| 释义 |
pantechnicon|pænˈtɛknɪkən|
[f. Gr. παν- all + τεχνικόν, neut. of τεχνικός: see prec.]
A word, invented as the name of a bazaar of all kinds of artistic work, which has (through the fortune of the building) come to be applied to a large warehouse for storing furniture, and also to be colloquially used as short for pantechnicon van, a furniture-removing van.
1830Mech. Mag. XV. 393 Pantechnicon [Heading of Article, describing the building, in Motcomb Street, Belgrave Square, which was originally intended for a bazaar, and was afterwards converted into a warehouse for storing furniture]. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxi, The rich furniture and effects,..rolled away in several enormous vans to the Pantechnicon, where they were to lie until Georgy's majority. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. ii, He would have come home in matting from the Pantechnicon. 1876Jos. Irving Ann. Our Time, Suppl. (ed. 2) 155/2, 1874 [Feb.] 13. —The Pantechnicon, in Motcomb Street,..used as a repository for furniture and all kinds of goods, destroyed by fire, together with its valuable contents. 1891Pall Mall G. 31 Aug. 2/3 The friends..who sent pantechnicons and heavy waggons doubtless meant well.
b. The attempt to reconcile the use with the etymology has given the following:
1842Brande Dict. Sci. etc., Pantechnicon, signifies a place in which..every species of workmanship is collected and exposed for sale. The large building near Belgrave Square is an excellent specimen of this modern invention. 1845Ford Handbk. Spain ii. 731 The rest of the Peninsula considers them [the shops of Madrid] to be the magazine, the Pantechnicon of the universe.
c. attrib., as pantechnicon-driver, pantechnicon-van.
1892Daily Chron. 28 Apr. 9/1 Situation wanted in household removals in pantechnicon vans. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa vii. 142 When you are an unsophisticated cannibal Fan you don't require a pantechnicon van to stow away your one or two mushroom-shaped stools, knives, and cooking-pots, and a calabash or so. 1902Daily Chron. 28 Apr. 11/3 Pantechnicon Driver required; smart. |