| 释义 |
▪ I. lowly, a. Somewhat arch.|ˈləʊlɪ|
Forms: 4 lou(e)lich, louli, 4–7 north. lawly, -lie, (7 laulie), 6 lowely, lowlie, 4– lowly.
[f. low a. + -ly1.]
1. Humble in feeling or demeanour; not proud or ambitious.
c1374Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 142 She to him so louly was and trewe. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 227 For loulich he loketh and loueliche is his speche. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 21034 Yiff thow do to myn Image, Lowly worshepe and homage. a1450in Shillingford Lett. (Camden) 132 Y..byseke yow yn the lowlokyst wyse that [etc.]. c1470Henry Wallace viii. 1664 Wallace on kne, with lawly obeysance. 1535Coverdale Micah vi. 8 To be lowly, and to walke with thy God. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. i. 110 'Twas neuer merry world, Since lowly feigning was call'd complement. 1659Hammond On Ps. cl. 3 Annot. 719 Without the lowlyest posture of the body. 1709Steele Tatler No. 18 ⁋3 The Pope has written to the French King on the Subject of a Peace, and his Majesty has answered in the lowliest Terms. 1781Cowper Truth 93 God accounts him proud; High in demand, though lowly in pretence.
absol.1535Coverdale Prov. iii. 34 He shal geue grace vnto the lowly. 1611Bible ibid.
2. a. Humble in condition or quality. Usually with some notion of sense 1: Modest, unpretending.
1634Milton Comus 323 Courtesie..is sooner found in lowly sheds..then in tapstry Halls. 1784Cowper Task iv. 141 All the comforts that the lowly roof Of undisturbed retirement..knows. 1791J. Learmont Poems 278, I'd sit fu' happy i' my lowly ben. 1802Wordsw. Sonn., ‘Milton! thou should'st be living’, Thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. iv. (1873) 98 The continued existence of lowly organisms offers no difficulty. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. iii. 23, I put up at a very lowly inn. 1871G. V. Smith Bible & Pop. Theol. xi. 116 They remembered the origin of Jesus and saw his lowly condition. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 143 The sons of Harold who were within the walls of Exeter came of a lowlier and doubtful stock.
absol.1725Pope Odyss. viii. 600 Say..what the name you bore..(For from the natal hour distinctive names, One common right, the great and lowly claims). 1852Mrs. Stowe (title), Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly.
b. Of plants or animals, comparatively undeveloped.
1876City-Road Mag. Jan. 44/2 There can be very little doubt that lowly forms can exist..at temperatures not much below 150° Fahr. 1886A. Geikie Class-Bk. Geol. xv. 293 The progress of life from its earliest appearance in lowly forms of plant or animal has been continuous. 1912Q. Rev. Apr. 528 The most conspicuous physical features in Europe..had no existence when these lowly organisms lived and died. 1927Peake & Fleure Apes & Men 13 Birds first appear in the Jurassic system, while traces of lowly mammals have been found from the Trias onwards.
3. a. Low in situation or growth; usually with allusion to sense 1. (Cf. humble a.)
1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iv. 21 Thy Sunne sets weeping in the lowly West. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. iv. 2 Lowly Shrubs and Trees that shade the Plain, Delight not all. 1715Pope Iliad ii. 638 Those who dwell..where Boagrius floats the lowly Lands. 1728–46Thomson Spring 449 Where purple violets lurk With all the lowly children of the shade. a1729Congreve Mourn. Muse Alexis Wks. 1730 III. 208 As lofty Pines o'ertop the lowly Reed, So did her graceful Height all Nymphs exceed. 1852Whittier Question of Life 123 In lowliest depths of bosky dells The hermit Contemplation dwells. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxvii. (1856) 225 And the sun, albeit from a lowly altitude, shone out in full brightness.
b. ? nonce-use. ? Lying low.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 47 As lookes the Mother on her lowly Babe, When Death doth close his tender dying Eyes.
¶4. occas. Low in character, mean.
1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 124 This proud letter of the lowly Lady Davers..Lowly, I say, because she could stoop to such vain pride. 1843James Forest Days (1847) 289 His name was never stained with any lowly act.
5. Comb., as lowly-built, lowly-lovely, lowly-minded (hence lowly-mindedness) adjs.
a1822Shelley Tear iv. 3 Over thy *lowly-built sepulchre bending.
1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 168 She—so *lowly-lovely and so loving.
1540Coverdale Fruitf. Less. i. (1593) K 3 b, Christ..teacheth vs to bee *lowly minded and humble.
