| 释义 |
altar|ˈɔːltə(r)|
Forms: 1 altar, 1–6 alter, 3–6 auter, 3–7 aulter, 4 altere, awtiere, awteer, 4–5 awtier, 4–6 awter, autere, 5 autir, auuter, awtare, (nawtyr), 5–6 aughter, 6 autre, awlter, alterr(e, -are, aultar, 6–7 altar.
[a. L. altāre, pl. altāri-a, prob. orig. a ‘high place,’ f. alt-us high. With OE. altar, cf. OS., OHG. and ON. altari, alteri, OFris. altare, alter. Side by side with the OE. form, the OFr. auˈter (earlier autier, aultier, altier:—L. altāre) was adopted a 1300, and both forms, with many intermediate ones, continued to 16th c., when the spelling altar, after L., prevailed.]
A.
1. a. A block, pile, table, stand, or other raised structure, with a plane top, on which to place or sacrifice offerings to a deity.
c1000ælfric Matt. v. 23 Læt þær þine lác beforan þam altare [v.r. wefode, Lindisf. G. wiᵹbed, Hatt. weofede]. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 135 Ðe holi man sah þe heȝ engel atte alteres ende. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1325 Ysaac was leid ðat auter on. 1366Mandeville iii. 16 There is an Awtier upon his Toumbe. 1393Gower Conf. III. 250 From under thalter sodeinly An hideous serpent openly Cam out. 1535Coverdale Ex. xxxviii. 1 The altare of burnt offrynges. ― 1 Macc. iv. 49 The aulter of incense. 1611Bible Gen. viii. 20 And Noah builded an Altar vnto the Lord. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 323 So many grateful Altars I would reare Of grassie Terfe. 1772Pennant Tours in Scotl. (1774) 180 An altar for sacrifices to the immortal gods. 1821Byron Cain i. i, I will build no more altars.
b. fig. with reference to the uses, customs, dedication, or peculiar sanctity of the altar.
1401Pol. Poems (1859) II. 42 Datan and Abiron..with newe senceres ensencen the auters of synne. 1580Sidney Arcadia i. 82 Where thoughts be the temple, sight is an aultar. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 116 You vnciuill Ladie To whose ingrate, and vnauspicious Altars My soule the faithfull'st offrings haue breath'd out. 1635Howell Lett. (1650) II. 41 Farewell my dear Tom..Yours to the altar, J.H. 1775Burke Sp. Conc. Amer. Wks. III. 94 The stones which construct the sacred altar of peace. 1857Heavysege Saul (1869) 381 The stars shall sooner fall Each from its sacred altar in the heavens.
2. a. In those Christian Churches which celebrate the eucharist or communion service as a sacrifice, the raised structure consecrated to this celebration.
(High Altar, the chief altar in a cathedral or church.)
c1200Ormin 1061 Att te minnstredure wass An allterr þær wiþþutenn. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 593 He herkneȝ his masse, Offred & honoured at þe heȝe auter. 1366Mandeville x. 112 A gret Awteer of a faire Chirche. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 381, I in the sacrament Of the autére fully beleve. c1440Gesta Rom. 261 The body of Crist liyng vpon the awter. a1500Nominale in Wright Voc. 230/2 Hoc altare, a nawtyr. 1553–87Foxe A. & M. I. 456/2 Priests to offren in the auter thy flesh and thy blood. 1692Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. ii. (1851) 68 He compell'd them to set up Altars, which all Protestants abhor. 1826Scott Woodst. (1832) 175 The high altar had been removed.
