| 释义 |
mediæval, medieval, a. and n.|mɛdɪˈiːvəl, miːdɪˈiːvəl|
[f. L. medius middle + ævum age + -al1.]
A. adj. Of, pertaining to or characteristic of the Middle Ages. Of Art, Religion, etc.: Resembling or imitative of that of the Middle Ages.
1827Gentl. Mag. XCVII. ii. 490 The sculptured representations of the latter part of the mediæval æra. 1876Stubbs Early Plantag. 6 Weapons drawn from the store⁓house of medieval English history. 1879Sir. G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. i. 7 Mediæval architecture..being the last link of the mighty chain which had stretched unbroken through nearly 4000 years.
b. mediæval embroidery: a name given to a particular style of modern embroidery, worked with floss and purse silks and gold thread. mediæval guipure: an earlier name for macramé.
1882in Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework.
B. n. One who lived in the Middle Ages.
1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. iv. xiii. §27 III. 193 The elements of their minds by which..they are connected with the mediævals and moderns. 1894Parry Stud. Gt. Composers, Palestrina 3 Though their music was so limited the mediævals contrived to make some fine effects with it.
Add:[A.] c. Showing the severity or illiberality ascribed to a former age; cruel, barbarous. colloq.
[1883Mem. Vol. Rev. A. Maclean 231 A curious mixture of mediæval rigidity and modern spasmodism.] 1917Church Times 26 Oct. 335/4 When military officers inflict upon him cruelties almost mediæval, our sympathy goes with him. 1954T. Lehrer I wanna go back to Dixie (song) in Tom Lehrer Song Bk. 19 The land of the boll weevil, Where the laws are medieval, Is callin' me to come And never more roam. 1963M. McCarthy Group xiv. 330 It was medieval of Macy's to fire her because she'd had a breakdown. 1979P. Theroux Old Patagonian Express (1980) vi. 122 The medieval sight of small children binding up bouquets of flowers with bleeding fingers and being shouted at by cruel old men. 1982A. N. Wilson Wise Virgin (1984) viii. 162 They're trying to give Piers the sack... For driving a motor-car, for God'sake. I mean, it's medieval. 1988Financial Times 8 June i. 44/3 He stressed he was not seeking vengeance or punishment but a deterrent. Hanging was ‘medieval and barbaric’ and there were more humane methods. 1994Q. Tarantino Pulp Fiction 131, I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I'm gonna git Medieval on your ass. |