| 释义 |
missive, a. and n.|ˈmɪsɪv|
Also 5 myssif, -yfe, 5–6 -yve, 6 missiwe, -yve, -eif.
[ad. F. missive fem. (also n. in Cotgr.), or med.L. missīv-us (Diefenbach), f. miss-, ppl. stem of mittĕre to send: see -ive.
The corresponding words in med.Latin and the Romanic languages are used chiefly in phrases analogous to ‘letter missive’: med.L. litteræ missivæ, F. lettre(s) missive(s), It. littera missiva, Sp. letra, carta misiva, Pg. cartas missivas, also arma missiva (cf. A. 2). Cf. MDu. missijf-brief. OF. has also lettres missibles.]
A. adj.
1. letter missive, missive letter. Usually pl. letters missive or † missives.
†a. gen. A letter or epistle sent from one person to another. Obs.
1519W. Horman Vulg. viii. 80 b, Fyne and thynne papyr, seruynge for myssyue letters. 1530Palsgr. 35 The letters missyves of suche as be secreatores in the sayd countreis. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. Ibid. 898 The second boke shall be of lettres missyves in prose and in ryme. 1637Rutherford Lett. (1664) i. cxiii. 219, I know missive letters goe between the Devil & young blood. 1658Phillips, A letter Missive, a letter which is sent from one friend to another. 1710J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. iii. x. (ed. 23) 281 Though the Number of Letters missive in England were not at all considerable in our Ancestors Days, yet it is now so prodigiously great (since the meanest People have generally learnt to write) that [etc.].
b. A letter or letters sent by a superior authority, esp. the sovereign, to a particular person or body of persons, conveying a command, recommendation, or permission. Now chiefly, in the Church of England, a letter from the sovereign to a dean and chapter nominating the person whom they are to elect bishop. (See congé d'élire.)
1466Anc. Cal. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 323 The saide Maister John..for the Maire, Baylyffes and cominaltie..to make all myssyvve lettres in lattyne to Irishe enemyes..and others..that undrestandith not Englys. 1477MS. Rawl. B. 332 lf. 42 marg., A commission maad in a lettre myssif forto visite the priory of Hertford by my lord Abbot in proper persone. 1477Edw. IV in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 17 Whereas we have other tymes addressed our Lettres missiues vnto Robert Conestable for restitucion of the goods of Thomas Yare. 1487Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 66 A letter missiue Vnder the Kynges signett. 1533–4Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 20 §3 A lycence vnder the greate seale..with a lettre myssyve, conteynyng the name of the persone which they shall electe and chose; By vertue of which licence the seid Deane and Chapitour..shall..electe..the seid person named in the seid letters myssyves. 1555Eden Decades Contents (Arb.) 45 The letters missiue which kynge Edwarde the .vi. sent. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 13 Alexander the Great had by his letters missive given commandement that the Greekes should provide Robes of purple against his returne. 1637–50Row Hist. Kirk (Bannatyne Cl.) 63 His Maiestie sent aught missive letters, dated..To..(such a man) Minister of (such a place). 1679Burnet Hist. Ref. I. iii. 236 The King granted a Congé d'élire to the Prior and Convent, with a Missive Letter, declaring the name of the person whom they should choose. 1768Blackstone Comm. III. 445 If a peer is a defendant, the lord chancellor sends a letter missive to him to request his appearance. 1841Hallam Mid. Ages (ed. 8) I. iv. 397 John I had long before admitted, that what was done by cortes and general assemblies could not be undone by letters missive. 1863Cox Instit. i. vi. 32 The Convention Parliament of 1688, elected by virtue of letters-missive written by the Prince of Orange. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. viii. 189 A good precedent for the congé d'élire and letter missive.
c. Sc. = B. 2.
1568Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. I. 641 All missive lettres, contractis or obligationis for mariage [etc.]. 1693Stair Inst. Law Scot. i. x. §9 Though the buyer by a Missive Letter, wrote, that he thought he would not be able to furnish the Money. Ibid. iv. xlii. §25 Missive-Letters are Probative, except where they relate to more solemn Writs, such as Bonds, Bills, or Accompts. 1773Erskine Inst. Law Scot. iii. ii. §24 Missive letters in re mercatoria are valid, though they be not holograph.
d. U.S. Among Congregationalists, an official letter inviting churches to send delegates to a council.
1798M. Cutler in Life, Jrnls. & Corr. (1888) II. 4 We jointly addressed letters missive to eleven churches, all of whom complied, and the council was formed at my house. 1880H. M. Dexter Congregationalism x. 527 In what manner Councils are regularly called. This has been uniformly done by a form of written request, which has received the technical name of a Letter-Missive.
†2. Sc. missive bill, missive writing = letter missive.
