| 释义 |
uncouth, a. and n.|ʌnˈkuːθ|
Forms: α. 1 uncuþ, 1–3 uncuð (3 vn-), 2 unkuþ, 3 -kuð, 4 un-, vncuth (-cut), 5 vnchut; 3 vnecouþ, 3–4 onecouþ, 4 vnkouþ; 4–7 vn-, 4– uncouth (5–6 Sc. wn-, 6 on-), 4–6 vnkouth (5 -koud, 6 Sc. wn-, onkouth), 6 Sc. oncoutht, 6–8 uncooth, 7 uncough; 4 oncouþe, 4–5 vn-, unkouþe, 4–6 vn-, uncouthe (4 -kouthe, 5 Sc. wncou(y)the, 6 vncovthe); 3–5 vncowþe, -the (5 -k(u)owthe), 4 vnkowth (6 on-), 5 oncowth, 6 oncowght. β. 2 uncoð-, 3 vncoþ-, vnekoþ-, 4 vnchoþe, 5 -koth, 5–6 -cothe, 6–7 vn-, uncoth. (See also unquod, -quoth, and unco.)
[OE. uncúþ (f. un- un-1 + cúþ couth a.), = MDu. oncont (Du. onkond), OHG. unkund, -chunt (MHG. unkunt), ON. úkunnr (obs. Da. ukund), Goth. unkunþs. In many examples from the 17th and 18th centuries the exact sense is difficult to determine.]
A. adj.
†1. Of facts or matters of knowledge: Unknown; also, not certainly known, uncertain. Obs.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. Pref. ad fin., Uncuð [hit is] hu longe ðær swæ ᵹelærede biscepas sien. c900tr. Baeda's Hist. ii. xiii. (1890) 134 To wiðmetenesse þære tide, þe us uncuð is. 971Blickl. Hom. 51 Us is swiþe uncuþ hwæt ure yrfeweardas..don willon æfter urum life. c1000ælfric On Old Test. (Gr.) 4 God..sealde heora ælcum synderlice spræce, þæt heora ælcum wæs uncuð, hwæt oðer sæde. a1200Vices & Virtues 23 Ic bliðeliche ðine rad wile hlesten,..ȝif ðu me ðin uncuðe name woldest kyðen. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4296 Ful fewe bedys are yn hys mouþe, He vsyþ none; þey are vncouthe. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. lxiii, Quhen all ȝour merci rew vpon ȝour man, Quhois seruice is ȝit vncouth vnto ȝow? 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys Introd. (Roxb.) 4 Wych story is no thyng unkuowthe At mownt Flask. 1533Bellenden Livy i. viii. (S.T.S.) I. 48 This ordour of preisthede was..nocht vncouth to þe pepill of albane. a1577Gascoigne Dan Barth. Wks. (1587) 101 With stopping sobs..he sought To utter that which was to one uncouth. 1616Boys Wks. (1622) 871 Now the whole superficies of the earth as well vncouth as discouered, is but a little point. 1650R. Gell Serm. 8 Aug. 2 A kind of attestation not uncouth among the Poets.
2. With which one is not acquainted or familiar; unfamiliar, unaccustomed, strange:
a. Of ways, paths, etc. (frequently passing into sense 5).
α Beowulf 1410 Ofereode þa æþelinga bearn..enge anpaðas, uncuð ᵹelad. a1000Boeth. Metr. xiii. 58 Merecondel scyfð on ofdæle, uncuðne weᵹ nihtes ᵹeneðeð. 1387–8T. Usk Test. Love ii. xi. (Skeat) l. 45 Folisshe ignoraunce mis⁓ledeth wandring wrecches by uncouth wayes that shulden be forleten. c1450Merlin xx. 314 Ride euer be nyght and by the moste vn-cowth weyes that ye may. 1582Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 67, I wandred through streets and passages vncooth. 1611Florio, Inuio sentiere, an vngone, vntroden or vncouth path or way. 1667Milton P.L. x. 475 But I Toild out my uncouth passage, forc't to ride Th' untractable Abysse. 1691Swift Athenian Soc. Wks. 1755 IV. i. 231 To grope her uncouth way After a mighty light that leads her wand'ring eye. 1704― T. Tub xi, They would make choice of the..most uncouth rounds..that they might be sure to avoid one another.
