| 释义 |
godling|ˈgɒdlɪŋ|
[f. god n. + -ling; cf. goddikin, godkin, godlet.]
1. A little god; an inferior deity, one imagined as possessing little power or of diminutive size. (Chiefly in jocular use; common in the 17th c.)
In the first quot. perh. a misreading for gadling2.
a1500Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) I. 157 Suche doterdes never shall..make my righte title seace! But I shall knightlye kepe it..Againste that yonge godlynge [Harl. MS. 2124, gedling]. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 394 What remaineth..but that altars should be raised..to this our newe found Godlyng? a1638Mede Disc. 2 Peter ii. 1 Wks. (1672) i. 242 Under-gods, or, if you will, Godlings, which the Greeks call Dæmon-gods. 1693Dryden Persius Sat. ii. (1697) 430 Thy puny Godlings of inferiour Race, Whose humble Statues are content with Brass. 1794Wolcot (P. Pindar) Pathetic Odes Wks. 1812 III. 232 Gods of the Earth are Emperors, Popes, and Kings; Godlings, our Dukes and Earls, and such fine folk. 1855Bailey Mystic 39 Isis twin godlings, silence and the light. 1892Edin. Rev. Apr. 471 Gods, godlings and demons.
attrib.1629Drummond of Hawthornden in Sir W. Moore's True Crucifixe, Every painted wall Grac't with some antik face, some Godling make.
2. An image of a ‘godling’.
1762Beattie Pigm. & Cranes 34 He finds the puny mansion fallen to earth, Its godlings mouldering on the abandon'd hearth. 1792Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ep. to Sir W. Hamilton Wks. 1812 III. 189 Send the Gods and Godlings back again. |