| 释义 |
▪ I. myrtle, n.|ˈmɜːt(ə)l|
Forms: 5 mirtille, -ylle, 6 mirt-, myrtel(l, -ylle, 6–8 mirtle, 7 mertle, mert-, mirt-, myrtil(l, 6– myrtle.
[a. OF. mirt-, myrtille, fem. (1) myrtle-berry, (2) bilberry, whortleberry, also myrtil, masc. (= It. mirtillo myrtle-berry), ad. popular L. *myrtilla, -us, dim. of L. myrta, myrtus myrt.]
†1. The fruit or berry of the myrtle tree. Obs.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 53 Poudre of mirtillis. 1526Gt. Herbal cclxvii. (1529) P ij b, Mirte is a lytell tre so called, the whiche tre bereth a fruyte that is named Myrtylles. 1578Lyte Dodoens 462 Barley giuen with Mirtels, or wine,..stoppeth the running of the belly. 1657Coles Adam in E. lxxi. 135 Being boyled in red Wine with Pomegranat Rinds, and Myrtills, it stayeth the Lask. 1732T. Lediard Sethos II. x. 426 Boxes of myrtles and oranges.
2. a. A plant of the genus Myrtus (family Myrtaceæ), esp. M. communis, the Common Myrtle, a shrub growing abundantly in Southern Europe, having shiny evergreen leaves and white sweet-scented flowers, and now used chiefly in perfumery.
The myrtle was held sacred to Venus and is used as an emblem of love.
1562Turner Herbal ii. 60 b, Dioscorides maketh ii. sortes of sowen or set myrtel trees... But other writers make yet mo kyndes of Myrtilles. 1590C'tess Pembroke Antonie 68 Since then the Baies so well thy forehead knewe To Venus mirtles yeelded haue their place. 1611Bible Isa. xli. 19, I will plant in the wildernes..the Myrtle, and the Oyle tree. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 14 The palmes of my valour, and mirtles of my incomparable love. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 262 The fringed Bank with Myrtle crownd. 1768Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 255 Myrtles flourish in the open air during the whole year. 1784Cowper Task iii. 570 The spiry myrtle with unwith'ring leaf. 1846Lindley Veget. Kingd. 737 Even the berries of the common Myrtle are esteemed in the Greek Archipelago, especially a sort with white fruit. 1864Tennyson Islet 19 Fairily-delicate palaces shine Mixt with myrtle and clad with vine.
b. With qualifying word, applied to various species of the genus Myrtus, and other myrtaceous genera, and (esp. in Australasia and U.S.) to plants of other families resembling Myrtus.
crape, fringe, Jew's, peach myrtle: see these words. See also Miller Gard. Dict., Morris Austral Eng., and Britton & Brown Amer. Flora.
1578Lyte Dodoens vi. xiii. 674 This herbe is called..in English, Kneeholme,..and Petigree, also we may cal it y⊇ wilde Myrtel. 1597Gerarde Herbal iii. lxvii. 1226 Another kinde of Myrtill, called Myrtus minor, or noble Myrtill. 1601Ground-myrtle [see ground n. 18 c]. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 132 The seede of blacke mirtle. 1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Myrtus, The broad-leaved Roman Myrtle. 1843W. Baxter Brit. Phænog. Bot. VI. 474 Ruscus aculeatus. Prickly Butcher's Broom... Wild Myrtle. Prickly Petigree. 1845–50A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. v. 118 Leiophyllum..buxifolium (sand myrtle). 1852Mundy Antipodes i. ii. 76 The South Sea myrtle, or Leptospermum. 1884Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. (10th Census IX) 41 Ceanothus thyrsifolius... Blue Myrtle.
c. Applied to plants of the genus Myrica: (a) bog myrtle, Dutch myrtle, Sweet Gale, Myrica Gale; (b) candleberry myrtle, wax-myrtle, q.v.
