| 释义 |
widowhood|ˈwɪdəʊhʊd|
Forms: see widow n.1 and -hood; also 5 wydewood; 3 (Orm.) widdwesshad.
[OE. widewanhád, f. gen. of widow n.1 or n.2 + -hád -hood.]
1. The state or condition of a widow or widower, or (contextually) the time during which one is a widow or widower; the condition of a wife bereaved of her husband, or of a husband bereaved of his wife.
a. of a woman.
c1000Ags. Hom. (Assmann) 114 Iudith..þurhwunode on hire wudewanhade. c1175Lamb. Hom. 85 Meiden þet hire meiden-hat wit and haldeþ..and widewe of hire widewe-had. c1450Godstow Reg. 320 Anneys, þat was þ⊇ wyfe of henry sclatter of Eynysham, in her pur weduhod & lauful power beynge, gaf, grauntyd, & confirmyd [etc.]. c1450Knt. de la Tour cxix. 163 Them that worshipfully and perfitly kepe thaire wedwhode. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 2139 The quene for her husbande..Remayned in wydohode and mournynge vesture. 1535Coverdale Judith x. 3 She..put of the garmentes of hir wyddowhode. 1653Vaux tr. Godeau's St. Paul 184 He exhorts Widows to continue in their widow-hood. 1753Scots Mag. XV. 54/1 In the 96th year of her age, and 71st of her widowhood. 1827Jarman Powell's Devises II. 283 An annuity during widowhood..is good. 1841James Corse de Leon iv, I little dreamed that my mother, in her widowhood, would willingly wed a stranger. 1846Lytton Lucretia ii. xviii, Lucretia..was in the deep weeds of widowhood. 1882M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal i, Mrs. Tregonell had never been to London since her widowhood.
b. of either sex, or of a man (= widowerhood). Also transf. of an animal, esp. a bird.
c1000Ags. Hom. (Assmann) 20 Wudewanhad is, þæt man wuniᵹe on clænnysse for godes lufon..æfter his ᵹemacan..æᵹðer ᵹe weras ᵹe wif. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 45 Þre hodes of bilefulle men, on is meidhod, þat oðer spushod, þe þridde widewehod. c1200Ormin 4624 Forr maȝȝdennhad & widdwesshad & weddlac birrþ ben clene. 1340Ayenb. 48 Of man oþer of wyfman þet ne habbeþ nenne bend ne of wodewehod ne of spoushod. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋842 Chastitee in mariage and chastitee of widwehode. 1528Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 250 In my wedowhode, afore I maried this gentilwoman. 1539Act 31 Hen. VIII c. 14 §1 Vowes of Chastitye or Wydowhood, by Man or Woman made to God advisedly ought to be observed. a1652Brome Queenes Exch. i. ii, What have I done at home, since my Wife died? No Turtle ever kept a widowhood, More strict then I have done. 1768Boswell Corsica iii. 222 Signor Clemente, being in a state of widowhood. 1866Mrs. H. Wood St. Martin's Eve vii, During Mr. St. John's widowhood.
c. fig.
c897ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxxi. 207, & ðæs bismeres ðines wuduwanhades [Isa. liv. 4 viduitatis] ðu ne ᵹemansð, forðæm ðæt is ðin Waldend ðe ðe ᵹeworhte.
1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. xi, The spouseless Adriatic mourns her lord;..The Bucentaur lies rotting unrestored, Neglected garment of her widowhood! 1821― Sardan. iv. i. 227 Which I have worn in widowhood of heart. 1853Ruskin Stones Ven. II. ii. §2 Mother and daughter, you behold them both in their widowhood,—Torcello, and Venice. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. I. vi. 565 note, The canons of Durham are met to choose a Bishop after the three years' widowhood of the see.
†2. An estate settled on a widow, a widow's right. Obs. rare—1.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 125 And for that dowrie, Ile assure her of Her widdow-hood. |