| 释义 |
effete, a.|ɛˈfiːt|
Also 7 effœte.
[ad. L. effēt-us that has brought forth young, hence worn out by bearing, exhausted, f. ex out + fētus breeding.]
†1. Of animals: That has ceased to bring forth offspring. Obs.
1660H. More Myst. Godl. ii. vi. 39 The Earth..grown effete and old Hardly bears small ones [i.e. men] now. 1691Ray Creation i. (1704) 134 The Animal becomes barren and effete. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 165 Hens..after three years become effete and barren.
fig.1621Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iv. i. §5 (1651) 374 Nature is not effœte..to bestow all her gifts upon an age. 1796Burke Regic. Peace Wks. 1842 II. 289 Even she [France], the mother of monsters..shews symptoms of being almost effete. 1830Blackw. Mag. XXVII. 410 Wonder-producers in youth generally become in manhood effete even of common births. 1840Carlyle Heroes (1858) 337 Nature..was as if effete now; could not any longer produce Great Men.
2. transf. Of material substances: That has lost its special quality or virtue; exhausted, worn out.
1662H. Stubbe Ind. Nectar v. 100 The [Chocolata] Paste alone grows effœte, and insipid. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 228 That imprison'd and Effœte Air, within the Green-house. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters II. 106 It..grows more effete or less smart to taste. 1828H. Steuart Planter's G. 187 The Lime is rendered nearly effete and powerless. 1845Todd & Bowman Phys. Anat. I. 12 Animals and plants are ever throwing off effete particles from their organisms.
¶ Of strength, vital power: Spent, worn out.
1765Warburton Lett. late Prelate (1809) 359 Till all the vigour..of that monarch of the grove [the oak] be effete and near exhausted.
3. fig. Of persons in an intellectual sense, of systems, etc.: That has exhausted its vigour and energy; incapable of efficient action. Also, of persons: weak, ineffectual; degenerate. More recently, effeminate.
1790Burke Fr. Rev. 228 They find the old governments effete, worn out. 1844Emerson Lect. Yng. Amer. Wks. (Bohn) II. 295 It [gardening] is the fine art which is left for us, now that sculpture, painting..have become effete. 1857Kingsley Two Y. Ago I. 226 Pray accept your effete English aristocrat. 1869Goulburn Purs. Holiness xv. 143 But the monastic system..is now effete altogether. 1905Baroness Orczy Scarlet Pimpernel (1906) xvi. 147 Those happy days of courtship, before he had become the lazy nincompoop, the effete fop, whose life seemed spent in card and supper rooms. 1958‘A. Burgess’ Enemy in Blanket i, in Malayan Trilogy (1964) 176 The intrepid British of the past... Ah, they were becoming an effete race. The least thing upset them now. 1964A. Wykes Gambling vii. 158 The king's appearance has also changed from that of a black man with a fierce expression..to a somewhat effete white fellow with sensual nostrils. 1981Economist 6 June 18 Cool, practical and macho in the open air, indoors the uniform tends to trip the wearer up, needs gathering up like a skirt, and looks a trifle effete.
eˈffeteness, exhaustion, worn-out condition.
1862R. Patterson Ess. Hist. & Art 274 The effeteness of this Mantchoo dynasty. 1876Gladstone in Contemp. Rev. 6 June, The mummy-like effeteness..of Ultramontanism. |