| 释义 |
ˈhenwife Chiefly Sc.
1. A woman who has charge of fowls; sometimes applied contemptuously to a man.
a1500Colkelbie Sow 844 He..chairgeit sone his hen-wyfe to do hir cure And mak thame fruct; than to set them [eggs] scho fure. 1500–20Dunbar Poems v. 24 Scho..wes our Ladyis hen wif: And held Sanct Petir at stryfe, Ay quhill scho wes in hevin. 1816Scott Old Mort. ii, A half-witted lad..who had a kind of charge of the poultry under the old henwife. 1831J. Porter Sir E. Seaward's Narr. II. 138 A single ‘henwife’..being found quite enough for the business. 1897Pall Mall Mag. 108, I am the hen-wife here.
†2. Venus' hen-wife, a bawd. Obs.
1513Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 188 With Venus henvifis quhat wyse may I flite? |