| 释义 |
mollify, v.|ˈmɒlɪfaɪ|
Also 5–8 molify, 5–6 mol(l)yfy(e, -efy(e.
[ad. F. mollifier, ad. L. mollificāre, f. molli-s soft + -ficāre: see -fy.]
1. trans. To render soft or supple; to make tender; to reduce the hardness of. Also absol. Now rare.
1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 8399 Han a leche..Thy synwes harde to mollefye With oynementys, to make hem plye. Ibid. 10982 Dyamaunt, I trowe, ys noon, Nor noon other maner ston So indurat, to mollefye, As he. 1490Caxton Eneydos xv. 59 The erth..was alle made fatte and molyfyed wyth the blode of the bestes that were there Immolated. 1555Eden Decades 220 These skynnes being made verye harde, they hunge them..in the sea..to mollifie them. 1610Markham Masterp. ii. clxxiii. 493 Manna is of equall temper hote and dry; it openeth, it mollifieth, and incarnateth. 1638Wilkins New World xiv. (1707) 119 Metals are not rarify'd by melting, but mollify'd. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 300 One of the..Plants is that which so mollifies the Bones, that..we cannot stand upon our Legs. 1832W. Irving Tales Alhambra, Moor's Legacy (1875) 161 Pedrillo Pedrugo..put a basin of hot water under his chin, and began to mollify his beard with his fingers.
fig.1624Donne Devotions 306 Thou rainest vpon vs and yet doest not alwayes mollifie all our hardnes.
†b. to mollify the fist (? nonce-use): a jocular substitution for ‘to grease the palm’.
1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 98 Making the Merchant dance attendance till a right understanding be created betwixt the Shawbunder and them, which commonly follows when the Fist is mollified.
†c. to mollify the belly: to relax the bowels. Obs.
1533Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 21 Quynces..taken after meate..mollifieth the bealy. 1631Widdowes Nat. Philos. 45 It mollifieth the belly, and cureth hardnesse of the backe and belly.
†d. intr. To become soft or tender. Obs.
1528Paynel Salerne's Regim. O ij b, Tyll tyme the meate of them mollifie, and waxe tender.
2. trans. To soften in temper or disposition; to allay the anger or indignation of; to render less obdurate; to calm, pacify, or appease. From the 15th to the 17th c. very common in the phrase † to mollify (one's) heart. Obs.
c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2638 Lat vs mollifie Our hertes stoute to his genterie. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 408 b, Ambassadours, whiche might mollifie their myndes and perswade them to peace. 1667Dryden & Dk. Newcastle Sir M. Mar-all iii. (middle), I must mollify him with money. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 213 Even the Presbyterians were much mollified..by his mild and heavenly course of life. 1754Hume Hist. Gt. Brit. I. Chas. I, v. 271 To mollify, by these indulgences, the rage of his most furious persecutors. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xxvii, ‘Oh, as you please’, said the young man, a trifle mollified.
†b. intr. To become softened in temper or disposition; to grow more kindly or genial; to relax one's severity, to become less angry or obdurate, to relent. Obs.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 246 Shall make the most harde herted persone that is, to mollify & melte. c1533Tindale Answ. More Wks. (1573) 330/2 The hart here beginneth to mollifie and waxe soft. a1586Sidney Arcadia iv. (1598) 413 Philinax feeling his hart more & more mollifying vnto her, renewed [etc.]. 1694Dryden Love Triumphant v. i, She has a delicious tongue of her own, and I begin to mollify. 1741H. Walpole Lett. to Mann 23 Nov., He..owned his father had mollified, but hoped she would excuse him. 1823Examiner 268/2 The father mollifies and is reconciled to the marriage.
†3. To enervate, enfeeble. Obs.
1490Caxton Eneydos xii. 42 This man onely hath molyfyed my wyttes, and perturbed the corage of myn opynyon firste. 1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 165 Whose mind is so well ordered..that these wanton dauncings..woulde not corrupt, ouercome, and vtterlye molifie?
†4. To abate the violence or intensity of (passions; also heat, cold, tempests, etc.); to relieve (care). Obs.
c1495Epitaffe, etc. in Skelton's Wks. (1843) II. 390 To mollyfy oure monys. 1542–5Brinklow Lament 10 Their absence shulde not quenche nor mollifye your loue towardes your brethren. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 85 The extreeme heate of the sunne, is somthing mollified with the cold blastes of the winde. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. xii. 186 Refresh you in my bathes, and mollifie your care With comfortable wines and meats. 1653Ld. Vaux tr. Godeau's St. Paul 238 His great courage could not be mollified. a1833R. Watson in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. cxiii. 7 What sources of comfort does it [sc. Christianity] open to mollify the troubles of life!
5. To lessen the harshness or severity of (expressions, laws, etc.); abate the rigour of (demands); also, to represent in favourable terms, to euphemize. Now rare.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. (1812) I. ccccxxiv. 741 The erle of Flaunders..molefyed the mater as moche as he might. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. Argt., He mollifieth the sharpenes vsed in his former epistle. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. viii. §203 They would, by yielding to some things when they refused others, sooner prevail with the Houses to mollify their demands. 1681Dryden Sp. Friar v. ii. 75 Now mince the Sin, And mollifie Damnation with a Phrase. 1785S. Fielding Ophelia xiii, He had not mollified the term of Savage. 1798Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 249 Our alien bill struggles hard for a passage. It has been considerably mollified. 1880Expositor XI. 469 The Apostle..could easily and euphoniously have modified and mollified his expression.
†6. To impart a tender beauty to. Obs. or nonce-use.
c1750Shenstone Ruin'd Abbey 20 The vocal flute..Crowns his delight and mollifies the scene. |