1564Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 283 Heirupoun wer lettres direct and als missyve writtingis to this same effect sent to [etc.]. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 112 This was done all for sending of ane missiwe bill in Ingland. 1579–80Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. III. 256 Missive bill of Houstoun and New Work.
†3. Of a weapon or engine of war: = missile a.
1548Patten Exped. Scot. I ij b, Most of our artillerie & missiue engins. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 879 Not with their missive weapons onely..but with their drawne swords. 1697Dryden æneid xii. 848 The feather'd Arrows fly, And clouds of missive Arms invade the sky. 1704Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 226 Ink is the great missive Weapon in all Battels of the Learned. 1780in Grose, etc. Antiq. Rep. III. 68 Nor among the defensive machines is the missive wheel to be despised... The missive chariot may also be effectually used. a1809J. Palmer Like Master (1811) I. x. 141 He hurl'd the missive weapon which transpierced the heart of his adverse chief.
transf.1667Milton P.L. vi. 519 Thir Engins and thir Balls Of missive ruin. 1695Blackmore Pr. Arth. v. 254 Each on his Foe missive Destruction pours. a1761Cawthorn Poems (1771) 19 Where dreadful flew the missive deaths around.
†4. That is sent; sent on an errand; also, sent as a message. Obs.
1610Willet Hexapla, Daniel 376 Christ is none of the missiue or ministring Angels. 1627–77Feltham Resolves i. xlvii. 75 Scaliger defines Death to be the Cessation of the Souls functions: as if it were rather a restraint, than a missive ill. 1830W. Phillips Mt. Sinai i. 444 The missive words then told he.
B. n.
1. A written message; a letter. Sometimes spec. = ‘missive letter’ (A. 1). Now usually, either denoting an official letter, or used as a somewhat high-flown equivalent of ‘letter’.
In early use largely Sc.
1501Douglas Pal. Hon. ii. v, How Acontius till Cydippe anone Wrait his complaint,..With vther lustie missiues mony one. 1560Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 635 His small missiue belyue he gaif him fro, Vnto thir thre. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. III. 1237/1 A missiue persuasorie sent to the Scots for the marriage of their yoong queene Marie to our yoong king Edward the sixt. 1603Florio Montaigne i. xxxix, To spend their time in wittily devising and closely hudling up of a quaint missive or witty epistle. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. 33 The last act of his short raigne left to memorie was a missiue to his adopted sonne. c1610Sir J. Melville Mem. (1827) 283 To the quhilk convention his Maieste directed missyues to some of the nobilite. 1647(title) A Missive of Consolation: sent from Flanders, to the Catholikes of England. 1791Gibbon Misc. Wks. (1814) I. 342 Had I delayed..another post, your missive of the 13th..would have arrived in time. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) I. ix. 395 The marquis..had despatched missives, requesting the support of the principal lords..of Andalusia. 1879Farrar St. Paul (1883) 247 The circular missive from James and the Church at Jerusalem. 1885Dobson At Sign of Lyre 188 Mysterious missives, sealed with red.
2. Scots Law. A document in the form of a letter interchanged by the parties to a contract. Also missive of lease (or tack), m. of sale.
1561Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 181 The charter party, and the missive, billis, and cocquet of the said schip. 1572Ibid. II. 139 The writting of missives and other writtis. 1773Erskine Inst. Law Scot. iii. ii. §2 Where an agreement concerning heritage is executed in the form of mutual missives. 1816Scott Bl. Dwarf x, There really should be some black and white on this transaction. Sae just make me a minute, or missive,..and I'se write it fair ower, and subscribe it before famous witnesses. 1822H. Ainslie Land of Burns 94 As gif the Almighty was bun by missives o' tack, to gi'e them seed time an' harvest. 1832Act 2 & 3 Will. IV, c. 65 §9 Provided each Tenant..shall..have held such..Tenements under a Lease or Leases, Missive of Lease, or other written title. 1838W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v., It would appear that missives of lease, like missives of sale, require to be stamped to found an action.
†3. A messenger. Obs. rare.
1605Shakes. Macb. i. v. 7 Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came Missiues from the King, who all-hail'd me Thane of Cawdor. 1606― Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 74. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, ccclxxvi, Where trusted Ianizaries stand about The Tyrant, Missives to his Crueltye.
†4. Something hurled or thrown; esp. a missile weapon. Obs.
1644Digby Nat. Bodies xii. 100 The stringes [of a racket]..do cause the missiues [sc. tennis balls] to speede so fast towardes their appoynted homes. 1770Sir J. Banks Jrnl. (1896) 244 Defensive weapons they have none, and no missives except stones and darts. 1809W. Irving Knickerb. vi. viii. (1849) 366 The heavens were darkened with a tempest of missives.
¶5. = missile n. 2.
1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. i. Ad. §7. 110 How great things God hath done for us, whether in publick Donatives, or private Missives. |