| 释义 |
oppression|əˈprɛʃən|
Also 4–5 opression.
[a. F. oppression (12th c.), ad. L. oppressiōn-em, n. of action f. opprimĕre to oppress.]
The action of oppressing or condition of being oppressed.
1. The action of pressing or weighing down; pressure, weight, burden. (Chiefly poet.)
1490Caxton Eneydos xxvii. 96 The tourment & flagitacyon wherof the see was bette in righte grete violence, by opressions of the shippes, that opressid her in their saillyng. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iv. 31 Yond dangling Apricocks, Which like vnruly Children, make their Syre Stoupe with oppression of their prodigall weight. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 288 There gentle sleep..with soft oppression seis'd My droused sense. 1727–46Thomson Summer 360 Infant hands..with the fragrant load O'ercharged, amid the kind oppression roll.
2.
†a. The action of weighing down or bearing heavily on a person, the mind, feelings, etc.; pressure of outward circumstances, or of grief, pain, or trouble; the condition of being pressed hard by misfortune, distress. Obs.
b. The feeling of being oppressed or weighed down; bodily or mental uneasiness or distress.
1382Wyclif Ecclus. xl. 9 Deth, blod, strif, and two bitende swerd, opressiouns [1388 oppressyngis], hungres, and to-treding, and scourges. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 69 Over salt mete doth grete oppressioun To fieble stomakes. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. iv. 13 My hart..taught me craft To counterfeit oppression of such greefe, That word seem'd buried in my sorrowes graue. 1710Steele Tatler No. 168 ⁋6 He..who performs nothing through the Oppression of his Modesty. 1719Young Busiris iv. i, Fainting beneath th' oppression of her grief. 1748Hartley Observ. Man i. ii. 167 Dreams, Agitations, and Oppressions, that Excess in Diet occasions in the Night. 1853Maurice Proph. & Kings iv. 62 With this oppression..came the drying up of all the moisture and freshness of life, the parching heat of fever.
3. Exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, harsh, or wrongful manner; unjust or cruel treatment of subjects, inferiors, etc.; the imposition of unreasonable or unjust burdens.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. ii. 1175 Þe world is..a sted of mykel wrechednes,..Of violence and of oppression. 1386Rolls of Parlt. III. 225/1 Many wronges subtiles, and also open oppressions, ydo to hem. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2541 Ministres to seelde hem wel gouerne: Oppressioun regneth in euery herne. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. ii. 172 You would haue sold your King to slaughter,..His Subiects to oppression, and contempt. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. iv. (1701) 139/2 She was in danger of oppression by the Magistrates. 1729Butler Serm. Self-deceit Wks. 1874 II. 126 There is not a word in our language which expresses more detestable wickedness than oppression. 1796Burke Lett., to Hussey Corr. 1844 IV. 397 You and I hate Jacobinism as we hate the gates of hell. Why? Because it is a system of oppression. 1822Montgomery Hymn, ‘Hail to the Lord's Anointed’ i, He comes to break oppression, To set the captive free. 1858Froude Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 95 The law itself had been made an instrument of oppression.
†4. Forcible violation of a woman, rape. Obs.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1868 Lucrece, Openly [he] let cary her on a bere Thurgh al the tovne, that men may see and here The horryble dede of hir oppressyon. c1386― Wife's T. 33.
†5. The action of forcibly putting down or crushing, repression. Obs.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2591 Hypermn., With Wenus, and other oppressyoun Of houses, Mars hys venym ys adoun. 1545Primer Hen. VIII, Prayers of Passion, That they may..judge..to the oppression of wickedness. 1553Brende Q. Curtius D d viij, The Musicans..rebelled, for the oppression of whom, Python was sent thither.
†6. Astron. Obscuration of the light of a planet or star by proximity to the sun. Obs.
1551Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 196 The darkenynge or hidynge of the starre, whiche chaunce happeneth commonly to any starre being within 15 degrees of the Sonne,..is called of many men Combustion. Other contract the name of combustion to syxe degrees, and call this Oppression.
Hence oˈppressionist, one who practises or approves of oppression.
1828Bentham Wks. (1843) X. 581 The enemies of the people may be divided into two classes. The depredationists, whose love of themselves is stronger than their hatred to others; and the oppressionists, whose hatred to others is stronger than their love of themselves. |