| 释义 |
parlous, a. (adv.) arch. and dial.|ˈpɑːləs|
Forms: α. 4–6 perlous, (4–5 -louse, 5 -lewse, 7 -les). β. 4– parlous, (4 -lows, 5–6 -louse, 6–7 -les, 9 dial. -lish). γ. 4–5 perlious, -laous, 5–6 parlious, (6 -yous, -yus).
[A syncopated form of perilous (ME. also perelous, peralous, parelous), found from 14th c. alongside of the fuller forms, but since 17th c. more or less arch. in literary use; common dialectally from Durham to Hampshire.]
1. Perilous, dangerous; hazardous.
αa1400–50Alexander 3949 Out of þis perlaous place he past with his ost. c1440Gesta Rom. xxviii. 108 (Harl. MS.) Then hit shall be to the a perlewse case. 1535Coverdale Micah ii. 3 It will be a perlous tyme. 1596Drayton Legends iii. 165 His course was per'lous to be stayd. 1613Beaum. & Fl. Coxcomb v. i, Upon a Perles ground too.
β1380Lay Folks Catech. 1225 (Lamb. MS.) Sum men þynke þat þis is a ful parlows heresy. 1512Nottingham Rec. III. 340 Thoro the which the hye wey shall be parles both for man and beest. 1589Hay any Work (1844) 11 Cards I tel you though they bee without hornes, yet they are parlous beasts. a1677Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 181 The tongue is a sharp and parlous weapon. 1825Brockett N.C. Gloss., Parlous, perilous, dangerous, wonderful,—also acute, clever, shrewd. An old word.—Parlish, a variation in dialect. 1885L'pool Daily Post 11 Apr. 4/8 Suggestions which in these parlous days ought to receive..practical attention. 1886Chamberlain Sp. Ho. Comm. 26 Aug., Their position is very perilous. They are in a very parlous state. 1892M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-Talk 259 The word parlous..forms one of the very commonest components of our dialectic vocabulary—parlous roads, parlous weather, a parlous tahm, &c.
γc1400Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 24 Many perlious hauens er þerin. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 169 Thou stondyst in a ful perlyous caas. 1512Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 19 Preamble, Whiche..ys..parlyous and terrible example to all Cristen fayth. 1536Boorde Let. in Introd. Knowl. (1870) Forewds. 59 Persons..þat be hys aduersarys, & speketh parlyus wordes.
b. Risky to deal with; ticklish, awkward, precarious.
1658Cokaine Obstinate Lady iii. ii, This London wine is a parlous liquor. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. i. 269 Mother Church; to her we make appeal By the Pope, the Church's head.—A parlous plea, Put in with noticeable effect it seems. 1882H. C. Merivale Faucit of B. II. 106 Snipe—a parlous bird to hit, at the best of times.
2. Dangerously cunning, clever, eager, etc.; keen, shrewd; capable of harming, mischievous; very bad, ‘shocking’; surprising, extraordinary, excessive, ‘terrible’, ‘awful’. (In later use colloq. and dial.)
a1400Pistill Susan 53 Whon þeos parlous [v.r. perlous] prestes perceyued hir play. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. i. 14 Berlaken, a parlous feare. 1594― Rich. III, ii. iv. 35 A parlous Boy: go too, you are too shrew'd. c1620Fletcher & Massinger Trag. Barnavelt ii. ii, He is a Scholler and a parlous Scholler. 1641Milton Animadv. i. 6 Sure some Pedagogue stood at your Elbow, and made it itch with this parlous Criticisme. 1658Cokaine Obstinate Lady v. vi, You have a parlous wit. 1696Phillips (ed. 5), Parlous, a kind of made Word, signifying shrewd, notable. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Parlous, or Perillous Man, a notable shrew'd Fellow. 1730Fielding Coffee Ho. Polit. Ep., Oh! may our youth whose vigour is so parlous, To Italy be wafted with Don Carlos! 1839Bailey Festus xviii. (1848) 176 Oh! you are a parlous little infidel.
B. as adv. Excessively, ‘terribly’, ‘awfully’, ‘desperately’, ‘precious’.
1599Massinger, etc. Old Law iii. ii, I am old, you say, Yes, parlous old, kids, an you mark me well! 1796Hist. Ned Evans I. 135 The night is parlous cold. Ibid. 136 He's a parlous rich man. 1817Keats Lett. Wks. 1889 III. 54 'Twould be a parlous good thing. 1843Lytton Last Bar. i. iv, There's parlous little care from the great. 1870Edgar Runnymede 81 She is parlous handsome, and bewitching to look upon.
Hence ˈparlously adv.; ˈparlousness.
1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 45 How moche more *parlously are they traytours to god. 1535Coverdale 2 Macc. iv. 16 For the which they stroue perlously. 1663Killigrew Parson's Wed. i. ii. in Hazl. Dodsley XIV. 395 Scorning me, who (by this hand) lov'd her parlously. 1713C. Johnson Generous Husb. v. 51 How parlously he talks. Well, he is a sweet Gentleman. 1840Barham Ingol. Leg., Leech of Folkest., Thou art parlously encompassed.
1563Golding Cæsar viii. (1565) 265 Our souldiers..were hindred both with the *perlousenes of thencounter, & wyth the disaduauntage of y⊇ place. 1727Bailey vol. II, Parlousness, uncapableness of being equalled, spoken commonly in an ill Sense. 1755Johnson, Parlousness, quickness; keenness of temper. |