释义 |
Peruvian, a. (n.)|pəˈruːvɪən| [f. mod.L. Perūvia, Latinized name of the country + -an.] A. adj. a. Of, pertaining to, or native to Peru, in South America; in the names of natural productions of that country, as Peruvian balsam (= balsam of Peru), Peruvian bat, Peruvian cinnamon, Peruvian cotton, Peruvian emerald, Peruvian heliotrope, Peruvian ipecacuanha, Peruvian mastic tree, Peruvian nutmegs, Peruvian sheep, etc.; Peruvian lily = alstrœmeria. Peruvian province, a zoogeographical subregion or province consisting of the coast of Peru and Chile with the island of Juan Fernandez.
1747tr. Astruc's Fevers 148 The Peruvian balsam is commonly used in fumigations only. 1748Anson's Voy. i. vi. 68 Vicunnas or Peruvian sheep. 1781Pennant Hist. Quad. II. 554 Bat, Peruvian. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 89 The French or Peruvian heliotrope. 1819Pantologia, Peruvian Mastic Tree. 1842Brande Dict. Sci., etc., Peruvian balsam, the produce of the Myroxylon Peruvianum... It is obtained by boiling the twigs in water. 1847Craig, Peruvian mastic-tree, or Mulli, the tree Schinus mulli, a native of Brazil and Peru. 1866Treas. Bot., Daffodil, Peruvian, Ismene Amancaes. 1866Ibid. s.v. Laurelia, The aromatic seeds of the Chilian species, L. sempervirens, are used as a spice in Peru, and are often called Peruvian Nutmegs. 1883W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden 10/1 Alstrœmeria (Peruvian Lily)... One or two kinds..are hardy and charming as any flowers on warm soil. 1890Cent Dict. s.v. Heliotrope, H. Peruvianum, the Peruvian heliotrope, has long been a favorite garden-plant, on account of the fragrance of its flowers. 1931M. E. Stebbing Hardy Flower Gardening v. 100 Alstrœmerias, called ‘Peruvian Lilies’, do curiously well in Scotland, considering they come from such a warm climate. 1970Sunday Tel. 3 May 19/2 Among many plants which can be grown out of doors for cut flowers, excitement has been aroused by the new Peruvian lilies, or alstroemerias, bred in Holland. b. Peruvian bark, the bark of the Cinchona tree: see bark n.1 7, cinchona.
1663Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. ii. iii. 67 That Peruvian Bark, that now begins to be somewhat taken notice of, under the name of The Jesuits Powder. 1870Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 234 Peruvian bark is usually imported in packages, or serons, made of dried cow-hides. c. Peruvian Jew = sense B. 2 below.
1899in C. Pettman Africanderisms (1913) 370 Peddling Peruvian Jews were mulcted in sums from {pstlg}10 downwards..and compelled to contribute to the Pretorian war⁓chest. B. n. 1. a. A native or inhabitant of Peru. b. pl. Peruvian stocks, bonds, etc.
1776Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad Introd. 30 note, He [Pizarro] massacred the Peruvians, he said, because they were barbarians. 1865G. Meredith Rhoda Fleming iii. I. 47, I see bonds in all sorts of colours,..Peruvians—orange, Mexicans—red as the British army. 2. [Prob. f. acronym P.R.U. Polish and Russian Union.] In South Africa, a contemptuous name for a Jew, esp. from Central or Eastern Europe.
1898L. Searelle Tales of Transvaal 4 A ‘Peruvian’ standing by, whose name was Schadrach Levi. 1900Rand Daily Mail (Pettman), Behold one of the most striking types of Johannesburg life—the Peruvian. 1936‘Idler’ Rolling Home 385 He called me one day to a little Jew of the worst type which comes from Eastern Europe—the type of ‘Peruvian’ in South Africa. 1956H. M. Bate S. Afr. without Prejudice iii. 59 Kruger and other equally stubborn of his advisers saw in this a deliberate move by Rhodes to dominate the polls with mine employees and, as they so ungallantly added, ‘Peruvians’ (a term of contempt which is applied to Jews of low class). 1972E. Rosenthal Let. 23 May in Voorloper (1976) 638 According to Max Sonnenburg, the expression originated in the early days of Kimberley, where a body was set up, called ‘The Polish and Russian Union’, the initials of which ‘P.R.U.’, gave rise to the word ‘Peruvian’. |