| 释义 |
Eskimo, n. and a.|ˈɛskɪməʊ|
Also Esquimaux (6–8 Eskemo, Esquimaw, Esquimo, etc.). Pl. -oes, -os |-əʊz|, -aux |-əʊ|.
[a. Da. Eskimo (Sw. Eskimå), ad. F. Esquimaux pl., from some Algonquian Indian language; cf. Proto-Algonquian *ašk- raw, *-imo eat, Abnaki askimo (pl. askimoak), Eskimo, eaters of raw flesh.]
A. n.
1. A member of a widely spread people inhabiting the Arctic from Greenland to Eastern Siberia. (Their own name for themselves is Innuit.) Used as sing. and pl.
1584Hakluyt Disc. Western Planting (1877) xiii. 88 The more northerly partes of the lande amonge the Esquimawes of the Grande Bay. c1685P. E. Radisson Voyages (1885) 260 Wee put into Harbour..to take in fresh Water..at the Coast of the Indians called Esquimos. 1689H. Kelsey Jrnl. 5 July in Kelsey Papers (1929) 27 Not suffering me to speak aloud in pretence y⊇ Eskemoes would hear us. 1792G. Cartwright Labrador 7 The Esquimaux from Ice and snow now free, In Shallops and in Whale-boats go to Sea. 1850Eskimaux & Eng. Vocab. p. vii, If the extent of country be considered, the Innuit or Eskimaux is one of the most widely spread nations on the globe. 1850R. G. Latham Nat. Hist. Var. Man i. F. 290 The Eskimo is essentially a Mongol in physiognomy. 1895Kipling 2nd Jungle Bk. 145 Kadlu was an Inuit—what you call an Esquimau. 1915Lit. Digest 16 Jan. 130/1 A month in the land of Gold, Glaciers, Totems, and Esquimos. 1936Discovery July 200/2 According to his view the eastern or Caribou Eskimo are neither original nor degenerate, but represent a fusion of Eskimo and Indian cultures. 1965R. F. Spencer et al. Native Americans 119 Even though the territorial expanse covered by the Eskimo is tremendous, there is a remarkable unity to Eskimo culture.
2. Any of the several languages of this people, of which one set of dialects or languages, also called Inupik, is spread from Norton Sound, Alaska, to Greenland, and another set, also called Yupik, is in southwest Alaska and the eastern tip of Siberia. These languages, together with those of the Aleut, form the Eskimo-Aleut, -Aleutian family. Also applied to a jargon used in intercourse between Eskimos and persons of European origin, consisting mainly of Eskimo words.
1819J. Ross Voy. Discovery v. 80 A reply was again made in the Eskimaux. 1850R. G. Latham Nat. Hist. Var. Man i. F. 290 From the grammar of Fabricius, the Eskimo was soon known to be a language of long compound words. 1916E. W. Hawkes Labrador Eskimo 6 Lieut. Lucas, who had acquired a knowledge of Eskimo. 1921E. Sapir in Science LIV. 408 (heading) Eskimo-Aleut. 1932W. L. Graff Lang. & Langs. xi. 405 A common Uralian language with which also Eskimo-Aleutian appears to be related. 1939L. H. Gray Found. Lang. xiii. 374 Eskimo-Aleut has been regarded by highly competent authorities as ultimately cognate with Altaic. 1958C. F. Hockett Course in Mod. Ling. 260 In Eskimo..ordinary nouns have a case system of the ergative type. 1964M. Swadesh in Jennings & Norbeck Prehist. Man in New World 531 The last extant language to enter the New World was apparently the forerunner of Eskimo-Aleutian.
3. = Eskimo dog.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xiv. 163 My dogs,..the nine splendid Newfoundlanders and thirty-five Esquimaux.., had perished. 1872W. F. Butler Great Lone Land (ed. 2) xxii. 339 The other two [dogs] were a curious compound of Esquimaux and Athabascan. 1909W. T. Grenfell Adrift on Ice-Pan (1910) 3 ‘Sue’, a large, dark Eskimo, the image of a great black wolf, with her sharp-pointed and perpendicular ears. 1948C. L. B. Hubbard Dogs in Britain xvii. 178 The Husky Proper..has long been officially recognised..as a show dog, under the name of Eskimo.
4. = Eskimo pie.
1922Glasgow Herald 11 Oct. 8 Chocolate eggs filled with ice-cream and known as ‘Eskimos’.
B. adj.
1. Of or pertaining to this people or their language.
1744A. Dobbs Hudson Bay 49 The East Main... Here the Nodway or Eskimaux Indians live. Ibid. 203 A vocabulary of English and Eskima words. 1770G. Cartwright Jrnl. 6 Dec. (1792) I. 66 A very imperfect vocabulary of the Esquimaux language. 1791J. Long (title) Voyages and travels of an Indian interpreter... To which is added..a list of words in the Iroquois, Mohegan, Shawanee, and Esquimeaux Tongues. 1845Youatt Dog iii. 56 The Esquimaux Indian goes in pursuit of the seal. 1850R. G. Latham Nat. Hist. Var. Man i. F. 289 The difficulties presented by the Eskimo language. 1875H. Rink Tales & Trads. Eskimo p. viii, Words..peculiar to Eskimo life. 1918[see Eskimoid a.]. 1965North (Ottawa) Nov.–Dec. 12 Letters from the children written in English and Eskimo script.
2. Eskimo dog, a large, powerful dog used in the Arctic to draw sledges and for hunting.
1774B. La Trobe Acc. Mission Esquimaux Indians 29 The great number of Esquimaux dogs..tear out and devour the fish. 1845Youatt Dog iii. 55 The Esquimaux Dog is a beast of burden and of draught. 1909W. T. Grenfell Adrift on Ice-Pan (1910) 38, I determined..to kill a big Eskimo dog.
3. Eskimo curlew (see quots.). U.S.
1813A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. VII. 22 The Esquimaux Curlew..is called by our gunners on the sea-coast, the Short-billed Curlew. 1870Amer. Naturalist III. 83 Esquimaux Curlew (Numenius borealis) breeds near Fort Benton. 1921Outing (U.S.) May 65/1 The passenger pigeon, the great auk.., the Eskimo curlew are no more. 1966New Statesman 11 Nov. 710/3 The Eskimo curlew..winters in Patagonia..and then flies the whole length of the two continents to breed inside the Arctic Circle.
4. Eskimo pie (proprietary name), a bar of ice cream coated with chocolate. Chiefly U.S.
1928Turnbow & Raffetto Ice Cream 57 Chocolate-coated ice cream bars were introduced in 1921 as ‘Eskimo Pies’. 1937L. Bromfield Rains Came i. i. 13 The cries of vendors of eskimo pies and pan. 1970D. M. Davin Not Here, Not Now iv. i. 219 ‘Let's bring her back some Eskimo pies,’ Martin said. ‘I haven't had one since I was at school.’
5. Eskimo roll: in Canoeing (see quots.).
1946P. W. Blandford Canoeing To-Day 4 In them [sc. folding canoes] experts are able to perform the ‘Eskimo roll’— a complete rollover, under the water and return to upright at the opposite side. 1965Clarendonian XIX. iii. 116 There are one or two gymnastic exercises that canoeists like to perform. The most famous is the so-called ‘Eskimo roll’ for which there are at least three possible paddle strokes. 1968W. Warwick Surfriding in N.Z. 10/2 When you have to paddle out through larger waves, over about 8 ft., it is safest to use the Eskimo roll, as a means of getting past a broken wave. |