| 释义 |
▪ I. petticoat, n. (a.)|ˈpɛtɪkəʊt|
Forms: α. 5 pety coote, 6 pety cote, 7 petty coat, pettie coat. β. 5 pettecote; 5–7 pety-, 6–7 peti-, pettycote; 6 peteekot; peticoot, petticoit(e; 6–7 petti-, pettycoate; pette-, peticoate; 7 peticoat, pettie-coat, 7–8 pettycoat, petty-coat; 6– petticoat.
[Orig. two words, petty coat, lit. little or small coat (cf. OF. cote, mod.F. cotte petticoat, cotte simple under-petticoat). From an early period written as one word, or less usually hyphened.]
1.
†a. A small coat worn by men beneath the doublet; in quot. 1412–20 app. a short coat worn as armour. Obs.
b. dial. (from 17th c.) A waistcoat.
a.1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxii. (1555), The famous knyghtes arme them in y⊇ place... A payre gussettes on a pety coote. c1440Promp. Parv. 395/1 Petycote, tunicula. c1460J. Russell Bk. Nurture 872 Se that youre souerayne haue clene shurt & breche, A petycote, a dublett, a longe coote. 1474Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 26, j elne of skarlete for a petticote to the King..Ls. 1542Boorde Dyetary viii. (1870) 249 Next your sherte vse to were a petycote of skarlet.
b.1674Ray S. & E.C. Words (1691) 109 A Petticoat, is in some places used for a Mans Wastcoat. 1736J. Lewis Isle Tenet Gloss. (E.D.S.), Petty-coat, a man or boy's waistcoat. [Hence in Pegge Kenticisms.] 1834J. R. Planché Brit. Costume 181. 1887 in Kent. Gloss.
2. gen. A garment worn by women, girls, and young children (perh. orig. a kind of tunic or chemise, but) usually a skirt dependent from the waist. Also used as the equivalent for some similar Greek or Roman female garment.
(Of the following early quots., several prob. belong to the specific senses a and b.)
1464Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 544 Item, for makenge of ij. petycotes for mastres Marget and m. Anne, iiij.d. 1520Sir R. Elyot Will in Elyot's Gov. (1883) I. App. A. 312 Every of their wifes a white petycote. 1530Palsgr. 253/2 Petycote, corset simple, cotte simple, chemise de blanchet. c1532Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 906 The petycote, la cotte simple. 1558Aberdeen Regr. (1844) I. 309 For the wrangous reiffing and away taking fra hir of ane plyd, ane petticoitt [etc.]. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1629) 235 Sixe maides, all in one liuerie of scarlet peticotes, which were tucked vp almost to their knees. 1661Evelyn Tyrannus 10 Those who sacrific'd to Ceres put on the pettycoat with much confidence. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. I. 98 A statue of Minerva, with a petticoat of red porphyry.
spec. a. A skirt as distinguished from a bodice, worn either externally, or beneath the gown or frock as part of the costume, and trimmed or ornamented; an outer, upper, or show petticoat.
1602Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 39 The fringe of your sattin peticote is ript. a1641Suckling Poems (1646) 38 Her feet beneath her Petticoat Like little mice stole in and out. 1662Pepys Diary 18 May, She was in her new suit of black sarcenet and yellow petticoate very pretty. 1711Addison Spect. No. 129 ⁋8 A Lady..entered..in..a hoop'd Petticoat. 1711Steele ibid. No. 145 ⁋7 There is not one of us but has reduced our outward Petticoat to its ancient Sizable Circumference, tho' indeed we retain still a Quilted one underneath. 1712Spect. No. 277 ⁋13 The Puppet was dressed in a Cherry-coloured Gown and Petticoat. 1716Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 14 Sept., Their Whalebone petticoats outdo ours by several yards' circumference. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier ii. 248 One of my Comerades in the Farmer's Wife's Russet Gown and Petticoat, like a Woman. 1796Jane Austen Pride & Prej. viii, I hope you saw her petticoat, six inches deep in mud,..and the gown which had been let down to hide it not doing its office. 1815Zeluca I. 78 Her figure would best be displayed in the vandyke petticoat. 1816J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 109 Their boddices contrasted against their petticoats with the judgement of a painter. 1824Scott Redgauntlet ch. ix, A skirt, or upper petticoat, of camlet. 1881Truth 19 May 686/2 One of her Court dresses has the bodice of sky-blue satin... The petticoat is of net, covered with silver lace.
b. An under-skirt of calico, flannel, or other material.
(In early quotations not easily separable from a.)
