释义 |
Merovingian, a. and n.|mɛrəʊˈvɪndʒɪən| [a. F. Merovingien, f. med. L. Merovingī pl., the designation of Clovis and his descendants, repr. a Germanic word formed with patronymic suffix -ing3 from the name (in L. form Meroveus) of the reputed ancestor of the family.] A. adj. Pertaining to the line of Frankish kings founded by Clovis (Chlodovech, in OHG. Hludwîg), and to the kingdoms reigned over by them in Gaul and Germany from about a.d. 500 to a.d. 751–2, when their rule was succeeded by that of the Carolingian dynasty. In Palæogr., applied to the style of handwriting peculiar to the Merovingian period in the Frankish empire. B. n. A king or other member of this royal line. In Palæogr. = Merovingian script.
1694Hist., Geogr. & Poet. Dict., Meroveans, or Merovingians, a Name given to the Kings of France of the First Race. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxv. III. 400 The Franks..had wisely established the right of hereditary succession in the noble family of the Merovingians. Ibid. xxxviii. III. 592 The wealth of the Merovingian princes consisted in their extensive domain. Ibid. 594 The..silent decay of the Merovingian line. 1867J. B. Davis Thesaur. Craniorum 74 Merovingian Frank. Ibid., Nos. 208 to 210 are from the Merovingian Cemetery at Envermeu, near Dieppe. Ibid. 75 Average Measurements of..Merovingian Skulls. 1892E. M. Thompson Gr. & Lat. Palaeogr. xvi. 226 Merovingian Writing. Ibid. 231 The extravagances of the cursive Merovingian. 1900Earl Rosebery Napoleon xii. 152 The ladies of his party..had to be conveyed in a Merovingian equipage drawn by several yoke of oxen. |