| 释义 |
Mac1|mæk|
Also Mack.
[Irish and Gaelic mac:—OCeltic *makko-s, cogn. w. Welsh mab:—OWelsh map:—OCeltic *makwo-s.]
The Gaelic word for ‘son’, occurring as a prefix in many Scottish and Irish names of Celtic origin, and thus equivalent to the Eng. suffix -son. Hence: A person whose name contains the prefix Mac; also a familiar form of address used to any stranger.
The prefix is written also Mc, Mc, M῾; e.g. Macdonald, MacDonald, McDonald, McDonald, M῾Donald.
1656in Blount Glossogr. 1689[Farewell] Irish Hudibras 108 The Champions of the Irish Cause, A numerous Train of Mac's and O's. 1730Fielding Tom Thumb i. iii, Ireland her O's, her Mac's let Scotland boast. 1764Wilkes Corr. (1805) III. 126 The list of the company (of the Macs and Sawneys not in the French service) would divert you. 1828Scott F.M. Perth vi, If the son of some great Mac or O was to become an artizan. 1830N. S. Wheaton Jrnl. 472 A feather or two stuck in his bonnet denotes his alliance in the 50th degree with some Highland Mac. 1887[see o n.2]. 1898Tit-Bits 21 May 148/1 In the house of Commons the ‘Macs’ are numerically strong enough to form a considerable party of their own. 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 503/1. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxv. 158 ‘Make on the feet, mack,’ he said. 1963Landfall XVII. 14 You'd only to hear my father..to know where he stood, solid for intolerance, mac, but solid. 1965Sc. Nat. Dict. VI. 169/2 Mac,..in colloq. use applied in Eng. to anyone known or thought to be a Scotsman, in Scot. common as a fam. form of address to any stranger. 1968New Yorker 16 Mar. 42 For the last time, Mac—we don't have any mead. 1973J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 128 The bouncer..tapped him on the shoulder and said: ‘Hey, mac.’ |