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 5 But for these other goods, Vnbinde my hands, Ile pull them off my selfe, Yea all my raiment, to my petticoate. 1625Meade in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 201 She came out of her bedchamber in her petticoat. 1662Pepys Diary 21 May, Saw the finest smocks and linnen petticoats of my Lady Castlemaine's. 1712Addison Spect. No. 295 ⁋10 He would..have presented her..with the Sheering of his Sheep for her Under-Petticoats. 1812Poet. Sk. Scarborough (ed. 2) 138 While Kate was like a crouching goddess, In only petticoat and boddice. 1836–9Dickens Sk. Boz, Mr. Watkins Tottle i, I said, jokingly, that when I went to bed I should wrap my head in Fanny's flannel petticoat. 1844Mrs. Sherwood Hist. J. Marten xv. 205 A good flannel petticoat ought to be little the worse for one year's wear. 1848[cf. crinoline 4].
†c. The skirt of a woman's riding-habit. Obs.
1663Pepys Diary 13 July, The..Queene..in..a white laced waistcoate and a crimson short pettycoate,..mighty pretty; and the King rode hand in hand with her. 1666Ibid. 12 June, The Ladies of Honour dressed in their riding garbs, with coats and doublets.., with perriwigs and with hats; so that, only for a long petticoat dragging under their men's coats, nobody could take them for women. 1711Steele Spect. No. 104 ⁋2. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. ix, A skirt, or upper petticoat, of camlet, like those worn [in 18th c.] by country ladies of moderate rank when on horseback.
d. Applied also to the rudimentary garment worn by women among primitive peoples, e.g. the ‘grass petticoat’ of Papuan women.
1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 156 Over their Lower Parts a Pitticoat or Lungy, their Feet and Legs without Stockins. a1704T. Brown Walk round London (1709) 41 Our good Grandmother Eve might have sav'd her self a great deal of trouble in tacking together Primitive Green Petticoat and Wastcoat. 1712E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 336 The Women have short Petticoats made of Silk Grass.
3. pl. Skirts collectively, upper and under; also, skirts worn by children, including young boys: chiefly in phrase (said of a young boy) in petticoats.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. i. iii. 15 They are but burs,..if we walke not in the trodden paths, our very petty-coates will catch them. 1650Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples i. (1664) 78 He commanded also that all women..shold tuck their petti⁓coats somwhat high. 1727Swift Country Post Wks. 1755 III. i. 176 A mouse..took shelter under Dolly's petticoats. 1818I. Taylor Scenes Europe (1821) §67 A young Dutch [peasant] girl in her holiday suit,..with petticoats only half down the leg. 1833H. Martineau Three Ages iii. 85 The country was chalky, and whitened the hems of her petticoats. 1837Marryat Dog-fiend xiv, The old woman..executed her parental authority as if he were still in petti⁓coats. 1877Mrs. Forrester Mignon I. 253, I have known him ever since he was in petticoats. 1887Daily News 23 Sept. 5/1 Both in batting and bowling, however, petti⁓coats are decidedly hindering, especially in windy weather. 1898Cycling xii. 72 Petticoats, which only hamper the action of the knees, must absolutely be discarded.
4. (chiefly pl.) As the characteristic or typical feminine garment; hence as the symbol of the female sex or character. to wear petticoats or be in petticoats, to be a woman, to behave as befits a woman. a Nero (or other male) in petticoats, a female counterpart to Nero, or other man specified.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. v. 23 That you might still haue worne the Petticoat, And ne're haue stolne the Breech from Lancaster. 1702Addison Medals ii. Misc. Wks. 1726 III. 36 It is a great compliment methinks to the sex,..that your Virtues are generally shown in petticoats. a1715Burnet Own Time i. (1724) 83 A saying that went of her [Lady Falconbridge], that those who wore breeches deserved petti⁓coats better, but if those in petticoats had been in breeches, they would have held faster. 1766Chesterfield Lett. to Godson (1898) 210 Ignorance is only pardonable in petty⁓coats. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xi, Since she wears a petticoat..I will answer for her protection as well as a single man may. 1853Kingsley Misc., Shelley & Byron (1859) I. 321 Beatrice Cenci is really none other than Percy Bysshe Shelley himself in petticoats. 1880Ouida Moths I. 39 She was a sort of Wesley in petticoats.
b. (sing.) The wearer of a petticoat; a female; the female sex.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. iv. 7 But I must comfort the weaker vessell, as doublet and hose ought to show it selfe coragious to petty-coate. a1657R. Loveday Lett. (1663) 118 The Maistre de Hostell still keeps his state with the better sort of petticoats. 1728Young Love Fame v, Vain is the task to petticoats assign'd, If wanton language shews a naked mind. 1776J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 155 Rather than give up this, which would completely subject us to the despotism of the petticoat, I hope [etc.]. 1864G. Meredith Emilia xxv, Must give up business to-day. Can't do business with a petticoat in the room. 1898Daily News 1 Aug. 4/7 There was as much force as brutality in his [Bismarck's] exclamation that the Emperor Frederick's death would put an end to the rule of ‘petticoats in politics’.