b. As applied to the ‘holy table’ of the English Prayer-book, which occupies the place of the altars removed after the Reformation.[In the Prayer Book of 1549 altar occurs side by side with ‘God's board, Lord's table, Holy table,’ the two latter of which at length displaced it in authoritative use (exc. in the Coronation Service). The word was the subject of much controversy in 17th c. In common parlance it is now used to a great extent indifferently with ‘Communion-table’ (Lord's table, Holy table) sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively; but controversially, one or the other is used according to the doctrine of the Eucharist held or sought to be emphasized.] 15491st Prayer Bk. Edw. VI (1852) 298 These wordes before rehersed are to be saied, turning still to the Altar, without any eleuacion or shewing the sacrament to the people. [Also called p. 266 Lord's Table, p. 302 God's Board, and p. 273 Holy Table.] 1625Laud Diary Wks. (1853) III. 181, I returned and offered them [the regalia] solemnly at the altar in the name of the king. a1626Bp. Andrewes Answ. Cdl. Perron 6 The Holy Eucharist being considered as a Sacrifice, the same is fitly called an altar: which again is as fitly called a Table, the Eucharist being considered as a Sacrament. 1635Brereton Trav. (1844) 82 It was not to be accounted an altar but the communion-table. 1637Laud Sp. in Star-Ch. 14 June 54 The placing of the Holy Table Altarwise (since they will needs call it so). a1638Mede Wks. ii. 386 [Marg. title] Of the name Altar anciently given to the Holy Table. 1641F. Greville Episc. 18 Placing the Communion Table Altar-wise, Railing it in, Bowing to it, etc. 1641–74Clarendon Hist. Reb. I. i. (1843) 39/1 [anno 1635] Those Disputes brought in new words, and terms (Altar, Adoration, and Genuflexion, and other expressions). 1660Stillingfleet Irenicum i. ii. (1662) 66 The Altar, as they metaphorically called the Communion-Table. 1742Bailey Dict. s.v., The Christians call the Communion Table their Altar, because they offer up thereon a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, in Memory of the Death and Passion of Jesus Christ. 1791Boswell Johnson (1831) I. 484 We went and looked at the church..and walked up to the altar. 1831Eng. Coron. Service, Then the Archbishop takes the sword from off the altar, and..saith:—Receive this kingly sword brought now from the altar of God. 1883Daily News 27 Mar. 7/2 Disturbing the congregation of St. Paul's Cathedral..[and] breaking certain ornaments on the altar.
c. In phr. ‘to lead a bride to the altar,’ as the place at which the marriage service in a church is concluded; whence ‘hymeneal altar.’
1820Combe (Dr. Syntax) Consolation vi. 236 The indissoluble tie Which hallow'd Altars sanctify. a1842Tennyson Ld. of Burleigh 11 Leads her to the village altar. 1883Daily News 9 Mar. 3/2 Mr. ― is about to lead to the hymeneal altar a charming young lady now resident in Paris.
3. fig. A place consecrated to devotional observances. family altar: the place or scene of family devotions.
1693O. Heywood (title) The Family Altar, erected to the honour of the Eternal God.
4. A metrical address or dedication, fancifully written or printed in the form of an altar. arch.
1680Butler Rem. (1759) II. 120 As for Altars and Pyramids in Poetry, he has outdone all Men. 1682Dryden Mac Fleckn. 206 Some peaceful province in Acrostic land, Where thou may'st wings display, and altars raise.
5. A southern constellation, also called Ara.
1556Recorde Cast. Knowl. 270 Vnder the Scorpions tayle, standeth the Altar. 1868Lockyer Heavens (ed. 3) 334 The Altar and the Southern Triangle..bring us back to Argo.
6. Each of the steps or ledges up the sloping sides of a graving-dock. [Suggested by altar-step: see B. II.]
1840Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 27/2 The object of these altars is for the convenience of placing the shores against the hull of a vessel at any height, and for resting the ends of spars for staging. 1885L. F. Vernon-Harcourt Harbours & Docks I. 457 The sides of a graving dock..are constructed with steps, or altars, for receiving the timber props which support the vessel in an upright position.
B. altar- in comb.
I. General syntactic relations.
1. obj. gen. with n. of agent or action, as altar-adorer, altar-building, altar-worship.
1641in Rushworth Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 553 A notable Arminian and an Altar-adorer. 1705Hickeringill Priest-cr. iv. 231 Cold Formality, and Altar-Worship. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. iii. 256 Were this an altar-building time.
2. instr. & locative with pa. pple., as altar-vowed.
1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) II. 72 Some new breach of an altar-vowed duty.
3. attrib. Of or belonging to an altar or its appurtenances, as altar-cross, altar-pile, altar-place, altar-side, altar-top; altar-cloth, -piece, -stone; and most of those in II.
1816Byron Darkness 58 The dying embers of an altar-place. 1871F. T. Palgrave Lyr. Poems 34 From the altar-top Strewing her golden hair with ashes hoar.
