| 释义 |
therefore, therefor, adv. (n.)|ˈðɛəfə(r)|, |ðɛəˈfɔː(r)|
Forms: α. 2–3 ðer-, 2–5 þerfore, (2 þaruore, 2–4 þeruore, 3 ðor-, þar-fore, 3–4 þervore), 5–6 therfore, (6 Sc. thair-, yair-, theirfore). β. 2–5 þerefore, (2–3 þereuore, 4 þarefore), 5– therefore. γ. 3–5 þerfor, (3 þeruor, 4 þar-, tarfor, 4–5 þer-for, yarfor), 5–7 therfor, (6 Sc. thair-, yairfor, -foir, 7 therfoer). δ. 6– therefor, (9 there-for).
[Early ME. þerfore, þerefore (often written as two words), f. þǣr-, þer-, there + fore, OE. and early ME. collateral form of for: see fore adv. and prep. After final e became mute, fore prep. was gradually levelled with for, and ther(e)fore was often written therfor, therefor. In mod. Eng. (since c 1800) therefore and therefor are almost always differentiated in spelling and stress in accordance with meaning: see below.]
I. (Now stressed |ðɛəˈfɔː(r)|, and usu. spelt therefor for distinction from 2.) formal or arch.
1. For that (thing, act, etc.); for that, for it.
a. In various senses of for prep.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 9 His festen..and chirc-ȝong and god to donne þeruore. c1220Bestiary 377 God giueð ðer fore mede. a1300Cursor M. 610 (Cott.) He gaf it him, als in heritage, To yeild þerfor [v.rr. þare fore, þar for, þerfore] na mar knaulage. c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 169 Born anon in to the heighe Tour, With certeine officers ordeynd therfore [v.rr. ther fore, there fore, þerfore]. c1440Alphabet of Tales 97 Sho ansswerd agayn & sayd..sho wold not delyver it or he & his felow bothe samen come þerfor. 1477Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 1 To gyue therfore synguler louynges & thankes. 1561Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc v. i, Speede must we vse to levie force therefore. 1622Callis Stat. Sewers (1647) 86 To erect new Walls, Banks and other Defences, and what sums of Money to Raise and Levy therefore. 1824Medwin Convers. Byron II. 186, I..have..continued here..in the hope of seeing things reconciled, and have done all in my power there-for. 1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics vi. iv. (1860) I. 184 If the emperor sins, he must give account to God therefor. 1861Evening Star 4 Oct., 100lbs. of potatoes or a substitute therefore thrice a week. 1870Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 344 The love I had therefor. 1877F. Hall Eng. Adj. in -able 39 Argument being at an end, recourse was then had to the common substitute therefor, ridicule. 1885Act 48 & 49 Vict. c. 70 §7 He shall supply a copy of such report..on payment of the sum of one shilling therefor.
b. By reason of that; for that reason, on that account: cf. for prep. 21, 22.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 5 Þa ȝe [MS. þaȝ] habbe wele to ouer stohwennesse on þisse liue ne beo þu þereuore prud. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 143 Þaruore hire sinne hire bicome swiðe laðe. c1220Bestiary 509 Vt of his ðrote it smit an onde,..ðer-fore oðre fisses to him draȝen. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1215 Ysmael pleide hard gamen; Sarra was ðor-fore often wroð. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5348 Vre louerd mid is eyen of milce on þe lokeþ þeruore. a1300Cursor M. 287 Þerfor is he cald trinite For he es anfald godd in thre. 13..Ibid. 2894 (Gött.) God forbede ȝe do þat sin Þat ȝe in hell þarfor [Trin. þerfore] brin. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1863 (Lucrece) That Tarquyny shulde ybanysshed be ther-fore. 1533More Debell. Salem Wks. 954/1 When he saith himself that they haue punished many therfore, that is to wit, for thesame cause. 1605Camden Rem. 181 If that any Iew did buy any Christian for his slave, hee should bee fined therefore. 1805Scott Last Minstr. iv. vi, They crossed the Liddle..And burned my little lonely tower; The fiend receive their souls therefor! 1848Lowell Lett. (1894) I. 151 Tell Briggs that his ticket came safely, and that I am thankful therefor. 1868Hawthorne Amer. Note-Bks. (1879) II. 173 They would all be..healthier men therefor. 1899F. T. Bullen Log Sea-waif 149 The ill-used crew promptly refused to do any more in her, and were, of course, clapped in jail therefor.
II. (Now always spelt therefore, and stressed |ˈðɛəfə(r), ˈðɛəfɔː(r)|.)
2. In consequence of that; that being so; as a result or inference from what has been stated; consequently. Formerly sometimes unemphatic (esp. in versions of N.T.) = then 5.
In early use often indistinguishable from 1 b, where see earlier examples; now distinguished as expressing a general relation of consequence or inference. Sometimes classed as a conjunction.
a1400Prymer (1891) 45 Lo ther fore alle generations schulle seye y am blessed. 1526Tindale Matt. xiii. 18 Heare ye therfore the similitude off the sower. 1533Cranmer Misc. Writ. (Parker Soc.) II. 260, I trust, therefore, you will not so hardly regard my first request herein. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, It is very mete..that we shoulde..geue thankes to thee, O Lorde... Therefore with Angelles and Archangels..we laud [etc.]. 1552Huloet, Therfore,..cum accent. in penult., eo, ergo, idcirco, ideo, igitur,..propterea, propter hoc. 1555Eden Decades 202 Manate..is the thyrde [fish] whereof I haue promysed to entreate. Manate therefore, is a fysshe of the sea, of the byggest sorte [etc.]. c1600Shakes. Sonn. xli, Gentle thou art, and therefore to be wonne, Beautious thou art, therefore to be assailed. Ibid. cxxiii, Our dates are breefe, and therefor we admire, What thou dost foyst vpon vs that is ould. 1611Bible John iv. 6 Now Iacobs Well was there. Iesus therefore [Tindale then], being wearied with his iourney, sate thus on the Well. 1660Barrow Euclid i. xv. Schol., Because the angle AEC + AED + CEB + DEB = 4 right angles, therefore the angle AEC + AED = CEB + DEB = to two right angles, therefore CED and AEB are strait lines. 1735Berkeley Freethink. in Math. §2 Things obscure are not therefore sacred. 1845M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 15 The Franks were the stronger, and therefore the masters. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 80 The refugees were zealous for the Calvinistic discipline... James therefore gave orders [etc.].
B. as n. The word ‘therefore’ as marking a conclusion; an expressed conclusion or inference.
1641‘Smectymnuus’ Vind. Answ. xiii. 144 Let him first answer our Therefores, and wee will quickly answer his Wherefores. 1674Hickman Hist. Quinquart. (ed. 2) 185 The Article having made a (therefore), its strange that any one should draw any other conclusion from it, than what it self hath drawn. 1874Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. in Jubal, etc. 232 A faith Defying sense and all its ruthless train Of arrogant ‘therefores’. |