5. A wide outer garment, made of oilskins or rough canvas, worn by fishermen in warm weather, and reaching below the knee, often undivided: cf. petticoat trousers in 9. U.S.
1890in Cent. Dict. 1895in Funk's Stand. Dict.
b. Applied humorously or contemptuously to the skirts of a scholar's or clergyman's gown; also descriptively to the kilt of the Highlander or Highland regiments, the fustanella of the Greek, and similar male garments.
c1730Burt Lett. N. Scot. (1754) II. xxii. 189 That they [Highlanders] would not be so free to skip over the Rocks and Bogs with Breeches, as they are in the short Petticoat. 1849F. L. Mortimer Near Home, Turkey 357 It would astonish you to see how fast they [dancing dervishes] turn round in their full white petticoats. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. (1871) II. 34 Artists and actors represented Bruce and Douglas in striped petticoats.
6. transf.
a. A toilet-table cover reaching down to the floor.
b. A sheeting hung round a yacht while being launched, to hide its outlines.
c. A projecting fringe-like part forming the foot of a tankard, etc.
d. Archery. ‘The ground of a target beyond the white’; the spoon.
e. = petticoat insulator: see 9.
1864Webster, Petticoat, the outer space or surface of a target. [Eng.] 1875Encycl. Brit. II. 378/2 Petticoat, or Spoon, the ground of the target beyond the white. 1880Baring-Gould Mehalah xii. (1884) 164 The dressing-table had a pink petticoat with gauze over it. 1899Westm. Gaz. 24 June 7/2 Shamrock is to be launched ‘in petticoats’ on Monday. 1899Daily News 27 June 7/3 A long curtain or ‘petticoat’ hung over the stern of the boat, and, reaching to the ground, effectually prevented any view of the keel and lower part of the yacht. 1903P. Macquoid in Burlington Mag. Apr., In about 1640..the tankard becomes plain and high with a so-called petticoat shooting out at the bottom.
II. attrib. and Comb.
7. simple attrib. Of a petticoat or petticoats.
1587Acc. Bk. in Antiquary XXXII. 118, vj yeardes of petecote lace, xviijd. 1834Tait's Mag. I. 663/1, I would warrant every knave of them to kiss the hem of the petticoat⁓tail of the smallest member of the sacred conclave. 1844Mrs. Sherwood Hist. J. Marten xv. 217 It was flannel petticoat time [i.e. for a clothing club distribution]. a1844Campbell Ep. to Hor. Smith, In his breeches of petticoat size..his garb is a fair compromise 'Twixt a kilt and a pair of small-clothes. 1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 664/2 To give you the horrors with, in petticoat days. 1886Dr. Richardson in Pall Mall G. 27 Sept. 6/2 A petticoated generation could never do the full work of a generation whose limbs were free of petticoat encumbrance.
8. attrib. (often = adj.).
a. In petticoats, wearing petticoats; that is a woman, female; womanish. (Often hyphened.) Now rare.
1625Hart Anat. Ur. ii. vi. 85 The ignorant Empiricke, the peticoate or woman-physitian. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 10 Many a Heccatomb of humble Prayers, does he offer to appease this Petticoat-Deity. 1712Addison Spect. No. 305 ⁋4 A Seminary of Petticoat Politicians, who are to be brought up at the Feet of Madam de Maintenon. 1725Bailey Erasm. Colloq. (1878) I. 186 What does this Petticoat-Preacher [concionatrix] do here? 1797M. Robinson Walsingham II. 213 To ridicule the petticoat pedant. 1813Moore Post-bag (1818) App. iv. 108 A Petticoat Pope in the Ninth Century.
b. Of, belonging, or relating to a woman or women, as the wearers of petticoats; executed, performed, wielded by a woman; female, feminine.
