释义 |
▪ I. raven, n.1 (a.)|ˈreɪv(ə)n| Forms: α. 1 hraebn, (h)ræfn, ræfen; 3 rauon, 4 ravoun; 3–6 rau-, ravin, -yn, (5 rawyn, -ine, ravyne), 4–5 rau-, ravene, 3–7 rauen, 4– raven. β. 1 (h)refn, 3 reafen, 3–4 reu-, reven, 3–5 reu-, revyn, (4 revon, 5 rewyn), 6 Sc. revin, 7 Sc. reavin. γ. 1 hremn, (h)remm, (h)ræm, 1–3 rem. [Comm. Teut.: OE. hræfn = MDu. rāven (Du. raaf), OHG. (h)raban (MHG. raben), ON. hrafn (MSw. rafn, Da. ravn), Goth. *hrabn-s (cf. early ON. Harabanar = Hraƀnar, the personal name Hrafn). A normal change of fn to mn, m(m gave also OE. hræmn, hrem(m = OHG. (h)ram (MHG. ram), MSw. ramn, (rampn,) ram(m. A weak form of the stem appears in OHG. rabo (G. rabe, MLG. rāve): for the relationship of this to MHG. rappe raven (G. rappe a black horse) see Streitberg Urgerm. Gramm. 151.] A. n. 1. a. A widely distributed corvine bird (Corvus Corax) of Europe and Asia, of large size, with black lustrous plumage and raucous voice, feeding chiefly on carrion or other flesh. The name has also been extended to birds belonging to various other species of Corvus, esp. the American Raven (Corvus carnivorus). The common raven is easily tamed, but is mischievous and thievish, and has been popularly regarded as a bird of evil omen and mysterious character. αa800Erfurt Gloss. 285 Corax, hraebn. c850O.E. Martyrol. Jan. 10, Þa..fedde hine an hræfn sextiᵹ ᵹeara. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xii. 24 Behaldað ða ræfnas þætte ne sawæð ne hriopað. c1220Bestiary 408 Ðe rauen is swiðe redi..& oðre fules hire fallen bi. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 312/452 Al þat oþur del with-Inne swiþe blak as a rauon it is. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 455 Þe rauen so ronk þat rebel was euer. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiv. 153 Vowltures, egles, rauyns, and oþer fewlez of rauyne. c1450Holland Howlat 215 The Ravyne, rolpand rudly in a roche ran. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 63 The rauen wyll not gyue her blacke pennes for the pecockes paynted fethers. c1592Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. i, Like the sad-presaging raven, that tolls The sick man's passport in her hollow beak. 1656S. Holland Zara (1719) 130 Thou art always (like the Raven) croaking my infortunity and disgrace. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 144/2 Pens made of Ravens Quills..are to finish and shadow your draught. 1766Pennant Brit. Zool. (1768) I. 166 Ravens build in trees, and lay five or six eggs. Ibid. 167 The raven will pick out the eyes of young lambs when just dropped. 1822Scott Pirate v, If the men of Thule have ceased..to spread the banquet for the raven [etc.]. 1859Tennyson Guinevere 132 Till in the cold wind that foreruns the morn,..the Raven, flying high, Croak'd.
β Beowulf (Z.) 3025 Se wonna hrefn fus ofer fæᵹum. c825Vesp. Psalter cxlvi. 9 Se seleð neatum mete heara & briddum hrefna. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xii. 24 Besceawiað þa hrefnas [c 1160 Hatton MS. refnes] þæt hiᵹ ne sawað. a1225Ancr. R. 84 He..mid his bile, roted stinkinde fleshs, as is reafnes kunde. a1300Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 63 Al that other del with-inne blac as a reven is. c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 761/33 Hic cornix, a rewyn. 1486Bk. St. Albans D ij, That hawke that will slee a Roke or a Crow or a Reuyn. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxvi. 117 Thae tarmegantis..begowth to clatter, And rowp lyk revin and ruke. c1630Sir W. Mure Ps. cxlvii. 9 Of reavens who heares The yong ones, when they call. γc1000ælfric Gen. viii. 7 Noe..asende ut ænne hremn; se hremn fleah þa ut [etc.]. c1000― Saints' Lives (Skeat) I. 492 Ðær fluᵹon sona to hrocas and hremmas. c1205Lay. 30392 Habben bares heorte and remes brede. †b. Indian raven, the name given by Bontius to two East Indian birds (see quots. 1678). Obs.
