| 释义 |
harpy|ˈhɑːpɪ|
[ad. L. harpȳ-ia, usually in pl. harpȳiæ = Gr. ἅρπῡιαι ‘snatchers’ (cf. ἁρπάζειν to snatch away, seize), in Homer used to personify whirlwinds or hurricanes, in Hesiod said to be sisters of Aello and Iris, in later mythology represented as hideous winged monsters. Perh. immediately a. F. harpie (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. Gr. and Lat. Mythol. A fabulous monster, rapacious and filthy, having a woman's face and body and a bird's wings and claws, and supposed to act as a minister of divine vengeance.
1540Palsgrave tr. Acolastus N iv b, Such were the harpies, as Virgil discribith them. 1610Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 83 Brauely the figure of this Harpie has thou Perform'd (my Ariell); a grace it had, deuouring. 1671Milton P.R. ii. 462 Both table and provision vanished quite With sound of harpies' wings, and talons heard. 1736Butler Anal. i. iii. Wks. 1874 I. 51 His vices..like so many harpies, craving for their accustomed gratification. 1868Tennyson Lucretius 159 Strangers at my hearth Not welcome, harpies miring every dish. 1873Symonds Grk. Poets viii. 263 The Harpies were wind-tossed films of frothy cloud; the Sirens daughters of foam and mist.
b. A conventional representation or figure of a harpy, as in Heraldry.
1572J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 111 b, An Harpie Vert, Wynged de Or. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xxvi. (1611) 183 The Harpey..should be giuen to such persons as haue committed manslaughter. 1823Crabb Technol. Dict. s.v., The field is, or, a harpy displayed, crined, crowned, and armed, or. 1873Boutell Her. Anc. & Mod. 158 Harpy, a fabulous heraldic creature, represented as a vulture with a woman's head and neck.
2. transf. and fig. A rapacious, plundering, or grasping person; one that preys upon others.
1589Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxviii. (R.), Plucke downe those grating harpies that Seduce our king amis. 1643Myst. Iniq. 45 The insolent carriage of Prince Rupert, and his Harpyes. 1775Johnson Tax. no Tyr. 5 The harpies of taxation. 1859Thackeray Virgin. xviii, Was it my mother-in-law, the grasping, odious, abandoned, brazen harpy? 1884St. James' Gaz. 4 Apr. 4/2 Mr. Commissioner Kerr has begun a crusade against legal ‘harpies’.
3. The harpy-eagle.
1838Penny Cycl. X. 175/2 The harpy is stated to be a solitary bird, frequenting the thickest forests, where it feeds upon the sloths. 1856Knight Cycl. Nat. Hist. II. 698 The Harpies, or Fishing Eagles, with short wings.
4. The moor-buzzard, Circus æruginosus.
1838Penny Cycl. X. 183/1 Circus æruginosus..is the..Moor-Buzzard, Marsh-Harrier, Duck-Hawk, Harpy, and White-headed Harpy. 1862Chambers's Encycl. V. 252.
5. The harpy-bat, q.v.
6. attrib. and Comb., as harpy advocate, harpy breed, harpy fury, harpy grin, harpy lawyer, harpy pettifogger, harpy race, harpy raven; harpy-footed, harpy-like adjs.; harpy-monument, a monument found at Xanthus in Lycia, on which are figures resembling harpies.
1621Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. to Rdr. 32 They..undo one another to enrich an Harpy advocate. Ibid. ii. i. iv. i. 209 That he be not over-careless or covetous, Harpy-like to make a prey of his patient. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 596 Thither by harpy-footed Furies hail'd. 1749Smollett Regicide ii. vii, Why let in A train of harpy sorrows to my breast? 1767Wesley Jrnl. 11 Aug., The harpy-lawyers are..disappointed. 1853–78W. Smith Class. Dict. 298 In the famous Harpy monument recently brought from Lycia to this country, the Harpies are represented in the act of carrying off the daughters of Pandareus. 1866Trollope Claverings xxiv, Woman,—altogether of the harpy breed!
Hence harpyian (erron. harpeian, harpyan) a., belonging to or characteristic of a harpy.
1644Vicars Jehovah-Jireh 46 For fear of their Harpeian paws. c1728E. Prior Lament. in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 676 Those harpyan claws. |