 duchesse, (5 ducesse, dochesse, duchez, dukes, 6 dutches, Sc. duiches), 6–9 dutchess, 6– duchess.
[a. F. duchesse (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.) ad. late or med.L. ducissa, f. dux (duc-): see duke. The spelling dutchess was usual till c 1810. See also duchesse.]
1. a. The wife or widow of a duke. b. A lady holding in her own right a position equal to that of duke.
Grand († Great) Duchess, the wife of a Grand Duke, q.v.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2465 Arþurez half suster, þe duches doȝter of Tyntagelle. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2122 Ariadne, Myn dere herte, Of Athenys duchesse [v.rr. ducesse, duches]. Ibid. 2127 Al softely systyr myn, quod she, Now be we duchessis bothe I and ȝe. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 145 Aftyr the dochesse of York clepyd Isabel. c1475Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 792/4 Hec duxissa, a dukes. 1529Act 21 Hen. VIII, c. 13 §28 Any Chaplaine of any Duchesse, Marquesse, Countesse, Vicountesse, or Baronesse. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iii. 38 What thinke you of a Dutchesse? Haue you limbs To beare that load of Title? 1701Act 12 & 13 Will. III, c. 2 §1 Princess Sophia, Electress and Dutchess Dowager of Hannover. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 2 The public audiences are given by the great dutchess. 1779–81Johnson L.P., Pope Wks. IV. 74 To display the Dutchess of Marlborough under the name of Atossa. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 344 A court of demissions was held in the names of the duke and duchess.
2. transf.
†a. Lady (as feminine of lord). Obs.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 33 Ich am hus dere douheter, duchesse of heuene. c1485Digby Myst. iii. 515 A dere dewchesse, my daysyys Iee! 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 2183 A duches of vertue as whylom was Delbora.
fig.c1430Lydg. Min. Poems 173 (Mätz.) Prynce! remembre..Howe vertue is of vices a duchesse.
b. slang. A woman of imposing demeanour or showy appearance. [Cf. F. duchesse.] Hence, a girl or woman, spec. one's mother or wife (cf. dutch n.2); also as a term of address to a woman.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rum-dutchess, a jolly handsom Woman. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii, This Stammer in my address..can never permit me to soar above the reach of..one of the Duchesses of Drury-Lane. 1895Westm. Gaz. 9 Oct. 8/1 The dissemination of those articles of apparel amongst ‘factory ladies’ and the elderly ‘duchesses’ of Chevalierland! 1906E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xiii. 170 Er sorrer—eh, what? 'Tain't er little duchess, is it? 1909J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 119/2 Duchess, mother—invariable title given between familiar friends when the mother of either is being asked after. ‘How's the Duchess, Bob?’ 1923J. Manchon Le Slang 112 The (or my) old duchess.., ma vieille, ma femme. 1953K. Tennant Joyful Condemned xxviii. 272 ‘Hold your noise, Duchess,’ Jimmy commanded. 1967L. Forrester Girl called Fathom xii. 147 Start talkin', Duchess. We're gonna toss what you got into the computer..and see what comes out.
3. a. A size of roofing slate, of 24 by 12 inches.
1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 396 Countesses are in size the next gradation above ladies; and Duchesses still larger. 1851Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. I. 141 From ‘ladies’ (16 inches by 8) to ‘duchesses’ (24 by 12), the slates are sold per thousand (of 1200 slates). 1883[see countess 2].
b. A size of writing paper (see quot.).
1923H. A. Maddox Dict. Stationery 24 Duchess, a fashionable small broad size of private note paper, measuring 53/4 in. or 6 in. by 43/8 in.
4. attrib. and Comb., as duchess-gentlewoman, duchess-regent; duchess-like adj.
1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 52 Her beauty is duchess-like. 1826W. E. Andrews Exam. Fox's Cal. Prot. Saints 47 The cause for which the priest-knight and the duchess-gentlewoman suffered was one and the same. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 178 An honourable embassy was sent to the Duchess-Regent in Normandy.
Hence ˈduchessship, the rank or personality of a duchess; ˈduchessy a., colloq., like or of the nature of a duchess; abounding in duchesses.
1607Chapman Bussy D'Ambois Plays 1873 II. 29, I would haue put that proiect face of his To a more test than did her Dutchesship. 1819Monthly Mag. XLVIII. 415 His Princeship and her Princessship; his Dukeship and her Duchess⁓ship, may also find a place in his crabbed vocabulary, if he prefer it. 1870Contemp. Rev. XIV. 486 ‘Lothair’ has been called a ‘duchessy’ book. 1887Sims Mary Jane's Mem. 49 A handsome nose that made her look duchessy. |