| 释义 |
profanity|prəʊˈfænɪtɪ|
[ad. late L. profānitās (Tertull.): see profane a. and -ity; so OF. prophanite (a single instance of 1492 in Godef.).
App. in no Eng. dictionary before the 19th c.; not in Todd's Johnson 1818; added by Jodrell 1820, citing quot. 1813. In Webster 1828. Smart 1836–49 says ‘Little authorized’; referring to which, Worcester 1846 says ‘It is in common use in America and in Scotland, and it is also used by respectable English authors’. But examples occur both in Eng. and Sc. writers from 1607, though profaneness was the usual word with the former down to 1800.]
The quality or condition of being profane; profaneness; profane conduct or speech; in pl. profane words or acts.
1607J. Carpenter Plaine Mans Plough iii. 24 Iniustice, the generall voyce of all malice,..profanity, impiety, naughtinesse and vice. 1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 13 Comparison..betwixt these ridiculous prophanities, and your so much admired History. 1637–50Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 174 The people perish in ignorance, atheisme, and profanitie. 1699Proper Project for Scot. 28 The avowed and open Profanity..overspreading the whole land. 1763Mrs. Harris in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 101 Lord Temple..could not justify his [Wilkes's] profanity, but thought the seizing of his papers a wrong thing. 1805Spirit Pub. Jrnls. IX. 267 This very seasonable exertion of the law against profanity. 1813Edin. Rev. July 283 There is a tone of blackguardism—(we really can find no other word)—both in his indecency and his profanity. a1849H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) II. 63 The sacrilegious profanity of his adulation. 1853C. M. Yonge Heir of Redclyffe xxxix, He felt it a sort of profanity to disturb her. 1875Gladstone Glean. (1879) VI. xliv. 132 Indecency in public worship is acted profanity and is grossly irreligious in its effects. |