1660Hickeringill Jamaica (1661) 30 The Petticoat Sex. 1690Dryden Amphitryon i. i, Venus may know more than both of us, For 'tis some petticoat affair. 1800Proc. E. Ind. Ho. in Asiat. Ann. Reg. 63/2 He thought this petticoat influence in the India Company, a most curious circumstance! 1806Francis Lett. (1901) II. 638, I will not go to Petticoat Parties. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xi, He will obey you in making a weapon, or in wielding one, but he knows nothing of this petticoat service. 1850Kingsley Alt. Locke xxvii, The coarsest allusions to petticoat influence. 1901Westm. Gaz. 23 May 4/2 Miss Gertrude Elliott has the only petticoat part [in a play].
9. Special combs: petticoat body, a body attached to or worn with a petticoat; petticoat breeches, loose wide breeches with legs resembling skirts, fashionable during the earlier part of the reign of Charles II; petticoat insulator, an inverted cup-shaped insulator of porcelain or the like that supports a telegraph wire; petticoat-maker, a maker of petticoats, esp. of farthingales; † petticoat-monger, ? a whore-monger; petticoat-pensioner, a man paid by a woman, a woman's ‘fancy-man’; petticoat-pipe, a bell-mouthed pipe in the chimney of a locomotive into which the exhaust-steam enters and which serves to equalize and strengthen the draught; petticoat-trousers, (a) a New England colloquial name for wide baggy trousers; (b) = 5; (c) the wide-seated trousers worn by Muslim women; petticoat-wise adv., in the manner of a petticoat.
1862Eng. Wom. Dom. Mag. IV. 238/2 Patterns of the newest and most fashionable under-linen, including..petticoat band, *petticoat body. 1891Flo. Marryat There is no Death xii. 116 She had not got on ‘Rosie's’ petticoat body.
1658R. Holme in Fairholt Costume in Eng. (1860) 255 A short-waisted doublet and *petticoat-breeches, the lining lower than the breeches tied above the knee. 1860Fairholt Ibid. Gloss. 399 Towards the end of the reign of Charles the petticoat breeches were discarded.
1552Huloet, *Peticote maker, indusiarius. 1783Ainsworth Eng. Lat. Dict.
1605Tryall Chev. v. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 347 You pick-hatch Cavaliero *petticote-monger.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Pettycoat-Pensioner, a Gallant, or one Maintain'd for secret Service. 1825Knapp & Baldw. Newgate Cal. IV. 327/1 He became a petticoat-pensioner.
1864Webster, *Petticoat pipe, one of a series of short conical pipes, in a smoke-box, to equalize the draught. 1878Engineer XLVI. 57/3 A good modification of the well-known American petticoat pipe.
1753N. Jersey Archives XIX. 291 He took with him..two Pair of *Petticoat Trowsers. 1761Ibid. XX. 597 Run away..an English servant lad... Had on..long petticoat trowsers, much worn. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Petticoat trowsers, a kind of kilt formerly worn by seamen in general, but latterly principally by fishermen. 1885Burton Arab. Nts. II. 6 The strings of her petticoat-trowsers.
1903Daily Chron. 31 Mar. 10/2 Overcoats slung round the loins, *petticoat-wise.
b. petticoat government: (undue) rule or predominance of women in the home, or in politics. So petticoat-governed a., ruled by a woman, hen-pecked.
1702J. Dunton (title) Petticoat-Government. Ibid. 70 By Petticoat-Government, I mean when Good Women Ascend the Throne, and Rule according to Law, as is the case of the present Queen. Again, by Petticoat-Government, I mean the discreet and housewifely Ruling of a House and Family. 1702(title) The Prerogative of the Breeches: an answer to Petticoat-Government, written by a True-born English Man. 1731Fielding Grub-St. Op. i. i, Petticoat-government is a very lamentable thing indeed. 1825Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) I. 365 He, being under strict petticoat government..was compelled to get home that night. 1836–9Dickens Sk. Boz, Boarding-Ho. i, Mr. Calton seized the hand of the petticoat-governed little man. 1884Chr. World 19 June 453/1 This..would throw electoral power into the hands of women, and petticoat government would prevail.
▪ II. ˈpetticoat, v. rare.
[f. prec. n.]
a. trans. To clothe in petticoats, put petticoats on; fig. to treat as a woman.
b. intr. To wear, or posture in, petticoats. Hence ˈpetticoating vbl. n.
1850Browning Christmas Eve xxii, Let us hope That no worse blessing befall the Pope, Turned sick at last of to-day's buffoonery, Of posturings and petticoatings. 1895J. Winsor Mississ. Basin 175 The Shawnees..were restless in being what was termed ‘petticoated’ by the Iroquois. |