β1579Fenton Guicciard. xiv. 829 Frauncis Sforce taking a straunge and vncothe waye, was receyued at Sesto by Prospero. 1588Greene Alcida Wks. (Grosart) IX. 55 Wandring awhile by many vncoth paths, at last wee came into a faire place. 1600J. Lane Tom Tel-troth 69 Nature..Is now inforc'd in vncoth walkes to stray.
b. Of lands or places.
αc960Rule St. Benet lxi. 109 Se utancumena munuc, þe of uncuðum eardum cymð. c1175Lamb. Hom. 157 Wume nu..þet ic scal wunien in unkuþe londe. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 53 Hu muȝe we singen godes loft song in uncuðe londe? c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 325 Þus feor in one-couþe londe Mit deol and soruwe ich habbe i-leoued. 13..Guy Warw. (A.) 1192 Time it is þat ich fond To winne priis in vncouþe lond. c1400Destr. Troy 12510 The sea..Depertid the pepull, pyne to be-hold, In costes vnkowthe. a1450Le Morte Arth. 851 She it yaff to the scottisshe knight, For he was of an vnkouth stede. a1470Harding Chron. ccxli. vii, Who hath power to make you resistence In any wise, in any vncouth lande? 1534More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1237/2 Whan they shall..cary vs farre from home into a straunge vncouth lande. 1632Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. xxvi. 97 The silly stranger in an uncouth country must take with a smoky inn. 1671Milton Samson 333 Brethren and men of Dan, for such ye seem, Though in this uncouth place. 1722De Foe Plague (1840) 97 [They] wandered into fields and woods, and into secret uncouth places. 1824Scott Redgauntlet let. xi, Ye see, birkie, it is nae chancy thing to tak a stranger traveller for a guide, when you are in an uncouth land.
β1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6445 Þat he hom to deþe broȝte So ver in vnekoþe lond, þat no mon of hom ne roȝte. c1400Destr. Troy 531 A sure knyghte..ayres into vnkoth lond auntres to seche.
c. Of persons.
For the early legal use see hoghenhine. For the phrase uncouth, unkissed, see unkissed.
c893K. ælfred Oros. vi. xxxi. 286 Þa com him onᵹean an uncuð mon, & ofstong Iulianus. c1000Ags. Gosp. John x. 5 Ne fyliað hiᵹ uncuþum,..forþam þe hiᵹ ne ᵹecneowon uncuþra stefne. c1000ælfric Saints' Lives xxiii. 613 Þæt þær ᵹelæht wære binnan þære byriᵹ an uncuð ᵹeong man. a1175Cott. Hom. 231 Scewie we þes uncoðe mæn ur ȝefo. c1205Lay. 7107 Seoððen her com vncuð folc faren in þessere þeode. a1225Ancr. R. 54 A meiden..eode vt uor to biholden uncuðe wummen. a1300Cursor M. 5495 Þar ras an vncut king þat had to ioseph na knauing. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 141 Vnkouþe knihtes schul come þi kingdam to clayme. c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 501 Unkowth men wele may he shende, That to his felows es so unhende. 1446Lydg. Nightingale Poems ii. 44 From the god of love To me was sent an vnkouth messangier. 1470–85Malory Arthur iii. vi. 105 Vncouth men ye shold debate with al & no broder with broder. 1596Warner Alb. Eng. xi. lxii. (1612) 272 They, seeing vncouth Men and Ships, weare wondringly agaste.
d. Of peoples or nations.
c1000ælfric Deut. xxviii. 36 Drihten sent uncuðe þeode ofer eow, þa þe ᵹe ne cunnon. a1300Cursor M. 1171 In vncuth lede sal end mi wa. Ibid. 4177 Þan sagh þai cumand be þe stret Marchands of an vncuth thede. c1400St. Alexius (Trin.) 258 Tydynges none hy ne broȝte Of his sone, þat him soȝte In vncouþe þede. c1450Lydg. Secrees 219 In Rethoryk he hadde experyence Of euery strange, unkouth nacyoun.
