| 释义 |
sylph|sɪlf|
[ad. mod.L. (pl.) sylphes, G. sylphen (Paracelsus De Nymphis, etc.), mod.L. sylphi (Ibid., Wks. 1658 II. 391). Cf. F. sylphe, Sp. silfo, Pg. sylpho, etc.
Littré conjectures a Gaulish origin, citing svlfis dat. pl. from Inscr. Helvet. no. 117 of Orelli, who connects the form with suleviæ female tutelary spirits venerated in Gaul (see Holder Altcelt. Sprachschatz s.v.). But Paracelsus's word may be an arbitrary coinage, perh. a blending of sylvestris sylvester n.1 1 and nympha nymph n.]
1. a. One of a race of beings or spirits supposed to inhabit the air (orig. in the system of Paracelsus).
1657H. Pinnell Philos. Reformed i. i. 26 (from Paracelsus) To the Earth doe belong Gnoms, Lemurs, Sylphs. 1680A. L[ovell] tr. Montfaucon de Villars' Cnt. of Gabalis 29 The Sylphs are composed of the purest atomes of air. 1699Dryden Let. to Mrs. Eliz. Thomas 12 Nov., Wks. 1800 I. ii. 97 Whether Sylph or Nymph, I know not: those fine creatures..have a mind to be christen'd. 1712[see salamander n. 2 b]. 1714Pope Rape Lock i. 65 The light Coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair, And sport and flutter in the fields of Air. 1812Sir H. Davy Chem Philos. 17 The Rosicrucian philosophy, in which gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and nymphs were the spiritual agents, supposed capable of being governed or enslaved by man. 1830Scott Demonol. x. 347 They affirmed that they could bind to their service and imprison in a ring, a mirror, or a stone, some fairy, sylph or salamander. 1856Miss Mulock John Halifax x, Though this lady did not look like a sylph or a wood-nymph—being neither very small nor very slight.
b. Applied to a graceful woman or girl; usually with implication of slender figure and light airy movement. (Cf. nymph n. 2.)
1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxv, She's the only sylph I ever saw, who could stand upon one leg, and play the tambourine on her other knee, like a sylph. 1847Disraeli Tancred iv. xi, The mother..seemed a sylph or a sultana.
2. Gould's name for various humming-birds with long forked tails.
1861Gould Monogr. Trochilidæ III. Pl. 172 Cynanthus cyanurus. Blue-Tailed Sylph. Ibid. 173 Cynanthus smaragdicaudus. Green-Tailed Sylph.
3. Comb., as sylph-like adj. and adv., sylph-looking adj.
1801C. Wilmot Let. 13 Dec. in T. U. Sadleir Irish Peer (1920) 15 Madame, their Mother, was too much en bon point to have such a sylphlike appearance as her daughters. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xviii, The sylph-like form, disencumbered of her heavy riding-skirt and mantled in azure silk. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. vii. III. 82 A sylph-like gracefulness in their figures and actions. 1833― Parson's Dau. iii. ix, Lady Catherine..gliding sylph-like across the room, seated herself by his side. 1834H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xx. (1857) 289 There tripped lightly along a sylph-looking creature.
Hence ˈsylphic, ˈsylphish, ˈsylphy adjs., pertaining to, resembling, of the nature of, or characteristic of a sylph; sylph-like; ˈsylphize v., trans. to give a sylphish character to.
1821New Monthly Mag. II. 361 This..cannot but be considered as an improvement even by the most prejudiced of the *sylphic race. 1825C. M. Westmacott Engl. Spy I. 227 The sylphic daughters of Terpsichore.
1754Adventurer No. 93. II. 136 The images, customs, and employments of his [sc. Pope's] sylphs are exactly adapted to their natures..; are all, if I may be allowed the expression, *Sylphish. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales II. 233 She was of a slender, delicate, and sylphish form.
1802A. Seward Lett. (1811) VI. 27 The Gothic mythology, demonized by the elder bards of Caledonia, *sylphized by Shakespeare, and the British poets.
1836T. Hook G. Gurney I. vii. 283 There was a swan-like swimmingness about her air and gait—a sort of *sylphy something that rivetted the attention. 1842United Service Mag. i. 383 Her chaplet of bright flowers and expanded sylphy wing. |