| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈfrivol, a. and n. Chiefly Sc. Obs.
Forms: 5 frewall, -ill, 5–6 -ell, -oll, 5–6 frivole, 7 -oll, fryvol(l)e, 6 frevol(l, fruell, 7 frival(l.
[a. F. frivole, ad. L. frīvol-us: see frivolous.]
A. adj.
1. Fickle, unreliable.
c1470Henry Wallace ii. 144 Frewill [v.r. freuoll] fortoun thus broucht him in the snar. Ibid. v. 646 The obserwance Quhilk langis luff, and all his frewill [v.r. freuoll] chance.
2. Frivolous, of little account, paltry, trumpery, flimsy, absurd. (In quot. 1894 merely a nonce-use.)
1492Acta Dom. Conc. (1839) 246/1 Nain vther frewell exceptioune. 1497Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. B iij, Whiche all ben but fryvole excuses. 1501Douglas Pal. Hon. ii. xxiii, My friwoll actioun. 1573Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 883 Thair friuole foches to repeit. 1605Chapman All Fooles Plays 1873 I. 134, I did (to shift him with some contentment) Make such a frivall promise. 1609Skene Reg. Maj., Stat. Robt. II 49 The saidis frivoll and dilatour exceptions being omitted. [1894Sat. Rev. 9 June 615/2 That wearyful transition from the novel simply frivol to the novel frivol-philosophic.]
B. n. A frivolous thing, a trifle.
c1450tr. De Imitatione iii. xxvii. 97 Wiþouten þe all þinges are friuoles. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn xii. 44 Put out of your ymaginacyon suche casuall fryuolles.
▪ II. frivol, n.2 colloq.|ˈfrɪv(ə)l|
[Back-formation from frivolous a.; cf. frivol v.2]
Something frivolous, (an instance of) frivolity; a frivolous or light-hearted event, etc. (esp. a literary or cinematographic production); also, a frivolous person.
1903‘Marjoribanks’ Fluff-Hunters 52 It was only a frivol at first. But a rolling frivol gathers much metaphorical moss en route. 1911E. M. Clowes On Wallaby iii. 55 The visitors were so eager for the frivol that they arrived before schedule time. 1922Joyce Ulysses 436 A little frivol, shall we, if you are so inclined? 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Sept. 546/1 This is quite alien to a composer such as Ives and might lead one, at first, to dismiss Thomson as a rather tiresome frivol. 1971E. Mavor Ladies of Llangollen v. 96 Miss Cornwallis..despises the frivols of society, loves retirement and books. 1983N.Y. Times 9 Oct. vi. 78/2 Pass then to the hoyden shops of the King's Road, where side streets of houses with poets' plaques on them may atone for frivol.
▪ III. † ˈfrivol, v.1 Sc. Obs.—1
[f. prec. adj.]
trans. To declare frivolous; to quash, set aside.
1533Bellenden Livy i. (1822) 45 Gif thir jugis frivole his appellacioun, and convict him.
▪ IV. frivol, v.2 Not in dignified use.|ˈfrɪv(ə)l|
Also frivel, frivvle.
[Back-formation from frivolous.]
intr. To behave frivolously, to trifle. Also, to frivol away (money, time): to spend foolishly.
1866Mrs. Whitney L. Goldthwaite iv. (1873) 56 They will come, and frivel about the gates, without ever once entering in. 1883Black in Illustr. Lond. News 251 If you want to frivvle..I shut my door on you. 1885L. Wingfield Barbara Philpot II. v. 152 Had he not drawn 5,000l. a year..which his Duchess frivolled away?
Hence ˈfrivolling vbl. n. and ppl. a. Also ˈfrivoller, one who ‘frivols’.
1882Tales Mod. Oxf. vii. 183 So between cricket and boating and frivoling at the vicarage, the sunny summer days sped along. 1883Athenæum 31 Mar. 405/3 We fear that very little confidence could be felt in the frivolling princes of Simla. 1889A. Sergeant Esther Denison II. iv. xxxii. 268, I am a born trifler—a flâneur—a ‘frivoller’, as we call it in our modern slang. |