释义 |
▪ I. lo, int.1 arch.|ləʊ| Forms: 1 lá, 2–4 la, 3–4 lou, low, 4 lowe, 4–6 loo, 6 loa, 6–7 loe, 3– lo. Also 3–4 (as if imperative pl.) los. See also lew int. [The evidence of rimes in ME. poetry shows that the spelling lo or loo represents two distinct words. (1) ME. lǭ:—OE. lá, an exclamation indicating surprise, grief, or joy, and also used (like O!) with vocatives. (2) ME. lo with close ō, prob. a shortened form of lōke (OE. lóca), imperative of look v.; cf. ME. and mod. dial. ta for take, ma for make, also the mod. dial. loo' thee = ‘look you’. The los of the Cursor M., used in addressing a multitude, seems to be imper. pl. The peculiar early ME. forms lou, low(e may stand for lo we = ‘look we’. The present pronunciation (ləʊ) would normally represent OE. lá, but it may be a mere interpretation of the spelling, as the mod. lo corresponds functionally to the second of the two words, which should normally have become *loo |luː| in mod. Eng.] †a. In early use, an interjection of vague meaning, corresponding approximately to the modern O! or Oh! (obs.). b. Used to direct attention to the presence or approach of something, or to what is about to be said; = Look! See! Behold! Freq. in phr. lo and behold (usu. jocular).
Beowulf 1700 Þæt la mæᵹ secgan, se þe soð and riht fremeð on folce. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. iii. 7 He cwæð to him; La næddrena cyn [etc.]. c1175Lamb. Hom. 89 Lahwet scal þis beon? Ibid., La hu ne beað þa þet here specað galileisce? c1200Ormin 17964 Þiss blisse iss min la fuliwiss. a1225Leg. Kath. 2454 Low, þe ȝete of eche lif abit te al iopenet! a1300Cursor M. 16411 And sua it es, La god it wijt. Ibid. 16367 Pilat said, ‘los, her yur king!’ c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 77 Lo, þe loomb of God: lo him þat takiþ awey the synnes of þis world. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xx. 4 Loo, here þe lettere..in latyn and in ebrew. a1400–50Alexander 399 Lo, maister, slike a myschefe! c1425Crafte of Nombryng (E.E.T.S.) 11 Þou schalle do way þe hier figure & write þere a cifer, as lo an Ensampull. c1450Merlin 77 Open: lo, here the duke. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccliii. (1482) 325 Lo what a mariage was this as to the comparison of that other. 1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 574/1 When they suffer wrong, they cannot forgeue loe, and when men take away their goodes they be angry, so they be lo. 1562A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 53 For lymmer lawdis and litle lassis lo [rimes scho, þrto, do] Will argun bayt wt bischop, preist, and freir. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 42 His dearest loue the faire Fidessa loe Is there possessed of the traytour vile. 1611Bible Haggai i. 9 Ye looked for much, and loe it came to litle. 1630Prynne Anti-Armin. 167 Loe here wee haue expresse mention of seuerall sorts of worlds. 1735Berkeley Free-think. in Math. §34 Lo! This is what you call ‘so great, so unaccountable’. 1758C. Wesley Hymn, Lo! He comes with clouds descending. 1807J. Barlow Columb. iii. 177 The prince drew near; where lo! an altar stood. 1808Lady Lyttelton Let. June in Corr. (1912) i. 20 Hartington..had just told us how hard he had worked all the morning..when, lo and behold! M. Deshayes himself appeared. 1841Lytton Night & Morning II. iii. v. 144 The fair bride was skipping down the middle..when, lo and behold! the whiskered gentleman..advanced..and cried—‘La voilà!’ 1849Dickens Dav. Copp. (1850) xxii. 234 What does he do, but, lo, and behold you, he goes into a perfumer's shop. 1859FitzGerald tr. Omar vii. (1899) 71 The Bird of Time has but a little way To fly—and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing. 1930J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement ii. 60 And then—lo and behold—it was there all the time. 1947T. Williams Streetcar Named Desire x. 151 You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light-bulb with a paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile! ▪ II. lo, 'lo, int.2 Colloq. abbrev. of hallo, halloa, hello, hullo, hulloa ints.
1921J. Dos Passos Three Soldiers i. i. 13 ‘'Lo, buddy,’ came a voice beside him... ‘Goin' to the movies?’ 1922Joyce Ulysses 287 Lo, Joe, says I. How are you blowing? 1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad ii. 16 ‘'Lo,’ said Moisher. ‘'Lo,’ said Harry. 1968R. Clapperton No News on Monday viii. 99 ‘'Lo, son. You the detective?’ he murmured. ▪ III. lo obs. form of low n. and a. |