| 释义 |
premier, a. and n.|ˈprɛmɪə(r), ˈpriːmɪə(r)|
Forms: 5, 7–8 primier, 8 premiere, 7– premier.
[a. F. premier first:—L. prīmāri-us of the first rank, primary, f. prīm-us first.
(The first pronunciation (in Smart 1836) is now the more frequent in England. A third pronunciation |prɪˈmɪə(r)|, formerly in use, is evidenced in various poems.)]
A. adj.
1. a. First in position, importance, or rank; chief, leading, foremost.
c1470Ashby Active Policy 2 Maisters Gower, Chauucer & Lydgate, Primier poetes of this nacion. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. (1637) 335 The Captain of the primier band of the Vetasians. 1614Camden Rem. 5 The Spaniard..challengeth the primier place in regard of..his dominions. 1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 575 That Power which is primierepresident amongst them desireth to be accounted the supreme God. c1630Risdon Surv. Devon §293 (1810) 303 One of the premier knights of the order of the garter. 1762H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1765) I. ii. 43 Henry Beauchamp, son of Richard and Isabel, was at the age of nineteen created premier earl of England. 1833Marryat P. Simple xxxi, The premier violin, master of the ceremonies and ballet-master. 1889Pall Mall G. 3 Dec. 2/3 The six principal exports of Brazil... Coffee takes the premier place. 1905Daily Chron. 6 Dec. 6/3 The Prime Minister is to be not only the premier Commoner, but to take precedence over all Dukes.
†b. premier minister, minister premier [cf. F. premier ministre]. = B. Obs.
1686Evelyn Diary 19 Feb., Lord Sunderland was now Secretary of State, President of the Council, and Premier Minister. 1691Beverley Mem. Kingd. Christ 1 The Angel..was the Primier Minister of Prophecy from Christ, to the Apocalyptical Apostle John. 1703Royal Resolutions xii. in Marvell's Wks. (Grosart) I. 433 My pimp shall be my minister primier. 1731Swift To Gay Wks. 1755 IV. i. 172 Thus families like realms with equal fate Are sunk by premier ministers of state. a1734North Exam. iii. vii. §15 (1740) 515 The Duke of Buckingham was potent, being, as I said before, a sort of primier Minister.
2. First in time; earliest.
1652Heylin Cosmogr. To Rdr. A iv, Vouching the legal Interess of the English Nation, in Right of the first Discovery or Primier Seisin, to Estotiland. 1768[W. Donaldson] Life Sir B. Sapskull II. xx. 161 The venerable dame of antiquity, who was recommended..to superintend my premiere actions, till I should grow into power to assist myself. 1882J. Ashton Soc. Life Q. Anne II. xxvi. 28 The premier advertisement of opera in England. 1889Queen 30 Mar., A woman, who, we may imagine, was no longer in her premier youth. 1898Whitaker's Titled Persons 85 Sir Hickman Beckett Bacon..Premier Baronet. 1899Westm. Gaz. 19 June 6/1 The committee of the Post Office Savings Bank refreshment department have just issued their premier statement of accounts and balance-sheet.
B. n. [Short for premier minister.]
a. generally. The first or chief minister of any ruler; the chief officer of an institution.
1711Hickes Two Treat. Chr. Priesth. (1847) II. 23, I had rather be the poor deprived priest..than be premier, or plenipotentiary to the greatest monarch. 1739J. Hildrop Contempt of Clergy 61 He..makes him not only his Premier in Temporals, but his Vice-gerent in Spirituals. 1784D. Herd Let. in Songs (1904) 50, I am determined to give up..this name of Premier [head of the Cape Club, Edinburgh].
b. The first minister of the Crown, the prime minister of Great Britain or one of its (former) Colonies.
This sense is now obs. in Austral. and Canad. usage: cf. sense B. c below and note s.v. prime minister 3 b.
