| 释义 |
sycamore, sycomore|ˈsɪkəmɔə(r)|
Forms: 4–7 sicamour, (4 sika-, sicomour, sicomore, syca-, sykamoure, 5 sycomour, -owre, secomoure, sichomure, cicomour, cycomyr, sygamour(e), 6–7 siccamore, sycamour, (6 segamore, 7 sicamor(e, cycamore), 4– sycomore, 7– sycamore.
[a. OF. sic(h)amor, -more, later sicomore, mod.F. sycomore, = It., Sp., Pg. sicomoro, ad. late L. si-, sycomorus, ad. Gr. σῡκόµορος, f. σῦκον fig + µόρον mulberry. The spelling sycamore is the more usual, but sycomore is retained in mod. edd. of the Bible, and is used by some writers in sense 1 for the sake of distinction.]
1. A species of fig-tree, Ficus Sycomorus, common in Egypt, Syria, and other countries, and having leaves somewhat resembling those of the mulberry.
13..Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LXXXI. 319/14 In to a treo he wente þerfore, A Sikamour, to seon him þore. 1388Wyclif Isaiah ix. 10 Thei han kit doun sicomoris. a1400–50Wars Alex. 4973 Oleues out of lebany..With sichomures & sipresses. c1440York Myst. xxv. 427 A nobill tree þou secomoure. 1530Palsgr. 269/2 Sicomer, frute. Sicomour, tree. 1601Holland Pliny xiii. vii. I. 389 The Sycomore..is called the ægyptian Figtree. The tree for leafe, bignesse, and barke, is like unto the Mulberie tree. 1633G. Herbert Temple, World iii, That Sycomore, Whose leaves first sheltred man from drought and dew. 1720Pope Iliad xxi. 44 As from a sycamore, his sounding steel Lopp'd the green arms to spoke a chariot⁓wheel. 1867Baker Nile Tribut. i. (1872) 3 We climbed the steep sandy bank and sat down beneath a solitary sycamore. 1910Mrs. H. M. Tirard Bk. of Dead iii. 73 In Egypt sycomores often grow on the edge of the desert.
2. A large species of maple, Acer Pseudoplatanus, introduced into Britain from the Continent, and grown as a shady ornamental tree and for its wood.
Also with distinguishing adj., bastard sycamore, false sycamore, vulgar sycamore.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 89 Vnder the coole shade of a Siccamore, I thought to close mine eyes some halfe an houre. 1653Walton Angler iv. 121 We..sate as quietly..under this Sycamore, as Virgils Tityrus and his Melibœus did under their broad beech tree. 1657S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. i. xv. 94 Sycomore, or great Maple. 1728Bradley Dict. Bot., Sycamore vulgar, i.e. Acer majus. 1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 329 Sycamore, False, Acer. 1765Gray Lett., to Wharton (1912) III. 84 The enclosures, that surround the house, are border'd with 3 or 4 ranks of sycomores, ashes, & white poplars of the noblest height. 1777Lightfoot Flora Scot. (1789) 639 The Great Maple, or Bastard Sycomore. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxxix, Thou, with all thy breadth and height Of foliage, towering sycamore. 1889A. C. Benson Altar Fire (1907) 89 There were many ancient elms and sycamores forming a small park.
3. a. In N. America, a plane or tree of the genus Platanus, esp. the buttonwood, P. occidentalis.
1814F. Pursh Flora Amer. Septentrionalis 635 Platanus occidentalis... On the banks of rivers: Canada to Florida, and in Louisiana... This tree is known by the name of Button-wood, Water Beech, Sycamore and Plane Tree; in Canada Cotton Tree. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 413 Buttonwood..The tree is known also as Sycamore and Plane-Tree.
b. In Australia and elsewhere applied (with or without epithet) to various trees: see quots.
1866Treas. Bot. s.v. Melia, M[elia] Azedarach, vulgarly known as the Pride of India, False Sycamore, Holy-tree. Ibid., Sycamore..New South Wales. Brachychiton luridum. 1889J. H. Maiden Usef. Pl. Australia 368 Achras laurifolia..Called ‘Sycamore’ in Southern New South Wales. Ibid. 410 Cryptocarya obovata.. ‘Sycamore’, ‘White Sycamore’, ‘Bastard Sycamore’. 1898Morris Austral Eng. s.v. Laurel, Native L[aurel]..Panax elegans..also called Light or White Sycamore.
4. The wood or timber of the sycamore (usually in sense 2).
c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 188 Ther saugh I Colle tregetour Vpon a table of Sygamour Pley an vncouthe thynge to telle. a1500Eger & Grine 971 in Furniv. & Hales Percy Folio I. 384 His sadle with sekamoure [printed selc-] was sett. 1506Paston Lett. III. 408 A payre of beddes of segamore. 1842Gwilt Archit. §1724 Old houses..floored with sycamore and wainscotted with poplar.
5. Short for sycamore-moth (see 6).
1843Westwood Brit. Moths I. 193 Apatela aceris (the sycamore). 1869Newman Brit. Moths 251/2 The Sycamore (Acronycta Aceris)... This caterpillar feeds on the sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus).
6. attrib. and Comb., as sycamore fruit, sycamore key (key n.1 14), sycamore leaf; sycamore-fig, the fig-tree Ficus Sycomorus, or its fruit; † sycamore-locust (see quot.); sycamore maple = sense 2; sycamore(-tussock)-moth, a noctuid moth, Acronycta (Apatela) aceris, the larva of which feeds on the sycamore (sense 2).
1615G. Sandys Trav. 121 Variety of excellent fruites; as orenges, lemons, pomegranats,..*Sicamor figs. 1861Bentley Man. Bot. 639 The Sycamore Fig is said to have yielded the wood from which mummy-cases were made. 1899Marg. Benson & Gourlay Temple of Mut i. 3 Groves of palm mingled with the thicker foliage of the sycamore-fig and tamarisk.
1611Bible Amos vii. 14, I was an heardman, and a gatherer of *Sycomore fruit.
1657Austen Fruit Trees i. 138 Setting..Ash-keyes, *Cycamore-keyes.
1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 32 The Sycomore-Locust..is a pretty little yellow Insect, which is bred, and feeds on the *Sycomore-leaves, which at first hath no wings, but six leggs and two horns. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 154 The Leaves are a little less than the Sicamore Leaves. 1887W. Phillips Brit. Discomycetes 198 Wherever decaying sycamore-leaves are found.
1664*Sycamore locust [see sycamore leaf above].
1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 369 Sycamore Tree. *Sycamore Maple. 1833Penny Cycl. I. 76/2 Acer striatum, the striped-bark maple..frequently grows to thrice its native size, in consequence of being grafted upon the sycamore maple.
1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl., *Sycamore-moth,..a peculiarly large and beautiful moth,..so called, from its caterpillar feeding on the leaves of the sycamore. 1861Morris Brit. Moths II. 73 Acronycta Aceris. Sycamore Moth... It feeds on the sycamore and the horse-chesnut.
1749B. Wilkes Eng. Moths & Butterflies 32 The *Sycamore Tussock-Moth. You may find the Caterpillars on Sycamore Trees. 1832J. Rennie Butterfl. & M. 78 The Sycamore Tussock (Apatela Aceris, Stephens) appears the end of June.
1854Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 195 *Sycamore wood. |