| 释义 |
ˈunderling, n. and a.
Forms: 2– underling (3–7 vnder-, 4 vndir-); 2 undur-, 4–6 vnderlyng (5 vndir-, vndyr-); 4 undur-, 4–6 underlynge; 3–4 onderling, -lyng.
[Early ME., f. under adv. 3 + -ling.]
A. n.
1. One who is subject or subordinate to another; in later use esp. a subordinate agent or official, an understrapper.
c1175Leg. Nathan in E.E. Hom. (1917) 89 Heo..ȝet synden underlinges, for þan þe heo heora hlaford belæwden. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 179 Þe riche þe ben louerdinges struien þe wrecche men, þe ben underlinges. a1225Ancr. R. 198 Þet child þet ne buhð nout his eldre; vnderling, his prelat; paroschian, his preost. c1275Lay. 22472 Alcus hehte þe king: he hadde mani onderlyng. c1315Shoreham Poems iii. 176 Þou ne a-nourest god aryȝt, Ac dest is onderlynges. 1390Gower Conf. III. 128 The sterres..worchen manye sondri thinges To ous, that ben here underlinges. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 2640 My lord,..I am ȝoure knyght and ȝoure vndirlyng. a1470Harding Chron. xxxix. iv, Emman..reigned in all kynde of tiranny, For whiche he was deposed, as an vnderlyng. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. Pref. A iv, What manne..would not rather loke to rule like a lord, then to lyve lyke an underlynge? 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 226 The seruice that an underling..oweth to his Lord..is neither greeuous nor tedious. 1619W. Sclater Exp. 1 Thess. (1630) 259 Compare thy selfe with superiours, rather then with vnderlings in Grace. 1693Apol. Clergy Scot. 102 In the next Paragraph he mentions Mr. Cant, whom he names underling to Mr. Hamilton. 1727De Foe Prot. Monast. 9 To hear the Daughter..take up her Father in his Discourse, as if he had been an Idiot or an Underling. 1796Ld. Sheffield in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1862) III. 357 What chance have we..when the House of Commons is filled with moneyed men, speculators, and underlings in office? 1847Emerson Repr. Men, Napoleon, He undoubtedly felt..an impatience of fools and underlings. 1878Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xviii. 136 The work of an underling who hoped to secure his own promotion.
transf.1614Raleigh Hist. World i. iii. xii. 153 Epaminondas..gaue vnto Thebes, which had euer-more beene an vnderling,..the highest command in Greece.
b. A branch, plant, etc., growing under, or less strongly than, another; a small or weakly plant, animal, or child. Now dial.
1688R. Holme Armoury II. 84/2 The Cyons..are underlings, or small twigs of a years growth. 1787W. H. Marshall Norfolk II. 148 When one of them has got the superiority so far as to overhang the other, it is generally right to take the underling away. 1842C. W. Johnson Farmer's Encycl. 1255 Of the Weeds called Underlings, or such as never rise in the Crop:..These are groundsel [etc.]. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., The least thriving in a litter of pigs, or brood of chickens, is frequently called ‘a poor little underling’. Fruit or vegetables smaller than the rest of the crop are called underlings.
2. In predicative use, passing into adj.: Subject, subordinate (to a person, etc.).
1370Robt. Cisyle 55 He was to alle men undurlynge, So lowe was never ȝyt no kynge! c1440Promp. Parv. 511/1 Vnderlynge, subditus, infimus. c1450Mirk's Festial 187 Þeras he was befor..prowde of hert, aftyr he was lowe and vndyrlyng to al Godys seruantys. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 1 Cor. xi. 3 b, Albeit the husbande be the wiues gouernour, yet is he vnderlyng and subiect to Christe his lorde and maister. 1598Marston Sco. Villanie viii, Can our Soule Be underling to such a vile controule? 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 187 Lilis..would not be vnderling, and Adam would not endure her his equall. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xlvii. 124 A league of cohabitation should be made between the two Swords, though the spirituall were for the present underling.
b. Similarly in attributive use.
1615–6Boys Wks. (1629) 135 The Lord of all submitted himselfe to the gouernment of his supposed father, and vnderling mother. 1657J. Watts Vind. Ch. Eng. 265 We underling Shepheards and Pastours may imitate our Paramount Shepheard and Pastour. 1693Apol. Clergy Scot. 104 The underling Pedlars amongst the Presbyterians may write what they please. 1714Pope Lett. (1735) I. 205 There are indeed, a Sort of underling Auxiliars to the Difficulty of a Work, call'd Commentators and Critics. 1764Foote Patron 1, By..underling bards, that he feeds; and broken book⁓sellers, that he bribes. 1802–12Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) IV. 577 The underling sort of lawyer whom the judge punishes every day without scruple.
B. adj.
1. Undersized, small, weak. (Cf. underline a.)
a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 410 The underling hog put up with the rest, is longest a fatting. 1742Lond. & Country Brewer iii. (ed. 2) 172 Seven Quarters of these underling Kernels. 1788W. H. Marshall Yorks. II. 72 [The flax] remains weak, short, and underling. 1840in Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. (1841) II. i. 120 Many short or underling straws, as they are here [sc. Pusey, Berks.] called.
2. Low-growing.
1830Macgillivray Withering's Brit. Plants II. 548 In gardens and other cultivated lands, it often proves a most troublesome underling weed.
3. Trivial, unimportant.
1804Southey in Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) 481 While they can employ me more to their own advantage in little underling works. |