释义 |
nabob|ˈneɪbɒb| Also 7 nawbob, nobob(b, nabab; 8 navob. [= F. and Sp. nabab, Pg. nababo, ad. Urdū nawwāb deputy governor: see nawab and naib.] 1. The title of certain Muslim officials, who acted as deputy governors of provinces or districts in the Mogul Empire; an official thus designated; a governor of a town or district in India. Now Hist.
1612R. Coverte Voy. 36 An Earle is called a Nawbob, and they [sc. noblemen] are the chiefe men that attend on him. 1625Purchas Pilgrims I. iv. 467 The Nabob, with fiftie or sixtie thousand people in his campe. 1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2270/6 They took after that a great Ship belonging to the Nabob of Decca, in the River's mouth. 1764Churchill Candidate Poems II. 22 Nabobs themselves, allur'd by thy renown, Shall pay due homage to the English Crown. 1771Goldsm. Hist. Eng. IV. 375 The nabob whom the English supported, was reinstated in the government. 1817Jas. Mill Brit. India I. iii. iv. 621 note, The term Nabob, as equivalent to Subahdar, is very modern in Hindustan; and is said to have begun with Sujah Dowlah. 1858J. B. Norton Topics 34 The proclamation of Khan Bahadoor Khan.., who set himself up as nabob of that place, was put in evidence. 2. transf. A person of († high rank or) great wealth; spec. one who returned from India with a large fortune acquired there; a very rich and luxurious person. Now arch.
1764H. Walpole Lett. (1857) IV. 222 Mogul Pitt and Nabob Bute. 1773Foote Nabob ii, But, after all, Master Touchit, I am not so over-fond of these nabobs. 1796Stedman Surinam II. 54 The customs and manner of living of these West-India nabobs. 1818Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 35 Lady Cork..took us to dine at Sir George Cockerell's, the richest nabob in London. 1830Macaulay Ess., Southey's Colloq. (1851) I. 103 The glorified spirit of a great statesman and philosopher dawdling, like a bilious old nabob at a watering place. 1869Echo 6 Feb., India may have ceased to grow nabobs as yellow as the gold mohurs they were wont to amass. 3. attrib. and Comb., as nabob fortune, nabob-hunting, nabob-maker, nabob-plunderer; Nabob-land (= India).
1764H. Walpole Lett. (1891) IV. 180 There is the devil to pay in Nabob-land, but I understand Indian histories no better than stocks. 1771Ann. Reg. 91 This project may not be quite so noble as that of Nabob-hunting, but is certainly more commercial. 1775Mortimer Ev. Man own Broker 14 note, As to the nabob plunderers, these build palaces. 1795Burns Heron Election Ball. ii. ii, As to his fine Nabob fortune, We'll e'en let this subject alane. 1862Beveridge Hist. India I. iii. xii. 682 On these presents the nabob-makers of Calcutta were far more intent than on the interests of their employers. †4. U.S. (See quot. 1806.) Obs. rare—1.
1803E. S. Bowne Girl's Life 80 Yrs. Ago (1888) 151 Silk nabobs, plaided, colored and white, are much worn, very short waists, hair very plain. 1806Fessenden Orig. Poems 36 Misses, squires, and gentlefolks, Call for Nabobs, hats, and cloaks. Note. Nabobs were a kind of outside garment formerly worn by the dashing belles of America. Hence naˈbobery, (a) a place frequented by nabobs; (b) the essential qualities of a nabob or nabobs; naˈbobical a., pertaining to a nabob; ˈnaˌbobish a., of the nature of a nabob; ˈnaˌbobishly adv., after the manner of a nabob; ˈnabobism, great wealth and luxury; ˈnabobry, the class of nabobs.
1834New Monthly Mag. XL. 375 Such is the *nabobery into which Harley-street, Wimpole-street, and Gloucester-place, daily empty their precious stores of bilious humanity. 1852W. M. Savage R. Medlicott ii. x, He reminds me of a nabob. Nabobbery itself.
1763H. Walpole Lett. (1891) IV. 154 Not paying Lord Clive the three thousand pounds, which the Ministry had promised him in lieu of his *Nabobical annuity.
1865Fortn. Rev. II. 31 There arose what were known in England as Indian families. These it is true were ridiculed as upstart, *nabobish, and so forth.
1894Forum Aug. 739 He [sc. the Englishman] is *nabobishly extravagant in his expenditures upon horse-racing and hunting.
1884Homil. Monthly Aug. 649 The banquets of *nabobism.
1777M. Morgann Ess. Falstaff 112 At a time when the whole body of the *Nabobry demands and requires defence. |