1597Gerarde Herbal iii. lxviii. 1228 Myrtus Brabantica..Gaule, sweete Willow, or Dutch Myrtle tree. Ibid., Gaule or the wilde Myrtle. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 573/2 Broad leaved Dutch myrtle, with spear-shaped, sharp pointed, dark-green leaves. 1826Carrington Dartmoor 176 Holne Chace..in swampy spots abounding with the myrica gale or Devonshire myrtle. 1866Treas. Bot. 770/1 M[yrica] Gale, the Sweet Gale or Bog Myrtle,..the badge of the Campbells.
3. Short for myrtle-green.
1872[see hunter 5 d]. 1884Christian World 17 Jan. 52/1 Very rich Brocaded Plush..in Myrtle. 1897‘Sarah Grand’ Beth Bk. xxxix, Her white silk trimmed with myrtle.
†4. A kind of snuff. Obs.
1715Lond. Gaz. No. 5394/4 Neat Mirtle Barcelona, at 1 s. per Ounce.
5. attrib. and Comb., as myrtle band, myrtle bark, myrtle blossom, myrtle bough, myrtle bower, myrtle branch, myrtle bud, myrtle bush, myrtle crown, myrtle flower, myrtle grove, myrtle leaf, myrtle oil, myrtle shade, myrtle shrub, myrtle spray, myrtle sprig, myrtle twig, myrtle walk, myrtle wand, myrtle wreath; myrtle-leaved, myrtle-like adjs.; myrtle bilberry (see quot.); myrtle bird (U.S.), Dendroica (Silvicola) coronata, which feeds on the berries of the candleberry myrtle; myrtle-bloom, a myrtaceous plant; myrtle candle, a candle of myrtle-wax; myrtle flag, grass, Acorus Calamus; myrtle green, a shade of green like that of myrtle leaves; myrtle-greener, one who is dressed in myrtle green; myrtle-of-the-river, a large evergreen shrub, Calyptranthes zuzygium, of the family Myrtaceæ, native to Jamaica and bearing panicles of white flowers; myrtle sedge = myrtle flag; † myrtle spurge, a species of spurge having leaves like those of the myrtle; † myrtle thrush, ? nonce-transl. of Fr. (see quot.); myrtle warbler = myrtle bird; myrtle wax, wax produced by the candleberry myrtle, Myrica cerifera; myrtle wine, wine made from myrtle-berries.
1667Milton P.L. ix. 431 Them she upstaies Gently with *Mirtle band.
1864Chamb. Encycl. VI. 641/2 *Myrtle bark is used for tanning in many parts of the south of Europe.
1849Rural Cycl. III. 538/1 *Myrtle Bilberry,—botanically Vaccinium Myrtillus.
1808–13A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. (1831) II. 130 Yellow-rump Warbler... As December's snows come on, they retreat to the lower countries of the southern States, where..I found them..among the myrtles, from which circumstance, they were usually called, in that quarter, *myrtle birds. 1857Thoreau Autumn (1894) 137, I see many myrtle birds now about the house.
1846Lindley Veget. Kingd. 718 To *Myrtleblooms and Melastomads they [sc. Myrobalans] are related through Memecylon.
1817Shelley Rev. Islam iii. xxxiv. 6 The *myrtle-blossoms starring the dim grove.
1781Cowper Anti-Thelyphth. 174 His steed..Whose bridle..Hung not far off upon a *myrtle bough.
1784― Task ii. 215 Ausonia's..*myrtle bow'rs.
1611Bible Neh. viii. 15 Pine branches, and *Myrtle branches.
1846Lindley Veget. Kingd. 737 *Myrtle buds and berries.
1555T. Phaer æneid iii. (1558) 49 With roddes vpright & braunches thick a *myrtyl bushe ther grew.
1791Jefferson in Harper's Mag. (1885) Mar. 535/2 *Myrtle candles of last year out.
1813Scott Trierm. i. xvi, One wreath'd them with a *myrtle crown.
1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 344 *Myrtle Flag. Sweet Smelling Flag, or Calamus. Sweet *Myrtle-grass.