1678Ray Willughby's Ornith. ii. vii. 126 Bontius his Indian Raven. There is a strange kind of Raven in the Molucca Islands..which resembles our Country Raven in the bill. Ibid. viii. 127 The horned Indian Raven or Tapau, called the Rhinoceros Bird. 1752Sir J. Hill Hist. Anim. 383 Buceros niger..in shape somewhat resembles the crow kind, whence, and from it's size, it has been called the Indian Raven. c. fig. A croaker.
1814Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary (1861) II. 301, I have done my duty honestly in my correspondence with government on this subject; but I am not sure that I shall not be voted an incorrigible raven. 2. a. The figure of a raven on the flag of the Danish vikings; also, the flag itself or the warlike power typified by this.
a1100O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 878 Þar wæs se guðfana ᵹenumen þe hi ræfen heton. 1605Camden Rem., Armories (1870) 228 The Danes [bore] in their Standard a Raven, as Asserius reporteth. a1711Ken Edmund Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 313 The mighty Hildebrand the Raven rears, A magick Flag. 1740Thomson & Mallet Alfred ii. iii, Behold the warrior bright with Danish spoils!—The raven droops his wings. 1856C. Knight Pop. Hist. Eng. I. vii. 100 The banner of the White Horse floated triumphantly over the Danish raven. b. Her. The figure of a raven as borne in arms.
1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xvii. 162 Hee beareth Or, a Raven proper, by the name of Corbet. 1780Edmondson Compl. Body Heraldry II. Gloss. †3. Astron. The southern constellation Corvus. = crow 4. Obs. rare.
[c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 496 How goddes gonne stellifye Brid, fish, beste, or him or here, As the Raven, or either Bere.] 1551Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 270 The Rauen standeth on the same Hydre,..and it is formed of 7 starres. 4. attrib. (see also B.) and Comb. a. Simple attrib., as raven kind, raven quill; similative, as raven-black, raven-glossy, raven-grey, raven-like, raven-shadowing adjs.; raven-wise adv.; parasynthetic, as raven-coloured, raven-feathered, raven-haired, raven-plumed, raven-toned adjs.; instrumental, as raven-covered, raven-torn adjs.
c1600Shakes. Sonn. cxxvii, My Mistersse [sic] eyes are *Rauen blacke. 1857C. Brontë Professor x, Raven-black hair, very dark eyes.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 83 Her *Rauen coloured loue. 1746Hervey Medit. (1818) 265 The raven-colored mantle of night.
1895W. B. Yeats Wanderings of Usheen in Poems 7 We think on Oscar's pencilled urn, And on the heroes lying lain, On Gabhra's *raven-covered plain.
1798W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) I. 8 The starless gloom of *raven-feather'd night.
1700Dryden Cymon & Iph. 151 The snowy skin, the *raven-glossy hair.
1815Scott Guy M. xix, Two suits of clothes, one black, and one *raven-grey.
1844Thackeray May Gambols Wks. 1900 XIII. 427 The dark-eyed and *raven-haired being.
1727–41Chambers Cycl., Corvus indicus,..a bird of the *raven kind.
1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. II. xxii. 82 Said Mrs. A― in her most *raven-like tones.
1827J. Evans Excurs. Windsor 353 The *raven-plumed gulph of oblivion.
1776–96Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 232 Stem solid..1½ inch high thick as a *raven quill.
1950C. Day Lewis in Penguin New Writing XXXIX. 22 A driven heart, a *raven-shadowing mind Loom above all my pastorals.
1797Southey in J. Cottle Reminisc. (1847) 210 The very voice..will be enough to convict the *raven-toned criminal.
1860Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. ii. §11. 211 The carcass of a ewe..*raven-torn.
1891Atkinson Last of Giant-killers 61 Nests, built *raven-wise one a-top of the other. b. Special combs., as raven-bone = raven's bone (see c); raven-cockatoo, a black cockatoo (of the genus Calyptorhynchus); raven-crow = raven 1; raven-duck [ad. G. rabentuch], a kind of canvas (also raven's duck); raven-fish [tr. It. coracino], a black-coloured Mediterranean fish; † raven-foot (see quot.); † raven messenger = corbie messenger corbie 2; raven standard: cf. raven 2 a; raven-stone [ad. G. rabenstein], the place of execution, the gallows or gibbet; raven-tree, a tree in which ravens build their nests.
