| 释义 |
ˈfirst-fruit
Chiefly pl.
[Orig. as two words; used as transl. of L. prīmitiæ.]
1. The fruits first gathered in a season; the earliest products of the soil; esp. with reference to the custom of making offerings of these to God or the gods.
1382Wyclif Num. xviii. 12 What euer thing thei shulen offre of first fruytis to the Lord. 1483Cath. Angl. 132/1 Firste Frute, primicie. 1535Coverdale Lev. ii. 14 Yf thou wilt offre a meatofferynge of the first frutes vnto y⊇ Lorde. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 435 Thither anon A sweatie Reaper from his Tillage brought First Fruits. 1725Pope Odyss. xiv. 497 The first-fruits to the gods he gave. 1870Bryant Iliad I. ix. 292 The first-fruits of his fertile field.
2. transf. and fig. The earliest products, results, or issues of anything; the first products of a man's work or endeavour.
1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lvi. (1611) 309 The first fruites of Christs Spirit. 1653Walton Angler 56 It is a good beginning of your art to offer your first-fruits to the poor. 1677Waller Loss Dk. Camb., As a First-fruit, Heaven claim'd that Lovely Boy; The next shall live, and be the nation's joy. 1718Prior Poems Postscript to Pref., The blooming Hopes..[of] my then very Young Patron have been confirmed by most Noble First-Fruits. 1866J. H. Newman Gerontius iii. 25 That calm and joy uprising in thy soul Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. II. vii. 72 One of the first-fruits of the great national reaction.
3. Eccl. and Feudal Law. A payment, usually representing the amount of the first year's income, formerly paid by each new holder of a feudal or ecclesiastical benefice, or any office of profit, to some superior.
The first-fruits of the English bishoprics and other benefices were paid before the Reformation to the Pope, afterwards to the Crown: see annates.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 66 It is symonye to..ȝeue hym [the Pope]..þe frystefruytes for ȝifte of a chirche. c1394P. Pl. Crede 729 Þey [freres] freten vp þe fu[r]ste-froyt. 1545Brinklow Compl. 2 b, Of first frutes, both of benefices and of lordes landes. 1587Harrison England ii. i. (1877) i. 24 Our first fruits, which is one whole yeares commoditie of our living. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, 16 The King did vse to rayse them [Bishops] by steps; that hee might not loose the profit of the First-fruits. 1710Swift Let. to Harley 7 Dec. Wks. 1841 II. 455 The first-fruits paid by all incumbents upon their promotion amount to {pstlg}450 per annum. 1767Blackstone Comm. II. 67 The king used to take..the first fruits, that is to say, one year's profits of the land.
4. attrib., as first-fruit offering; first-fruits-book, a record of first-fruits.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. i. x. vii. §2 That there were in England foure thousand five hundred Benefices with Cure, not above ten, and most of them under eight pounds in the first fruits-book. 1695Congreve Love for L. Prol. 25 We..bring this day The first fruit offering of a virgin play.
Hence first-fruit v. trans., to offer or pay as first-fruits; first-fruitable a. (nonce-wds.).
1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 465 It was giuen them in charge, to first-fruit their Tenths..of whatsoeuer the ground brought forth. Ibid. 302 Euery herbe was Titheable..and if so, then shew reason why not first-fruitable also. |