| 释义 |
anodyne, a. and n.|ˈænədaɪn|
Also 6–7 -in, -ine.
[ad. L. anōdyn-us (Celsus, etc.), a. Gr. ἀνώδυν-ος painless, f. ἀν priv. + ὀδύνη pain. Cf. Fr. anodin -e (16th c. in Littré), whence also the obs. Eng. spelling in -in, -ine.]
A. adj.
1. Having the power of assuaging pain.
1543Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. v. xv. 161 Anodyne remedyes, whych do swage payne. 1643Steer Exp. Chyrurg. vi. 26 To ease paine apply this Anodine Medicine about the sore. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 212 Tar and Bees⁓wax makes a Plaister that is discussive and anodine. 1758Johnson Idler No. 40 ⁋6 The anodyne necklace for..toothing infants. 1859G. Wilson E. Forbes iv. 127 The chief..sleep-producing..anodyne virtues of the opium.
2. fig. Soothing to the mind or feelings.
1790Burke Fr. Rev. 105 The anodyne draught of oblivion. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 69 Probably Imposture is of sanative, anodyne nature, and man's Gullibility not his worst blessing.
B. n. (So Gr. ἀνώδυνον, L. anodynum, which were also in early use in Eng.)
1. A medicine or drug which alleviates pain.
1543Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. (1586) 431 Things which are without griefe, are called in Greke, Anodina. Howbeit Vigo useth the word for things that remove paine. 1578Lyte Dodoens vi. xc. 774 Softening playsters, anodines which take away payne and griefe. 1625Hart Anat. Ur. ii. iv. 69 The injection of an anodine, or mitigating glister. 1641French Distill. iii. (1651) 88 This liquor is a famous Anodynum. 1735Pope Moral Ess. ii. 111 The daily Anodyne, and nightly draught. 1856De Quincey Wks. V. Pref. 9 Amongst the most potent of anodynes, we may rank hemlock, henbane, chloroform, and opium.
2. fig. Anything that soothes wounded or excited feelings, or that lessens the sense of a misfortune.
c1550Coverdale Christ's Cross iv. Wks. II. 245 The wicked..run from God to their anodynes, saints, and unlawful means. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler 66 When multitudes sin, multitudes of mercy are the best Anodines. c1670Barrow Serm. (1686) III. xv. 170 An assured Anodynon, and infallible remedy. 1782T. Chalmers Estimate (1812) 272 Of public debts..the true anodyne is a sinking-fund. 1831Brewster Newton (1855) I. xi. 280 Time..the only anodyne of sorrow.
▸ Unlikely to provoke a strong response; innocuous, inoffensive; vapid, bland.
1933Times 1 Mar. 15/2 The vigour of the censorship prevents all but the most anodyne comment. 1975R. Howard tr. E. M. Cioran Short Hist. Decay v. 175 A Kierkegaard, a Nietzsche, had they appeared in the most anodyne age, would have had no less tremulous, no less incendiary an inspiration. 1987P. Conrad Song Love & Death ix. 211 The waltz is an anodyne version of Wagner's musical intoxication. 1991J. Trollope Rector's Wife viii. 107 Celia and Elaine were having a carefully anodyne conversation about the church fête. 2005Independent 30 Mar. (Review section) 14/4 Burlesque sometimes featured in movies, but the censorship that strangled any erotic expression at birth made striptease so anodyne as to be bewildering. |