| 释义 |
esplanade|ɛspləˈneɪd|
Also 7 aphet. splanade.
[a. F. esplanade, ad. Sp. esplanada (corresp. to It. spianata), f. esplanar:—L. explānāre to level, f. ex out + -plānus level, plain.]
I. Fortif.
a. The glacis of the counterscarp, or the sloping of the parapet of the covered way toward the country.
1696in Phillips. 1755T. H. Croker Orlando Fur. xiv. cxxix, The Pagan forces..by ladders different essay'd Upon the second esplanade to creep. 1811Wellington in Gurw. Disp. VII. 331 There was a heavy fire of musketry on the Esplanade: so that the enemy are not in the covered way.
b. ‘An open, level space of ground, separating the citadel of a fortress from the town’ (Stocqueler Mil. Encycl.).
1708Kersey, Esplanade..is now chiefly taken for the void Space between the Glacis of a Citadel, and the first Houses of a Town. 1736in Bailey. 1763Scrafton Indostan iii. (1770) 72 The fort was a regular square..no glacis; and but a small esplanade of about two hundred and fifty yards. 1824Scott St. Ronan's xvii, The esplanade in the front of the old castle. 1855Motley Dutch Rep. (1861) II. 455 Throwing up a breastwork..upon the esplanade, between the citadel and the town.
transf.1817M. Keatinge France & Sp. to Mor. I. 166 [Spain] to be effectually defended on this side, the state must always be prepared to evacuate and make an esplanade of her territory, to the Sierra Morena; which thus would be the line of defence to her capital, Seville.
2. A levelled piece of ground; often, such a space intended to serve as a public promenade.
1682Wheler Journ. Greece i. 31 A large place, which they call the Splanade. 1726Cavallier Mem. i. 96 A fine Walk, call'd the Esplanade, without the Town. 1788Gentl. Mag. LVIII. i. 69/2 An esplanade..on which..the foundations of a regular street were laid. 1805G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 199, I went on the esplanade [at Weymouth] early in the morning. 1823Heber Narr. of a Journey (1828) I. 28 Behind the [Calcutta] esplanade, however, are only Tank-square, and some other streets occupied by Europeans. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 12 The Palace esplanade, where music plays while Serene Highness is pleased to eat his victuals. 1863Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. xiv. 296 The Esplanade of the Invalides.
b. transf. A level open space.
1681Blount Glossogr., Esplanade, a plain open ground. 1702W. J. tr. Bruyn's Voy. Levant v. 13 Upon the mountain we met with an Esplanade of a considerable Bigness. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ., The Dwarf, At the end of the orchestra, and betwixt that and the first side-box, there is a small esplanade left. 1823Scott Quentin D. iii, An open esplanade, devoid of trees. 1868Milman St. Paul's i. 2 No eminence..could compare with the spacious esplanade on which St. Paul's stands.
c. ‘In modern gardening, a grass plot’ (T.).
1818in Todd. 1828in Webster; and in mod. Dicts. |