| 释义 |
oleander|əʊliːˈændə(r)|
[a. med.L. oleander, in F. oléandre (15th c. in Hatz.–Darm.), It. oleandro, Sp. eloendro, Pg. loendro; origin obscure.
Conjectured by Diez to be a further corruption of lorandrum, recorded as a vulgar corruption of rhododendron, -drum, by Isidore Origines xvii. vii. 54 ‘Rhododendron [v.r. rodandrum] quod corrupte lorandrum [v.r. laurandrum] vocatur, quod est foliis lauri similibus, flore ut rosa, arbor venenata’. (Cf. the Fr. name laurier-rose.) Du Cange cites also the form lauridendrum, or lauriendrum; the latter may have given a further Romanic series laure- or loreandro, l'oreandro, l'oleandro (l' being taken as the article, and the final form perh. influenced by olea olive, oleastrum: cf. Alphita ‘Oliandrum i.e. siluestris olea.’)]
a. An evergreen poisonous shrub, Nerium Oleander (family Apocynaceæ), a native of the Levant, with leathery lanceolate leaves, cultivated for its handsome red or white flowers; also called rose-bay. Hence, by extension, any shrub of the genus Nerium, as the sweet oleander, N. odorum, a native of India, with fragrant flowers.
[c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. A.) 192 Do þerto white litarge, elleborum nigrum, alumen vetus, oleandrum ana.] 1548Turner Names of Herbes 56 Nerion otherwyse called Rhododendron, and Rhododaphne..It maye be called in englishe Rose bay tree or rose Laurel. This tree is named of some oleander. 1562― Herbal ii. 65 The floures and the leues of oleander ar poyson. 1671Skinner, Holyander, sic scribit Blake, credo idem quod Oleander. 1785Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvi. (1795) 214 The Oleander is one of the most beautiful plants of this tribe—Contortæ. 1816Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1818) II. xx. 180 The oleander..yields a honey that proves fatal to thousands of imprudent flies. 1852Conybeare & H. St. Paul (1862) I. vi. 158 The oleander, ‘the favourite flower of the Levantine Midsummer’, abounds in the lower water courses. 1880G. W. Cable Grandissimes xxvi. 193 Their long, over-arched avenues of oleander. 1915H. H. Thomas Greenhouse vi. 57 Oleanders require the protection of a cool greenhouse in winter. 1956Railway Mag. Mar. 165/1 A fertile valley, with magnificent oleanders. 1962Coast to Coast 1961–62 13 In the shade of the giant oleander bush sat Brett's half-Persian she-cat, licking and preening herself with a too obvious absorption.
b. attrib. and Comb., as oleander-bud, oleander-tree; oleander-fern, a fern of the genus Oleandra, having fronds resembling the leaves of the oleander; oleander hawk(-moth), a large moth, Daphnis nerii, of the family Sphingidæ whose caterpillars feed on oleander or periwinkle leaves.
1682Wheler Journ. Greece i. 72 Wild-Vines..and Oleander-trees. 1843Humphreys & Westwood Brit. Moths I. 21 The Oleander Hawk-moth..measures about 4½ inches in the expansion of its fore wings, of which the ground colour is an olive-green. 1859W. H. Gregory Egypt II. 217 Water⁓courses, with oleander coverts. 1884Miller Plant-n., Oleandra neriiformis, Oleander-Fern. 1884Rita Vivienne vi. i, The crimson glory of the oleander-buds. 1907R. South Moths Brit. Isles 1st Ser. 45 (heading) The Oleander Hawk-moth. 1955E. B. Ford Moths i. 6 The other form [of green colouring]..is found..in some Sphingidae such as the Oleander Hawk. 1972Shooting Times & Country Mag. 24 June 20/3 When they flew they reminded me of one of the hawk moths, the Oleander perhaps, or the Elephant Hawk moth. |