4. attrib. Of or connected with the use of an altar, as altar-boy, altar-god, altar-servant, altar-service, altar-taper; altar-bread, -thane.
1552–5Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 260 Their white idol (I should have said their altar-god). 1610Healey St. Aug., City of God 281 The altar-servant, or sacrificer. 1772Hist. Friar Gerund I. 150 Idiots who are not fit to be made altar-boys. 1860G. M. Hopkins Escorial in Poems (1930) 129 The Altar-tapers flar'd in gusts.
II. Special combinations (with quotations in alphabetical order). altar-bread, the bread used in celebrating the Communion; altar-card, any of a set of three cards placed on the altar (one in the middle, and one at either end), containing certain portions of the Eucharistic prayers to assist the priest's memory; altar-fire, the fire on an altar, fig. religious rite; altar-front, -frontal, -facing, a movable frame, or a hanging of silk, etc., placed in front of an altar, the antependium; altar-plate, the plate used in the communion service; altar-pyx, a pyx or box for holding the consecrated elements; altar-rails, the rails separating the sacrarium from the rest of the chancel; altar-screen, the reredos wall or screen at the back of a (church-) altar; altar-slab, the slab forming the top of an altar; altar-stair, a flight of steps ascending to an altar; altar-stead, the place where an altar stands; altar-step, a step ascending to an altar; altar-table (= altar-slab); † altar-thane, the priest serving an altar, a mass-priest; altar-tomb, a raised monument resembling a solid altar; altar-ways (= altarwise).
1849Rock Ch. Fathers I. ii. 144 *Altar-Bread was unleavened.
Ibid. 149 Irons for baking *Altar-Breads.
1849T. Grant Let. 4 July in ‘G. Ramsay’ Thomas Grant (1874) v. 85 A subscription for publishing on stone a set of illuminated *altar cards. 1884Addis & Arnold Cath. Dict. s.v. Altar, Under the crucifix there ought to be an altar-card, with certain prayers which the priest cannot read from the Missal without inconvenience. 1905Church Times 30 June 842/2 A ‘wooden altar card’ of the 18th century. It is a thick wooden panel, about 2 ft. by 18 in., painted to imitate a book, bearing the words, ‘The Lord Jesus after He was betrayed,’ etc., from the prayer of Consecration in the English liturgy; it stood on the altar of Redbourn Church, Herts, until about 1850.
1850Tennyson In Mem. xli. 3 Mounts the heavenward *altar-fire.
1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. III. xxxvii. 129 To Daniel the words Father, Mother had the *altar-fire in them.
1566in Eng. Ch. Furn. (1866) 56 Item an *altar ffront sold to Sir Richard thoryld.
1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. iii. 80 A beautiful silver *altar-front.
1859Gullick & Timbs Paint. 308 A more important class of panel picture—viz. the *altar-frontals or antependia. These *altar-facings were moveable.
1856Froude Hist. Eng. III. ii. xiii, The desecration of the abbey-chapels and *altar-plate.
a1683Oldham Wks. 1697, 79 (Jod.) Yon *altar-pyx of gold is the abode, And safe repository of their god.
1860W. Clark Vac. Tour 53 An aged priest, standing within the *altar rails.
1866Peacock Eng. Ch. Furn. 21 The *altar-slabs thus used as fire-backs and bridges.
1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iv. 802 The topmost *altar-stair.
1868Morris Earthly Par. I. 94 Hung up as relics nigh the *altar-stead.
1846Keble Lyra Innoc. (1873) 7 With pure heart to fall Before His *Altar-step.
1566in Eng. Ch. Furn. (1866) 42 On *alter table broken by Mr. Vycar.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Altar-thane in our ancient law-books, denotes a priest or parson of a parish.
1739F. Blomefield Hist. Norfolk I. 227 Under this, is an *Altar-Tomb cover'd with a Black Marble. 1769Gray Let. in Wks. (1775) 368 There is an altar-tomb of one of them dated 1577. 1879G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 180 The marble altar-tomb of Queen Eleanor.
1641in Burton Diary (1828) III. 89 Caused the Communion-Table..to be removed, and set *altar-ways. |