| 释义 |
precious, a. (n., adv.)|ˈprɛʃəs|
Forms: 3–6 preciouse (3–4 preciuse), 4– precious (4 presci-, presi-, presh(i)-, 4–5 presy-, precy-, -ous(e, -ose, -us, -ows(e; 6–8 pretious, -os).
[ME. a. OF. precios (11th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), mod.F. précieux, ad. L. pretiōsus costly, valuable, precious (whence also Prov. precios, It. prezioso, Sp., Pg. precioso), f. pretium price, value: see -ous.]
A. adj.
1. Of great price; having a high value; costly.
precious metals: a name including gold and silver; also sometimes platinum, and rarely mercury.
a1300Cursor M. 1040 Þei bring o paradis þe stan, Sua preciose [v.rr. -ious(e, -ius] es fundun nan. c1305St. Andrew 76 in E.E.P. (1862) 100 Hail beo þu swete Rode he seide, swettest of alle treo..And of ȝymmes preciouses. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1496 His iueles..Þat presyous in his presens wer proued sum whyle. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 12 Draf weore hem leuere Þen al þe presciouse Peerles þat in paradys waxen. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 114 Trewe oynement and preshous. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. xiv. (Rolls) 231 Better and costioser and precioser garnementis. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 108 b, The preciousest are the Cypresse, and the Cedar Tables. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxv. 219 The Generalls pretious Jewel, or his Treasure. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. iv. (1869) I. 25 In the precious metals..even the business of weighing, with proper exactness, requires at least very accurate weights and scales. 1868Rogers Pol. Econ. iii. (1876) 26 Money is generally, but not invariably, one or both of those metals which are called precious.
2. a. Of great moral, spiritual, or non-material worth; held in high esteem.
precious blood, the blood of Christ shed for man's redemption; hence, in the names of various orders, confraternities, relics, etc.; also, the Feast of the Most Precious Blood, on the first Sunday in July. So precious body (of Christ).
a1300Cursor M. 8321 It sal be precius and prude, Þe werc he sal sua semele scrude. a1340Hampole Psalter xx. 1 He spend noght his preciouse blode in vayn on vs. 1382Wyclif 1 Pet. i. 19 Not bi corruptible gold, or siluer, ȝe ben bouȝt aȝen..but bi the precious blood of..Crist Jhesu. c1450Merlin 11 Oure lorde Jhesu Criste, that bought vs with his precyouse blode. 1578Timme Caluine on Gen. 169 The most pretious grace of God. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §2 Words of pretious esteem. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 74 Where the pretious Body of our Lord was anointed. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 205 Justice, which is a treasure far more precious than gold.
†b. in asseveration, for precious blood or precious body. Cf. 6 b. Obs.
1560Ingelend Disob. Child (Percy Soc.) 41 By Goddes precious, I wyll not unwysely suffre To do as I have done any longer. 1601? Marston Pasquil & Kath. ii. 247 Gods precious! I forgot to bring my Page.
3. Aiming at or affecting distinction or choiceness in conduct, manners, language, etc.; fastidious, ‘particular’; esp. in mod. use (after F. précieux: cf. précieuse), affecting, displaying, or using careful and fastidious delicacy or refinement in language, workmanship, etc.; often with an implication of being over-nice or over-refined.
c1386Chaucer Wife's Prol. 148 In swich estaat as god hath cleped vs I wol perseuere, I nam nat precius. ― Merch. T. 718 But lest ye precious folk be with me wrooth How that he wroghte I dar not to you telle. 1712Steele Spect. No. 306 ⁋7 An apparent Desire of Admiration,..a precious Behaviour in their general Conduct, are almost inseparable Accidents in Beauties. 1887Saintsbury Hist. Elizab. Lit. iv. (1894) 145 Elaborate embroidery of precious language. 1891Pall Mall G. 18 Feb. 3/1 With its brown paper cover.., its rough edges.., its twirligigs instead of spaces.., the book is everything that the most ‘precious’ could desire. 1894Athenæum 25 Aug. 252/3 The employment of ‘curious’ in a somewhat precious sense at least three times.
4. colloq.
a. As an intensive of something bad, worthless, or reprobated: Egregious, out-and-out, arrant; in some uses, a mere emotional intensive. (Cf. fine a. 14 b.)
