| 释义 |
et cetera, etcetera|ɛt ˈsɛtərə|
Also et cætera; often abbreviated as etc., &c.
[a. L. et cētera (et and + cētera, often written cætera, the rest, neut. pl. of *cēterus the other).]
1. As phrase: And the rest, and so forth, and so on (cf. Gr. καὶ τὰ λοιπά, Ger. und so weiter), indicating that the statement refers not only to the things enumerated, but to others which may be inferred from analogy. Occasionally used when the conclusion of a quotation, a current formula of politeness, or the like, is omitted as being well known to the reader. Also Yours etc., used as an ending in letters.
A custom formerly common, but now nearly disused except in certain government offices, is to write ‘&c., &c.’ in the addresses of letters, as a substitute for the titles of office or dignity affixed to the name of the person addressed.
1418E.E. Wills (1882) 37 Also a gowne..in ward, &c. a1450Knt. de la Tour cxiii. 154 Not to foryete the countesse moder unto the erle et cetera. 1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 612/1 The woordes of saynt Paule, It is impossible that they whiche haue once been illumined, &c. 1640in Rushw. Hist. Coll. III. ii. 1186, I A.B. do swear, That I do approve the Doctrine and Discipline..established in the Church of England..nor will I ever give my Consent to alter the Government of this Church by Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, and Archdeacons, &c. 1745J. Elton in Hanway Trav. (1762) I. v. lxvii. 306, I beg you will not lose one single thought upon me. I am, &c. 1825–6Dickens Let. (1965) I. 1 Cheaper in comparison than a Leg. Yours &c C Dickens. 1860All Y. Round No. 47. 497 In the name of the indigent classes themselves..et cetera. 1920F. W. Crofts Cask xi. 124 An unexpected call to England prevented me ordering this in person. Yours, etc., Leon Felix. 1970Times 13 Nov. 11/4 He came..from Italy. Yours, &c., F. Bennett.
2. As n. Also pl. etceteras.
a. The phrase as a name for itself. Also attrib., as in Etcetera Oath, a form of oath which the convocation of 1640 attempted to impose on the English clergy: see quot. 1640 in 1.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 198 Come wee to full Points here, and are et cetera's nothing. 1640in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1721) III. ii. 1206 This Clause is administer'd with an &c. which we conceive was never tendered in any Oath before now. 1640Ld. Digby Sp. 9 Nov. ibid. IV. iii. 31 Besides the bottomless Perjury of an Et cætera. 1640Sir J. Culpepper ibid. IV. iii. 33 Besides the Et cætera Oath. 1656Heylin Extr. Vapulans 208, I thought our Author had been such an enemy to all etcæteras, because of the mysterious import..which they carry with them. 1681Ess. Peace & Truth Ch. (Fly Leaf), The Year 1640, when the Et cætera Oath was imposed. 1709Addison Tatler No. 133 ⁋7, I have by me an elaborate Treatise on the Aposiopesis call'd an Et cætera. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. III. liii. 147 An oath which contained an et cætera in the midst of it. 1853Brimley Ess. 24 Sept. 293 Even then, a comprehensive et cætera would be needed for supernumeraries. 1898Daily News 15 July 6/2 Colonial affairs..formed a sort of etcetera department of the War Office. 1900Ibid. 23 May 6/3 The nickname, Etcetera Department, sometimes given to the English Home Office.
b. as substitute for a suppressed substantive, generally a coarse or indelicate one. spec. (pl.), trousers.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. i. 38 (Qq.). 1611Cotgr. s.v. Bergamasque. 1643 Myst. Iniq. 43 It is concluded..betwixt the two Etcætera's, that a Cessation of Armes..should bee agreed on. 1794Scott Let. 5 Sept. (1932) 36 A pair of new boots & Buckskin &c's in which the soldier is to be equipt. 1843J. R. Planché Fortunio i. i. 8 Hush! hush! for up I go, To put a light Silk pair of tight Etcæteras on below. 1937E. Pound Fifth Decad Cantos xlii. 7 And how this people can in this the fifth et cetera year of the war, leave that old etcetera up There on that monument! 1942J. Cary To be a Pilgrim xix. 36 ‘All the things you silly geese have muddled up till you don't know your etc. from an etc.’ A very coarse comparison, such as never before..had I used to a woman.
c. A number of unspecified things or (improperly) persons.
1656Cowley Misc., The Chron. x, A pretty Thomasine, And then another Katherine, And then a long Et cætera. 1746Brit. Mag. 331 A Gardner, and a long &c. of Heroes fell for our Sakes. 1824S. E. Ferrier Inher. ix, Milton, Spenser, and a long et cetera of illustrious names. 1868M. Pattison Academ. Org. ii. 37 The powers..conferred on the Chancellors, including an etc. of consuetudinary privileges. Mod. Newspaper, There were present Messrs. A., B., C., &c.
d. pl. only: Things usually included under the phrase etcetera; usual additions, extras, ‘sundries’.
1817Keatinge Trav. I. 232 Various fanciful forms of puddings, forced meats, minced meats, and indescribable et-ceteras. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxvi, Fifty guineas a-year without the et-ceteras. 1862Gifts & Graces v. 62 The thousand little etceteras which had to be done the day before the move. 1884Bazaar 22 Dec. 664/2 These et-ceteras, by the by, must be much in the children's way.
¶3. as v. (cf. 2 b).
1867H. Kingsley Silcote of Sil. lxi, I am etcetera'd if I stand it.
Hence various whimsical nonce-words, as etˈceterarist, etˈceteraize v., etˈceteraly adv.
1822Blackw. Mag. XII. 56 To write critically, scientifically..etceteraly. 1831Fraser's Mag. III. 67 He..sowed his wild oats of course—soberized—etceteraized. 1834–37Southey Doctor clxxvi. (1848) 462 The benevolent and erudite etceterarist of Bealings. |