| 释义 |
▪ I. pontificate, n.|pɒnˈtɪfɪkət|
[ad. L. pontificātus the office or dignity of a pontifex: see -ate1. So F. pontificat (15th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
The office or dignity of a pontiff; the period during which any person holds this office. a. The office of an ancient Roman Pontifex.
1581Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 219 Cesar at his going furth from his house in his sute for the great pontificate. 1868Smith's Dict. Gr. & Rom. Antiq. 304/2 Whatever..civil or military office..a pontifex maximus held beside his pontificate.
b. The office, or period of office, of a bishop; usually, of the pope; papacy; popedom.
1685Long. Gaz. No. 2081/1 [The Pope] entred that day into the tenth year of his Pontificate. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 119 Imperiali..having been in a fair way of obtaining the pontificate. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 54 In the sixteenth century the Pontificate, exposed to new dangers..was saved by a new religious order. 1860Hook Lives Abps. I. vi. 310 During Etheldred's pontificate..Cameliac came to Canterbury to be consecrated.
c. gen. High-priesthood (of any religion).
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Imam, Some think it [the imamate] of divine right, and attached to a single family, as the pontificate of Aaron. 1833Cruse tr. Eusebius i. x. 39 With the pontificte of Annas. 1879Farrar St. Paul (1883) 677 The pontificate of these truckling Sadducees.
▪ II. pontificate, v.|pɒnˈtɪfɪkeɪt|
[f. ppl. stem of med.L. pontificāre to perform pontifical functions, f. pontific-em pontifex: see -ate3.]
1. a. intr. To perform the functions of a pontiff or bishop; to officiate as a bishop, esp. at mass.
1818Hobhouse Hist. Illustr. (ed. 2) 262 When the Pope pontificates, the Senator stands amidst a seated assembly. 1898Bodley France I. i. iv. 220 Talleyrand..publicly pontificated as a bishop. 1928G. B. Shaw Intelligent Woman's Guide Socialism 439 The Russian archbishop..is now presumably pontificating much more freely than the Archbishop of Canterbury.
b. trans. To celebrate (mass) as a bishop.
1889Cath. Househ. 11 May 5/1 The Holy Sacrifice [was] pontificated by Cardinal Schiaffino.
2. a. intr. To act the pontiff, assume the airs of a pontiff; to behave or speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner. (Cf. pontifical a. 4.)
1825[implied in pontificating vbl. n. and ppl. a.]. 1901Academy 16 Nov. 459/1 Victor Hugo pontificating in his own salon. 1909Englishwoman Apr. 296 The need of such a group as that which pontificates from Villa Wahnfried is past. 1921R. Hichens Spirit of Time v. 76 Why should I allow this young woman to pontificate about human nature. 1952Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Jan. 1/4 Success made him pontificate more than ever. 1979Kansas City Times 22 May 6a/1 They [sc. senators] must think they are pontificating on the moon or Mars or somewhere remote from Jefferson City.
b. trans. To say or utter (something) in a pontifical manner.
1922A. S. M. Hutchinson This Freedom iv. i. 252 All modern teaching, if this new stuff that they pontificate may be called teaching, offers us [etc.]. 1973N.Y. Law Jrnl. 24 July 4/5 The court pontificated, ‘One cannot look at a rainbow with mud on his shoes’. 1976Verbatim Dec. 15/1 He also pontificated, ‘The Reds are favored to win, and, as we all know, everybody hates a favorite.’
So ponˈtificating vbl. n. and ppl. a.; ponˈtificator.
1825New Monthly Mag. XV. 164/1 A sample of his admirable faculty of pontificating. 1926W. J. Locke Stories Near & Far 156 Pontifex—Pontifex something..a playful title given him by her mother, for his possible pontificating aims as a young man. 1930Radio Times 17 Jan. 127/2 Nine out of ten people are fond of pontificating. 1934B. Dobrée Mod. Prose Style iv. i. 221 If we examine the writings of the pontificators, people skilled in ‘a way of saying things’, we invariably find that their style is bad. 1972Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 10 Nov. 7/1 Highbrows—the pontificators about Television—are apt not merely to condone but to applaud: the gratuitous nastiness of allegedly ‘serious’ plays and aggressive documentaries. Ibid., The pontificators make it so clear that they never watch television for pleasure and don't intend that other people should. |