| 释义 |
ˈtownman
Forms: see town n.
†1. In OE. túnman and ME. A villein; a tenant in villenage. Obs.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 344 Furseus oncneow sona ða sawle; se wæs his tun-man ær on life. c1000Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 333/22 Uillanus, tunman. 11..Voc. ibid. 550/14 Uillanus, tunmon. 14..Metr. Voc. ibid. 630/3 Uillicus, towneman. c1450Godstow Reg. 204, iij. acres liyng in longefurlange vttermost toward the lond of the towne men.
2. A man who lives in a or the town: as contrasted with a countryman, or formerly with a courtier.
1399Langl. Rich. Redeles ii. 41 So trouthe to telle as toune men said, Ffor on þat ȝe merkyd ȝe myssed ten schore. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 523 Thair is mony toun man, to tuggill is tull teuch. 1896N. Munro Lost Pibroch (1902) 37 A townman would think the world slept, so great was the booming quietness. 1896Westm. Gaz. 17 Apr. 1/3 You are calling upon the townman, the doctor, the lawyer, the shop-keeper, and the artizan, who has his own Local Government to pay for, to pay also for the police, the highways, and the sanitation of his country neighbours. |