1818Scott Br. Lamm. ix, Disputing..concerning nombles, briskets, flankards, and *raven-bones, then usual terms of the art of hunting.
1817T. Forster Nat. Hist. Swallow-tribe 68 Corvus corax, the Raven, Great corbiecrow, or *Ravencrow.
1753Hanway Trav. (1762) I. ii. xiv. 61 Sail-cloth, sheetings, *ravenducks and drillings. 1827Roberts Voy. Centr. Amer. 36 In exchange we gave them ravenduck, osnaburg, [etc.].
1755T. H. Croker Orl. Fur. vi. xxxvi, The salmon, mullet, *raven-fish.
c1265Voc. Names Plants in Wr.-Wülcker 556/3 Pollipodium, poliol, *reuenfot.
a1300Cursor M. 1892 (Gött.) Þat messager..þat duellis lang in his iornay, He may be cald, wid resun clere, An of the *rauyns messagere.
1822Scott Pirate xv, To see our barks..with the black *raven standard waving at the topmost.
1817Byron Manfred iii. i. 74 The raven sits On the *raven-stone. 1871B. Taylor Faust i. xxiv, What weave they there round the raven-stone?
1904Westm. Gaz. 23 July 13/1 The ‘*raven tree’ is all that remains..to remind one of the former existence of these birds in those localities. 1908Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 284/1 Nearly every parish had its ‘raven-tree’. c. Combs. with raven's, as † raven's bill, a surgical instrument resembling the bill of a raven; † raven's bone (see quots., and cf. corbin-bone s.v. corbin b); raven's book, the list of the dead (nonce-use); raven's duck = raven-duck (Simmonds 1858); raven's eye, a species of toadstool; † raven's morsel = corbel's fee corbel n. 1.
1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 14 b/2, The *Ravens bille, in L. called Rostrum corvinum.
1575Turberv. Venerie xliii. 135 There is a litle gristle which is vpon the spoone of the brysket, which we cal the *Rauens bone, bycause it is cast vp to the Crowes or Rauens whiche attende hunters. 1637B. Jonson Sad Sheph. i. ii, Mar. The brisket bone, upon the spoon Of which a little gristle grows; you call it― Rob. The raven's bone.
1844W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. iii. (1855) 53, I am fairly in the *raven's book.
1761Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury 28 Apr. 4/3 Just Imported..Russia and *ravens duck. 1775in New Hampsh. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1863) VII. 4, 120 Tents, to be made of Raven's duck. 1868G. G. Channing Recoll. Newport 200 A miller called one day at the store to purchase a piece of ravensduck, with which to make or to repair sails for his windmill. 1931Sun (Baltimore) 12 Jan. 6/6 Hemp sails, known as raven's duck, were used, the cotton duck being unknown at that time.
1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I 181 Perhaps the plants that through such an error have been most frequently gathered are, the Medusa's head, the *raven's eye, the hemlock mushroom, and the agaricus muscarius.
c1500Wyl Bucke's Test. A ij b, The *rauens morsell, sticke hit on a thorne faste. 1575Turberv. Venerie xlii. 129 The rauens morsell (which is the gryssell at the spoone of the brisket). B. attrib. passing into adj. Of the colour of a raven; glossy black; intensely dark or gloomy.
1634Milton Comus 251 Smoothing the Raven doune Of darknes. 1727–46Thomson Summer 1088 Thus o'er the prostrate city black Despair Extends her raven wing. 1761Gray Odin 66 A wondrous boy..Who ne'er shall comb his raven-hair. 1813Byron Giaour ix, Here loud his raven charger neigh'd. 1822Scott Pirate iii, From her mother Minna inherited the..dark eyes, the raven locks. 1850Tennyson In Mem. i, Let darkness keep her raven gloss. Hence (nonce-wds.) ˈravendom, the community of ravens; ˈravenhood, the state of being a raven; ˈravenling, a young raven.
1870Stewart Nether Lochaber xix. 112 Permitted by the laws of ravendom. 1889Gd. Words 483/2 That raven grew to the fullest stature of lusty ravenhood. 1896E. J. Harding Slav Tales 258 The old raven started off, and Niezginnek still held the ravenling. ▪ II. raven, n.2 see ravin1. ▪ III. raven, v.|ˈræv(ə)n| Forms: 6 rau-, ravyne, 6–7 rau-, ravine, 7 rauin, -yn, 7, 9 ravin; 5–7 rau-, 6–7, 9 raven. [ad. OF. raviner to ravage:—L. *rapīnāre, f. rapīna: see rapine, ravin1.] †1. trans. To take (goods) away by force; to seize or divide as spoil. Obs.