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 52 A precious knave that cast nevyr to thryve. 15..Jack Juggler in Hazl. Dodsley II. 142 Now walk, precious thief. 1575Laneham Let. (1871) 46 Heering and seeing so precioous ado heer at a place vnlookt for. 1605B. Jonson Volpone i. i, Your worship is a precious ass. 1610― Alch. v. iv, You are a precious fiend! 1836Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) I. 241, I find I am writing most precious nonsense. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Cockayne Wks. (Bohn) II. 68 This precious knave became, in good time, Saint George of England. 1857T. Hughes Tom Brown ii. vii, It's hard enough to see one's way, a precious sight harder than I thought last night. 1892Chamberlain in Westm. Gaz. (1898) 26 Apr. 2/3 If the Liberals got into power what a precious mess they would make of foreign policy.
b. Ironically, Of little worth, worthless, good-for-nothing. (Cf. fine a. 12 c.)
a1619Fletcher Mad Lover iii. iii, Oh, you're a precious man! two days in town, And never see your old friend! 1777Sheridan Sch. Scand. v. ii, Sir O. Well, Sir Peter, I have seen both my nephews... Sir P. A precious couple they are! 1781Wesley Wks. (1872) XIII. 298 Are not these precious instructers of youth?
†5. ? Carbuncled. Obs. (Cf. precious-nosed in D.)
1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 43 A poore old man, whose nose by some infirmitie, was become meruailous great, deformed, full of pimples, precious, and monstrous.
6. In special connexions.
a. precious stone, a stone which on account of its beauty, hardness, and rarity is prized for its use in ornamentation and jewellery, and has a high commercial value; a gem.
Precious is also prefixed to some names of stones, to distinguish that which is included among gems from an inferior, opaque, or unpolishable kind of the same mineral, as in precious garnet, precious opal, etc.
c1290St. Brandan 42 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 221 Of suete preciouse stones þat briȝtte schynen and wide. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 29 In þat ryuer er oft tymes funden many precious stanes. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour F viij, They shold gyue her..as many precious stones as she wold take of them. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 140 Folly to cast precious stones before hogs. 1655tr. Com. Hist. Francion i. 18 Eyes that out-sparkled his preciousest Stones. 1870Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 384 Precious stones are either carbonaceous, aluminous, or silicious. 1892E. W. Streeter Prec. Stones (ed. 5) 286 The Almandine, or Precious Garnet. Ibid. 339 Any substance which can be scratched by Rock Crystal being practically of no value as a Precious Stone.
†b. precious coals: an obsolete expletive. Cf. 2 b.
1576Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 80 When roysters ruffle not aboue their rule, Nor colour crafte, by swearing precious coles. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. i. (Arb.) 50 (He puls his Watch out) Precious coales, the time is at hand, I must meditate on an excuse to be gone. Ibid. ii. 54 Pretious coles, thou a man of worship and Iustice too?
†c. Precious John: corruption of Prester John.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 130 The great Christian of æthiopia, vulgarly cald Prester, Precious, or Priest-John.
d. precious metals: see 1.
e. precious coral, a coral belonging to the order Antipatharia, forming branching colonies resembling plants.
1906S. J. Hickson in Harmer & Shipley Cambr. Nat. Hist. I. xiii. 352 The ‘precious coral’ occurs in the Mediterranean. 1935Twenhofel & Shrock Invertebr. Paleontol. iv. 113 The compound corallum may be in the form of..bushy growths as in the precious corals. 1979Sci. Amer. Aug. 115/3 The detritus feeders include the true sponges, the antipatharians (‘precious corals’) and the gorgonians (sea fans).
B. n. Precious one, dear, darling.
1706S. Centlivre Basset-Table ii. 25 With all my Heart, my Jewel, my Precious. 1755Mem. Capt. P. Drake II. iii. 113 In all that time I never saw my precious but at Mrs. Jones's. 1861D. Cook P. Foster's D. iii, Well, my precious, and how are you?
C. adv. (qualifying adj. or adv.)
a. = preciously.
1595Shakes. John iv. iii. 40 Or when he doom'd this Beautie to a graue, Found it too precious Princely, for a graue.
b. With intensive force: Extremely, very: precious few = few indeed. colloq.
1837Dickens Pickw. ii, We've got a pair o' precious large wheels on. 1839A. Gray Lett. (1893) I. 268 While on the Continent I have received precious few letters. 1839Thackeray Fatal Boots viii, I..took precious good care to have it. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xx, Kit..was ‘precious raw’ or ‘precious deep’. 1886Chamberlain Sp. Ho. Com. 26 Aug., Precious few of them have declared in favour of the bill before their constituents.
D. Comb. (parasynthetic.)
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 8 With balefull weedes, and precious Iuiced flowers. 1607Lingua iii. vi, There was an old..precious-nosed..slave. [Cf. sense 5 above.] |