†e. Sc. Pertaining to other nations; foreign. Obs.
1533Bellenden Livy ii. xv. (S.T.S.) I. 187 How beit þe ciete was in quiet þis ȝere but ony vncouth or domestic weris. Ibid. v. xxiv. II. 232 Nocht standing oure neir þe sey to resaif dammaige be perell of oncouth flotis.
3. Of an unknown or unfamiliar character; unusual, uncommon, strange; marvellous. Now rare.
Very common c 1590–1700. In later use passing into 6.
Beowulf 876 Secg..welhwylc ᵹecwæð, þæt he fram Siᵹemunde secgan hyrde ellendædum uncuþes fela. c900tr. Baeda's Hist. ii. xii. (1890) 128 Þa ᵹeseah he..sumne mon wið his gongan..uncuðes ᵹeᵹyrlan. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 194 Ᵹif men þæt heafod berste, oððe uncuð swyle onᵹesitte. a1122O.E. Chron. an. 1106, Hiᵹ ma on þison timon uncuðra steorra ᵹesawon. c1200Ormin 228 Þeȝȝ wisstenn þatt himm wass þatt daȝȝ Summ unncuþ sihhþe shæwedd. a1300Cursor M. 22494 Efter þe tua fules þe þrid, An uncuth dai þan es it kidd. 1340–70Alisaunder 683 Queme yee me might, Of this unkouth case too karp þe soothe. c1384Chaucer H. Fame i. 1279 Ther saugh I Colle tregetour Vpon a table of Sygamour Pley an vncouthe thynge to telle. c1386― Sqr.'s T. 284 Who couþe telle you þe forme of daunces So vncouthe. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 25 The tragides divers and unkouth Of morall Senec. 1430–40― Bochas ix. xxxiii. 34 b, His vncouth story breuely to compyle. 1448–9J. Metham Amoryus & Cl. 1278 The venym owte off hys tayle in-to hys mowth He drawyth anone..; Thow yt gretly be meruulus and oncowth. a1513Fabyan Chron. v. lxxxiii. 61 The Kynge had maryed a woman of vncowght beleue. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xxi. 101 Moued with this uncouthe syght. 1582Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 80, I through pangs vncoth vnhabled,..thus fumbled an aunswer. 1603B. Jonson Sejanus iii. iii, It is no uncouth thing To see fresh buildings from old ruines spring. 1648Hunting of Fox 24 Saint Bridgit her selfe, the mother of so many uncouth Revelations. 1693N. Mather in Owen Holy Spirit Pref., Novel and uncouth Terms foreign to the Things of God. 1710Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. i. §1 We are insensibly drawn into uncouth paradoxes. 1748Hartley Observ. Man i. iii. 350 The Speculations may seem uncouth to those who are not conversant in Mathematical Inquiries. 1801tr. Gabrielli's Myst. Husb. III. 173 When James's uncouth story was absolutely confirmed. 1847G. Harris Ld. Hardwicke II. viii. 237 To gaze on the uncouth, unaccustomed spectacle presented by the Highlanders. 1864Bowen Logic v. 136 It would certainly be accounted a forced and uncouth assertion.
†b. Alien or foreign to something. Obs. rare.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. ii. (1868) 34 Syn þat stedfastnesse is vnkouþ to my maneres. 1697J. Sergeant Solid Philos. 273 Any other and higher Points, especially such as are Uncouth to..Natural Reason.
†c. Unrecognizable. Obs.—1
1390Gower Conf. II. 318 So what with blod and what with teres..He made hire faire face uncouth.
†4. Of a strange and unpleasant or distasteful character. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 242 Þis unkouþe discencioun þat is bitwixe þes popes. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas ii. xxviii. (1554) 64 Atwene them, there was an uncouth strife. 1586Day Eng. Secretorie i. (1625) 46 The sight became so vncouth, as all men shamed, each one feared, and none durst abide it. 1641Brome Joviall Crew i. (1652) B iv, I hop'd thou hadst abjur'd that uncough practice. 1696Whiston The. Earth (1722) 7 An uncouth and incredible system. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 382 The Sight, you may be sure, was something uncouth to our Spaniards. 1785Burke Nabob Arcot Wks. IV. 320 To some the subject is strange and uncouth; to several harsh and distasteful. 1797Godwin Enquirer i. vi. 43 They will not accept an uncouth and disgustful lesson.