1494Fabyan Chron. vii. ccxxxvii. 274 His mouable goodys were spoyled and rauenyd amonge y⊇ kynges offycers. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 356 Ravening and destroying his goodes, they spoyled his wife and chyldren of all theyr apparell. 1593Queen Elizabeth Boeth. i. pr. iii. 7 While they be busy to rauyne vnproffitable baggage. †b. Const. from prep., away adv. Obs.
1602Carew Cornwall 3 The encroaching Sea hath rauined from it the whole Countrie of Lionnesse. 1621Hakewill David's Vow 237 Hee..sought to eat him up, and to raven all hee could get from him. 1657G. Thornley Daphnis & Chloe 175 Nor had the Wolf raven'd away so much as one. c. absol. or intr. To plunder; to seek after, to go about, with intent to plunder.
1603Drayton Bar. Wars i. vii, [Blood-thirsting Warre] Transferd by fortune to the Scottish meare, To ransack that, as it had rauin'd heere. 1621Molle Camerar. Liv. Lib. ii. xvi. 125 He goes unto the wars to filch and rauen. 1670Cotton Espernon iii. ix. 442 That they might not be disturbed whilst busie ravening after Booty. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xx. iv. VI. 92 His Croats and loose hordes went openly ravening about. 2. To devour voraciously. Also fig.
1560Bible (Geneva) Ezek. xxii. 25 Like a roaring lion rauening the pray. a1571Jewel On 1 Thess. (1611) 91 The fishes belly destroieth those things which they rauine. 1615R. Brathwait Strappado, etc. (1878) 278 A Lion new returnde from rauening pray, Came to the fount, his blood to wash away. 1818Keats Endym. iii. 510 Clusters of grapes, the which they raven'd quick. 1875Lowell Poet. Wks. (1879) 458/2 'Gainst Self's lean wolf that ravens word and deed. b. So with up, down, in. Now rare.
1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iii. ii, They rauen vp more butter then all the dayes of the weeke beside. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 833 Certain young men..like greedie Harpies ravened it downe in a moment. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 303 If he rauen it in, as he wil do hauing much at a time. 1683Tryon Way to Health 648 Saturn and Mars..with a fierce hunger destroy and raven up the friendly Properties and Preservatives of Life. 1814Cary Dante, Inf. xxxii. 124 As bread Is raven'd up through hunger. 3. intr. or absol. To eat voraciously; to feed hungrily or greedily; to prey on or upon. Also fig.
1530Palsgr. 679/2, I ravyne, I eate hastyly or gredyly. Je briffe. He is an horryble lurtcher, se how he ravyneth. 1575–85Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 128 For greedy cormorants to raven upon. 1603H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 56 The fish Polipus..doeth rauen vppon other fishes. 1667Decay Chr. Piety ix. §1. 299 Those wild irregular flames which ravine and consume. 1811Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 164 Our printers ravin on the agonies of their victims. 1862S. Lucas Secularia 376 They equally ravened on a smaller community. b. To have a ravenous appetite or desire for.
1667Dryden Wild Gallant iv. ii, She..ravens mightily for green fruit. 1687― Hind & P. iii. 964 The more they fed, they ravened still for more. 1883T. Foster in Knowledge 20 July 38/1 Beasts..ravening for blood and slaughter. c. To have an intense longing for food. Also fig.
1858Bushnell Serm. New Life 66 Those divine affinities in us that raven with immortal hunger. 1881Blackw. Mag. CXXIX. 194 If I know anything of your constitution..you must have been ravening hours ago. 4. intr. To prowl ravenously; to go about in search of food.
1560Bible (Geneva) Gen. xlix. 27 Beniamin shall rauine (as) a wolfe. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 155 b, Let them want no meate, for if they doe, they will for hunger rauen abroad. 1680H. More Apocal. Apoc. 124 His feet..which are his strength and instrument of action to raven and prey with. 1877M. M. Grant Sun-Maid i, Fierce fiery lions went ravening to and fro. fig.1851Dixon W. Penn xxvi. (1872) 236 Persecution had ravened through the land. 1857Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 17 The unclean pestilence ravins in your streets. Hence ˈravened ppl. a., ? glutted.
1605Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 24 Maw, and Gulfe Of the rauin'd salt Sea sharke. |