1859Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. II. lxxxvii. 57 The stamp of *lowly-mindedness.
▪ II. lowly, adv.|ˈləʊlɪ|
Forms: 4 loȝly, louheliche, lowelyche, laweliche, 4–5 louli, -y, 4–6 lowely, 5 loughly, louely, 5–6 lawly, 6 Sc. lau-, lawle, -lie, 6–7 lowlie, 9 Sc. laighly, leuchly, 4– lowly.
[f. low a. + -ly2.]
1. In a lowly manner (= lowlily); humbly, reverently; modestly. In to bow lowly with mixture of sense 2.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 614 Lenge a lyttel with þy lede I loȝly biseche. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2062 Ariadne, But I yow serve as louly In that place. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 141 Lewede eremytes, That loken ful louheliche to lacchen mennes almesse. 14..Why I can't be a Nun 161 in E.E.P. (1862) 142, I, as lowly as I can, Wolle do yow servyse nyȝt and day. 1513Douglas æneis i. ii. 24 To quham as than lawle thus Juno said [etc.]. 1529Frith Antithesis Wks. (1573) 98/1 Christ full lowly and meekely washed his disciples feete. 1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 79 We maist humblie, and laulie prosterne our selfs. 1629Milton Ode Nativity 25 O run, prevent them with thy humble ode, And lay it lowly at his blessed feet. 1667― P.L. v. 144 Lowly they bow'd adorning, and began Thir Orisons. 1802Wordsw. Farewell 28 A gentle Maid, whose heart is lowly bred. 1844Disraeli Coningsby iii. ii, As he bowed lowly before the Duchess.
2. In a low manner or degree.
a. In a low position or posture; along the ground. In examples from 18th c. there is mixture of sense 1.
13..Guy Warw. (A.) 1384 So wele his strok he sett That his heued fram þe bodi flei, He ȝede him laweliche neye. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 24 A pleasant dale that lowly lay Betwixt two hills. 1784Cowper Task iii. 663 Some clothe the soil that feeds them, far diffused And lowly creeping. 1785― Poplar Field 14, I must ere long lie as lowly as they [felled trees]. 1795Burns Song, ‘Their groves o' sweet myrtles’, Where the blue-bell and gowan lurk lowly unseen. 1811A. Scott Poems 144 (Jam.) Auld Reekie stands sweet on the east sloping dale, An' leuchly lurks Leith, where the trading ships sail.
b. In a low voice. Now only poet.
c1440Promp. Parv. 314/2 Lowely, or softe yn voyce, sub⁓misse. 1810Shelley Zastrozzi iv. Pr. Wks. 1888 I. 17 He sometimes spoke lowly to himself. 1839Bailey Festus (1852) 127 A maiden sat in her lonely bower Sadly and lowly singing. 1863Woolner My Beautiful Lady 95 What are thou whispering lowly to thy babe, O wan girl-mother?
†c. In an inferior manner, meanly. Obs.
1601Shakes. All's Well ii. ii. 3, I will show my selfe highly fed, and lowly taught.
d. With a low opinion. rare.
1742Richardson Pamela III. 63 They always think highly of the beloved Object, and lowly of themselves. 1852H. Newland Lect. Tractarianism ii. 68 ‘Why’, said he [South], ‘the High Church are those who think highly of the Church, and lowly of themselves; the Low Church are those who think highly of themselves, and lowly of the Church’.
e. In a low degree. rare.
1870Rolleston Anim. Life 30 The walls of the lung are but very lowly vascular.
3. Comb., as lowly-born, lowly-breathed, lowly-cultivated, lowly-organized.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iii. 19 Tis better to be *lowly borne..Then [etc.]. 1872F. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 234 We may long look in vain for the name of a lowly born man amongst the Roman magistracy.
1827Keble Chr. Y., 1st Sund. after Christm. ii, A sick man's *lowly-breathed sigh.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxi. 212 That apathetic fatalism which belongs to all *lowly-cultivated races.
1859Darwin Orig. Spec. iv. (1873) 99 *Lowly organised forms appear to have been preserved to the present day.
▪ III. † ˈlowly, v. Obs.
Also 6 Sc. lawly.
[f. lowly a.]
trans. To humble; refl. to condescend.
1535Stewart Chron. Scot. (1858) I. 512 Louyng to God Almycht, Hes lawleit him so far to schaw the rycht Of this tirrane quhilk wes oure prince and king. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. III. 1218/2 Were not the charge I present..I should lowlie my person to meet you six English miles. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. xxi. 125 Wee see howe God lowlieth himselfe and stoopeth to our rudenesse. |