†b. Of smells, sounds, etc. Obs.
1600Holland Livy xxi. lv. 425 The Elephants..frighted the horses especially, & not onely with the straunge sight, but also with as uncouth a sent and savor. 1658Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 909 Poysoned Honey..hath a strange and uncouth smell. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 29 Toddy..tasts like Rhenish; at first draught it is uncouth, but every draught tasts better than other. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xv. (1840) 257 A strange noise more uncouth than any they had ever heard.
†c. Unseemly, indecorous. Obs.
1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 40 Samela meruailed at such an vncouth banquet. 1600Fairfax Tasso i. xviii. 4 Nor sweld his brest with vncouth pride therefore, That heau'n on him aboue this charge had laide. 1659Brome Eng. Moor i. iii, Which uncouth Policie to sorrow leads Thousands a thousand wayes.
5. Of places: Not commonly known or frequented; solitary, desolate, wild, rugged, rough.
αa1542Wyatt in Anglia (1897) XX. 432 So close the Cave was and unkouth Yt none but God was record off his payne. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vi. 6 If this vncouth Forrest yeeld any thing sauage, I wil either be food for it, or bring it for foode to thee. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. xviii. (1821) 191 Lurking in desart, uncouth, and unknowen places. 1653H. Cogan Diod. Sic. 256 Wandring alone through desert and uncouth places, he died with sorrow. 1728Morgan Algiers I. iii. 72, I have met with the Ruins of several stately Buildings..in uncooth Mountains. 1748Anson's Voy. i. vii. 73 This uncouth and rugged coast. 1814Scott Wav. lxiii, He soon pursued a very uncouth path. 1830J. G. Strutt Sylva Brit. 119 The Prior of St. Mary's at York was chosen Abbot by the Monks; with whom they withdrew into this uncouth desert.
β1582Stanyhurst æneis iv. (Arb.) 99 When they toe thee mountayns and too layrs vncoth aproched. 1595Locrine iii. vi. 7 Where may I finde some hollow vncoth rocke, Where I may..ban my fill?
b. Of life, surroundings, etc.: Unattractive, unpleasant, uncomfortable. Obs. or arch.
1611Coryat Crudities 409 Duke Iohn..liued a most vncouth and solitary life in the desert forrests. a1627Middleton Witch ii. i, 'Tis so uncouth Living i' th' country, now I'm us'd to th' city. 1670Clarendon Hist. Reb. xii. §130 [He] order'd his other small Troops to contain themselves in those uncouth Quarters, in which they were. 1685in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 404 This place is very uncouth to me now you are gone out of it! 1888Stevenson Black Arrow iii. iv, The pair were left to their uncouth reflections for the night.
†c. Strange; uneasy; at a loss. Obs.—1
1660Pepys Diary 26 May, All the great company being gone, I found myself very uncouth all this day for want thereof.
6. Of an unfamiliar or strange appearance or form; spec., having an odd, uncomely, awkward, or clumsy shape or bearing.
1513Douglas æneid xi. xv. 12 In brovne sangwane weill dycht Abuf hys onkouth armour blomand brycht. 1600Fairfax Tasso ii. 38 In vncouth armes yclad and strange disguise. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage 685 An vncouth Idoll, great and hollow, fastened in the wall with lime. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. ii. ii. §14 The Frost and Wind will draw upon Doors and glass-Windows pretty uncouth streaks like feathers and other fooleries. 1713Pope Windsor For. 403 Then ships of uncouth form shall stem the tide. 1770Cook Voy. round World ii. ix. (1773) III. 453 The dress of a New Zealander is certainly..the most uncouth that can be imagined. 1838Lytton Leila i. v, A profusion of strange and uncouth instruments and machines. 1845Ford Handbk. Spain i. 53 The ponies of Gallicia, although ugly and uncouth, are admirably suited to the wild hilly country. 1879H. Phillips Notes Coins 12 A heavy and uncouth gold British coin of remote antiquity.
b. Of persons: Awkward and uncultured in appearance or manners. Also transf.
