| 释义 |
Promethean, a. (n.)|prəʊˈmiːθiːən|
Also (erron.) 6–7 -ian, 7 -æan.
[f. Prometheus + -an.]
A. adj.
1. Of, pertaining to, or resembling Prometheus, in his skill, art, or punishment.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 304 Womens eyes..are the Ground, the Bookes, the Achadems, From whence doth spring the true Promethean fire. 1597Drayton Mortimer. F ij b, Like Promethian life-begetting flame. 1635Quarles Embl. iv. xiv, These vultures in my Brest Gripe my Promethian heart both night and day. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. ii. iii. Wks. 1851 III. 161 With a kind of Promethean skill to shape and fashion this outward man into the similitude of a body. 1744Akenside Pleas. Imag. iii. 410 With Promethean art, Into its proper vehicle he breathes The fair conception. 1893Chicago Advance 28 Sept., Forceful utterances, promethean in snatching a flame from the very heavens.
†2. Applied to a kind of match: see B. 2. Obs.
1831[see Lucifer 3]. 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. iii. (1879) 41, I carried with me some promethean matches, which I ignited by biting. 1867Bloxam Chem. 160 The Promethean light was an ornamented scented paper spill, one end of which contained a small glass bulb of sulphuric acid [etc.].
3. Noting a kind of silkworm: see Prometheus 2.
B. n.
1. A person likened to Prometheus.
1857Birch Anc. Pottery (1858) II. 43 By the Athenians, potters were called prometheans [Προµηθέες], from the Titan Prometheus, who made man out of clay.
†2. A contrivance used, before the introduction of phosphorus or lucifer matches, for obtaining a light readily: see quots. Obs.
1842Brande Dict. Sci. etc., Prometheans, a term applied to small glass tubes containing concentrated sulphuric acid, and surrounded with an inflammable mixture, which they ignite on being pressed, and thereby give instantaneous light. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Promethean, a lucifer match. 1889Tidy Story of Tinder Box 28 In the year 1828 ‘Prometheans’ were invented. They consisted of a small quantity of Chlorate of Potash, and Sugar, rolled up tightly in a piece of paper. Inside the paper-roll is placed a small sealed glass-bubble containing Sulphuric Acid. On breaking the bulb the mixture fired igniting the paper-roll. |