释义 |
▪ I. holly|ˈhɒlɪ| Forms: 2–5 holi, 3–6 holie, 4 holiȝ, 5 hoolly, 5–6 holy, 6 holee, 7– holly. [Shortened from OE. holeᵹn, holen: see hollin.] 1. A plant of the genus Ilex; orig. and esp. the common European holly, I. Aquifolium, an evergreen shrub or small tree with dark-green tough glossy leaves, having indented edges set with sharp stiff prickles at the points, and bearing clusters of small green flowers succeeded by bright red berries; much used for decorating houses and churches at Christmas. The American holly, I. opaca, is an evergreen tree similar to this, found in the United States from Massachusetts southward.
c1150Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 545/23 Ulcia, holi. a1225Ancr. R. 418 Ne mid holie [MS. T. holin], ne mid breres ne ne biblodȝe hire sulf. 14..Songs & Carols 15th C. (Percy Soc.) 84 Here commys holly, that is so gent. 1470–85Malory Arthur iv. xxvi, He sawe hym sytte vnder a tree of hoolly. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 127 Peecynge of a shafte with brasell and holie, or other heauy woodes. 1562Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 108 Paid for holy and evy..iiij d. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. vii. (1611) 108 There is a kinde of Holly that is void of these prickles..and there⁓fore called free holly. 1805–6Coleridge 3 Graves iv. xxiii, Lone hollies marked the spot. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xxx, With trembling fingers did we weave The holly round the Christmas hearth. 2. Applied, with or without defining word, to other plants (mostly shrubs) resembling the common holly; e.g. (in mod. Dicts.) to the holm-oak, Quercus Ilex; in Australia to species of Hakea and Lomatia. Californian holly, Heteromeles arbutifolia (Cent. Dict.); Cape holly, Crocoxylon excelsum; ground holly, Chimaphila umbellata; mountain holly, Nemopanthes canadensis; New Zealand holly, Olearia ilicifolia (Treas. Bot. and Miller Plant-n.). See also box-holly (box n.1 3 b), knee-holly, sea-holly.
1846J. L. Stokes Disc. Australia II. iv. 132 Holly..Hakea..Sandy Soil,—produces gum. 3. attrib. and Comb. a. Of or belonging to the holly, as holly-bark, holly-berry, holly-bough, holly-bush, holly-leaf, holly-tree, holly-wood; consisting or made of holly, or its wood, as holly-hedge, holly-staff, holly-wand. b. Special Combs.: holly blue, the azure blue butterfly Celastrina argiolus; holly-boy, an effigy of a boy made of holly, which (together with an ivy-girl) figured in certain village sports in East Kent on Shrove Tuesday; holly-fern, Aspidium (or Polystichum) Lonchitis, so named from its stiff prickly fronds; holly-laurel, ‘the islay, Prunus ilicifolia, of California’ (Cent. Dict.); holly-leaved a., having leaves resembling those of the holly; holly-oak, the holm-oak or evergreen oak, Quercus Ilex; holly-rose, † (a) an old name for some species of Cistus; (b) a name for Turnera ulmifolia, a West Indian shrub with yellow flowers; holly-set, a. set with holly; n. a hedge made of holly (cf. quickset).
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Bird-lime, Made from *holly-bark boiled ten or twelve hours.
1818La Belle Assemblée XVII. 85/1 Cambridge hat..edged with *holly-berry red.
1853F. O. Morris Hist. Brit. Butterflies 136 *Holly Blue. Azure Blue... This plain but neat species is to be found..in places where the holly abounds. 1905Daily Chron. 6 Apr. 3/2 The holly-blue often flies on days when there is more hail than sun. 1927[see chalk n. 7 b]. 1952L. H. Newman Transformations of Butterflies & Moths 46 Holly Blue caterpillars vary quite considerably, but the ground colour of the body is always a shade of green. 1970Times 19 Aug. 9/6, I recently chased a Holly Blue around a holly tree for at least an hour before eventually retiring exhausted, with the total day's bag of one small butterfly.
1785Burns Vision i. ix, Green, slender, leaf-clad *holly⁓boughs.
1779Gentl. Mag. XLIX. 137 The girls..were assembled in a crowd and burning an uncouth effigy, which they called an *Holly Boy, and which it seems they had stolen from the boys.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 218 Guard it with a Furse or *Holly branch.
1506in Kerry St. Lawrence, Reading (1883) 52 It. payed for sysis to the *holy bush at Christmas ixd. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 65 To take a Tauerne and get a Hollibush.
1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. VI. 192 Rough Alpine Fern, or *Holly Fern.
1728–46Thomson Spring 635 Some to the *holly-hedge Nestling repair.
1601Holland Pliny I. 470 The *Holly leaues and all the kindes of Holme be set with sharpe prickes.
1777Cook 2nd Voy. iv. iii. (R.) The *holly-leaved barbary.
1597Gerarde Herbal iii. xxx. 1159 Holme Oke, Huluer Oke, or *Holly Oke.
Ibid. iii. iii. 1092 Of *Hollie Roses, or Cistus. 1700tr. Cowley's 6 Bks. Plants iv. 90 Why Holly-Rose, dost thou, of slender frame, And without scent, assume a Rose's Name?
1664Evelyn Sylva xxi. (1812) I. 274 Let every fifth or sixth be a *Holly-set; they will grow up infallibly with your Quick.
1787–9Wordsw. Even. Walk 10 'Mid clustering isles, and *holly-sprinkled steeps.
1538Turner Libellus C j a, Angli an *holy tre, & an Huluar tre nominant. 1864Syme Eng. Bot. (ed. 3) II. 222 There are records of Holly trees of great size growing in some of the counties of England.
1573Tusser Husb. lxxvii. (1878) 169 Let *holliewand threate, Let fisgig be beate.
1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 41/2 The Hone is..*Hollywood converted into stone. 1864Syme Eng. Bot. (ed. 3) II. 222 To the turner Holly wood is very valuable. ▪ II. holly obs. form of wholly. |