1732Sir C. Wogan Let. to Swift 27 Feb., The very name of Irish carries so uncouth an idea along with it. 1740Somerville Hobbinolia i. 165 The jocund Troop..incessant shake Their uncouth brawny Limbs. 1798S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. II. 64, I have never seen this redoubtable, troublesome, uncouth cousin of mine. 1825Macaulay Ess., Milton (1851) I. 24 People saw nothing of the godly but their uncouth visages. 1828Lytton Pelham iii, A raw, uncouth sort of young man, with a green coat and lank hair. 1868Farrar Seekers i. vi. (1875) 75 He dragged out an uncouth panic-stricken mortal.
Comb.1809W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 57 Several uncouth-looking beings seated on rocks. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 292 The shepherds were an uncouth-looking set.
c. Of language, style, etc.
1694Penn Rise & Progr. Quakers v, Though that side of his understanding which lay next to the world, and especially the expression of it, might sound uncouth and unfashionable to nice ears. 1699Garth Dispens. iv. 50 Harsh words, tho' pertinent, uncooth appear. 1717Lady Montagu Let. to Pope 1 Apr., An expression in an ancient author..may be extremely fine with them, when at the same time it looks low or uncouth to us. 1762Falconer Shipwr. i. 82 Tho' terms uncouth shou'd strike th' offended ear, For sake of truth the uncouth measures bear. 1773Mrs. Chapone Improv. Mind (1774) II. 128 Buried in obsolete words and uncouth constructions. a1834Coleridge Shaks. Notes (1875) 145 The scholastic and uncouth words homogeneity, proportionateness. 1870Lowell Among my Bks. 162 Where it does not make Shakespeare write bad sense, uncouth metre, or false grammar.
absol.1737Pope Hor., Ep. ii. ii. 174 Prune the luxuriant, the uncouth refine, But show no mercy to an empty line.
d. Of manners, actions, etc.
1740Johnson Life Drake Wks. IV. 426 Nor were their other customs less wild or uncouth. 1763J. Brown Poetry & Music iii. 27 Their Gestures are uncouth and horrid. 1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville I. 274 It was a day of uncouth gambols, and frolics, and rude feasting. 1860Adler Prov. Poet. ii. 29 The uncouth heroism of the barbarous times. 1868Nettleship Ess. Browning ii. 62 This uncouth mind, so cramped..by the exigencies..of rhythm and rhyme.
†7. Unknowing, ignorant. Also absol. Obs. rare.
c1220Bestiary 112 in O.E. Misc. 4 His muð is ȝet wel unkuð wið pater noster and crede. Ibid. 512 Ðer-fore oðre fisses to him draȝen;..of his swike he arn uncuð. c1340Hampole Prose Tr. 25 For he taght the vn-couthe and vn⁓kunnynge by his prechynge. 1624in Abbotsford Club Misc. 4 margin, The pannell denyet not, but scho said scho was vncouth, and wist not quhat to say.
B.
1. absol. An unknown person; a stranger.
a1225Ancr. R. 348 Ich halsie ou..alse unkuðe & pilegrimes, þet ȝe wiðholden ou from vlesliche lustes. a1300Cursor M. 6835 To pilgrime and to vncuth Þou ber þe wit þi dedis cuth. 1340Ayenb. 37 Þe priue þyeues byeþ þo þet ne steleþ naȝt of oncouþe ac of priues. 14..Sir Beues (C.) 2134 ‘What þow?’ sche seyde, ‘þou onkowth?’
2. n. pl. Things not commonly known; news.
a1529Skelton Col. Clout 1054 The people..wyl talke of such vncouthes. 1684G. Meriton Yorks. Dial. 42 What uncuths hes ta brought Come tell me seaun? c1746J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lanc. Dial. Wks. (1775) 33 I'd ash him..whot Uncoth's he heard sturrink. 1828Craven Gloss.
†3. spec. (See quot.) Obs.—1
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxii. (Arb.) 262 Ye haue another vicious speech which the Greekes call Acyron, we call him the vncouthe, and is when we vse an obscure and darke word. |