1684R. Waller Nat. Exper. 85 *Mirtle Flower water. 1793Coleridge Lines Autumnal Even. 52 Love..in Joy's red nectar dips His myrtle flower.
1858R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma 134 The Major in..a *myrtle-green coat. 1925E., O., & S. Sitwell Poor Young People 2 The colours most in favour are marine Blue Louise, gris bois, grenate, myrtle green.
1858R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma 155 While the *myrtle-greeners and others distribute themselves..here, there, and everywhere.
1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 865 This said, she hasteth to a *myrtle grove.
1601Holland Pliny xxiii. ix, The powder of drie *Myrtle leaves. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xii. 9 The Morne-dew on the Mertle leafe. 1688Holme Armoury iii. xii. 437/1 The Mirtle Leaf Pen-Knife, it is a Pen-Knife with two edges, resembling a Mirtle Leaf, or rather a Javeline head. 1849M. Arnold Mod. Sappho 49 Hast thou with myrtle-leaf crown'd him, O Pleasure?
1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Rhus, The *Myrtle-leav'd Sumach.
1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Thymelæa, Hoary *myrtle-like leaves. 1859W. S. Coleman Woodlands (1866) 141 The yellow-green leaves..give out their myrtle-like odour.
1919Ann. Rep. Board of Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1917 384 The *myrtle-of-the-river..with opposite glossy leaves and clusters of fruit resembling blueberries. 1924J. A. Thomson Science Old & New v. 27 Even the names transport us into a land of pure delight—the paradise tree, the myrtle-of-the-river, the marlberry, and the bois-fidèle.
1601Holland Pliny II. Table, *Mirtle oyle. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Myrtin, Huile myrtin, Mirtle oyle; oyle extracted from Mirtle leaues.
1855Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 324 Sweet Sedge..in some country places it is called *Myrtle Sedge.
1596B. Griffin in Pass. Pilgr. xi, Venus with Adonis sitting by her, Vnder a *Mirtle shade.
1611Cotgr., Meurte sauvage, the wild Mirtle tree, or *Mirtle shrub.
1562Turner Herbal ii. 154, I knowe no English name for it [sc. Myrtites], but it may be called *myrtel spourge. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 154 The Wood-Spurge, the Cipress-Spurge, and the Mirtle-Spurge.
1611Cotgr. s.v. Meurte, Oiseau de meurte, a *Mirtle Thrush.
1601Holland Pliny xv. xxix, Rings made of *Myrtle twigs.
1802Coleridge Picture 27 No *myrtle-walks are these.
1629Milton Hymn Nativ. iii, And waving wide her *mirtle wand.
1892B. Torrey Footpath-Way 95 Not so was it with the *myrtle warblers. 1947Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. LIV. 379 Myrtle Warbler..is often a late migrant, for a warbler. 1963R. D. Symons Many Trails ii. 17 Small birds that at first glance look like myrtle warblers.
1763Ann. Reg. 54 Candles, *myrtle wax, 14 boxes. 1766Stork Acc. E. Florida 48 The myrtle-wax shrub is, without doubt, the most useful of the spontaneous growth of America.
1597Gerarde Herbal iii. lxvii. 1227 Wine is made of Myrtle berries..this is called Vinum Myrteum, or Myrtites, *Myrtle wine. 1864Chamb. Encycl. VI. 641/2 A Myrtle wine, called Myrtidanum, is made in Tuscany.
1784Cowper Task ii. 229 Who sell their laurel for a *myrtle wreath, And love when they should fight.
▪ II. ˈmyrtle, v. Obs. or dial.
In 5 myrtil, 9 mirtle.
[f. *murt (cf. to-murt in E.E. Allit. P. C. 150) + -le 3.]
intr. To fall to pieces, crumble away.
c1400Destr. Troy 4301 All maumentre in myddelerthe myrtlit to peses. Ibid. 4312 Bothe Mawhownus & maumettes myrtild in peces. 1828Craven Gloss., Mirtle, to waste away, crumble. |