| 释义 |
meditation|mɛdɪˈteɪʃən|
[a. F. méditation or ad. L. meditātiōn-em, n. of action f. meditārī to meditate.]
1. The action, or an act, of meditating; continuous thought or musing upon one subject or series of subjects; serious and sustained reflection or mental contemplation.
1390Gower Conf. I. 256 Fro hevene as thogh a vois it were, To soune of such prolacioun That he his meditacioun Therof mai take. a1460Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 242 That the heyere herd with good medytacioun May the pore peple swych wyse avaunce [etc.]. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 233 Meditacyon is a profounde or studyous cogitacyon about ony certeyn thynge. 1588Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. i. 1 Reasoning may be..in solitary meditations and deliberations with a mans selfe. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 164 The imperiall Votresse passed on, In maiden meditation, fancy free. 1633Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 5 Meditation, I saw, was but a reiterated thought, proper to production of good or evill. 1712Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mr. W. Montagu 9–11 Dec., The terrace is..consecrated to meditation..gay or grave. 1820Byron Mar. Fal. ii. i, My lord, pray pardon me For breaking in upon your meditation. 1831Lytton Godolphin vi, After a fortnight's delay and meditation, he wrote. 1848Dickens Dombey i, His meditations on the subject were soon interrupted, by the rustling of garments on the staircase.
†b. Thought or mental contemplation of something. Obs.
1534More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1235/1 The fleshe shrinckynge at the meditacion of payne and deathe. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 81 It is the wisdome of Cats to whet their Claws..in meditation of the next Rat they are to encounter.
2. spec. in religious use: That kind of private devotional exercise which consists in the continuous application of the mind to the contemplation of some religious truth, mystery, or object of reverence, in order that the soul may increase in love of God and holiness of life.
a1340Hampole Psalter Prol., Þare in is discryued..þe meditacioun of contemplatifs. c1491Chast. Goddes Chyld. 7 Thenne cometh so mery meditacyons wyth plente of teres of compascyon. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. x. 46 Of God and goodnes was his meditation. 1641Hinde J. Bruen xlv. 145 His first dayly duty, namely his holy and religious Meditation. 1704M. Henry Commun. Comp. vi. Wks. 1853 I. 330/1 In meditation we converse with ourselves; in prayer we converse with God. 1893Patmore Relig. Poetæ 34 The hour or half-hour of daily ‘meditation’..is now unheard of. 1897Cath. Dict. (ed. 5) 618/1 It was St. Ignatius of Loyola who reduced the rules of meditation to a system.
b. Used for: The theme of one's meditation.
1560Bible (Geneva) Ps. cxix. 97 Oh how loue I thy Law! it is my meditacion continually. Ibid. 99, I haue had more vnderstanding then all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditacion.
3. A discourse, written or spoken, in which a subject (usually religious) is treated in a meditative manner, or which is designed to guide the reader or hearer in meditation.
a1225Ancr. R. 44 Redinge of Englichs, oðer of Freinchs, holi meditaciuns. c1320R. Brunne (title) Here bygynneþ meditacyuns of the soper of oure lorde Ihesu. c1386Chaucer Pars. Prol. 55 But nathelees, this meditacion I putte it ay vnder correccion Of clerkes. 1612A. Stafford (title) Meditations and Revolutions, moral, divine, politicall. 1710Swift (title) A meditation upon a broom-stick. 1746Hervey (title) Meditations among the Tombs.
attrib.1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 95 The essay-writers,..reflection-coiners. meditation-founders, and others of the irregular kind of writers. |