1726W. Stratford Let. 23 June in Rep. MSS. Dk. Portland (Hist. MSS. Comm. 1901) VII. 439 The Premier and his brother of All Souls called on me last week on their way to young Bromley's. 1727Lady E. Lechmere in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. vi. 53 Our Premier..is in as great favour with the King as with the Queen. 1746Dk. of Cumberland in Coxe Mem. Administr. Pelham (1829) I. 486, I should be much better pleased..if the Premier moved it... I am fully convinced of the Premier's goodwill to me. 1799F. Burney Let. in Diary VI. 193 How can the Premier [Pitt] be so much his own enemy in politics as well as in happiness? 1847Tennyson Princ. Concl. 102 A shout More joyful than the city-roar that hails Premier or king! 1883Brandon (Manitoba) Daily Mail 29 Jan. 2/1 It says that several of those roughly classed as Ministerialists will in all probability vote ‘no confidence’ in the present Premier. 1888Henley Bk. Verses, If I were King, If I were King, my pipe should be premier. The skies of time and chance are seldom clear. 1902Edin. Rev. Oct. 472 The colonial premiers of Canada and Australia..have set their face against any closer linkage of the Empire as a whole. 1916A. Bridle Sons of Canada 14 It is of prime importance to remember how..so impersonal a figure ever came to be Premier of Canada.
c. Austral. and Canad. The chief minister of a State or Province.
1853Hamilton (Ontario) Gaz. 3 Oct. 2/6 In the prosecution of this singularly dignified scheme—we shall say nothing of its abstract honesty—the Premier scruples not to employ the influence which his position invests him with. 1902Parl. Debates Austral. 1901–2 XI. 14528/2 Is it the case, as stated by the Premier of Queensland, that he (the Premier) has made repeated applications for a detailed statement of the receipts and expenditure of the departments transferred to the Commonwealth, and that such statement has not yet been supplied to him. 1917N. McNeil in J. O. Miller New Era in Canada 197 Why did Honoré Mercier, as Premier of Quebec, place a reference to the Pope in the preamble of his Jesuits Estates Bill? 1929M. de la Roche Whiteoaks xi. 151 Look at the situation in the Province of Quebec! There the women have no vote. ‘We are Latins!’ their Premier exclaims. 1930W. K. Hancock Australia x. 209 In 1916 a Labour Premier of New South Wales..handed his resignation, not to the official head of the State, but to caucus. 1969T. Jenkins We came to Australia i. ii. 30 Australia has a Prime Minister in the capital, Canberra, but..each of its six States has its own ‘local’ Prime Minister, known as a Premier. 1972Ann. Reg. 1971 79 On 21 October the Progressive Conservative Party in Ontario under a new Premier, Mr William Davis, retained power with an increased majority winning 78 seats.
d. U.S. The Secretary of State. ?Obs.
1855N.Y. Herald 22 Nov. 4/4 The casting vote between the Premier and the Kitchen is subject to the caprices and vacillations of the President, whose official position makes him supreme over both the action of the premier and the counsels of the Kitchen. 1878Harper's Mag. Mar. 490/2 The diplomatic anteroom, where foreign dignitaries await audience with the Premier, is handsome in its appointments. 1886E. Alton Among Law-Makers vii. 68 The Secretary of State..is sometimes (though not accurately) referred to as ‘The Premier’. 1905Washington Post 21 Mar. 4 Elihu Root..is ideally equipped for the duties of the Department of State, but it is considered unlikely that he could be induced to return to the Cabinet, even as premier. 1925W. H. Smith Hist. Cabinet U.S.A. 28 He [sc. the Secretary of State] is frequently spoken of as the ‘premier’ of the cabinet, but there is no such title or designation known to our laws.
e. The Prime Minister of a country other than Great Britain or one of its colonies or a nation belonging to the British Commonwealth. Also used as a title prefixed to the surname of a premier.
1936[see Meiji]. 1942W. S. Churchill End of Beginning (1943) 14 We sent Premier Stalin—for that I gather is how he wishes to be addressed..—exactly what he asked for. 1961N.Y. Times 21 May iv. 1 Premier Khrushchev has made propaganda capital out of that fact. 1976Daily Tel. 20 July 4/1 This is assumed to refer to some sort of demonstration similar to April's Peking riot by supporters of Teng and the late Premier Chou En-lai.
Hence (nonce-wds.) ˈpremier v. intr., to play the premier, to govern as prime minister; ˈpremieral a., pertaining to a premier; ˈpremieress, the wife of a premier.
1790Burns Addr. Beelzebub 22 Nae sage North, now, nor sager Sackville, To watch and premier o'er the pack vile. 1894Spectator 24 Mar. 400 Monarchy, now being replaced everywhere, more or less, by Premieral Government. 1865Pall Mall G. 9 Nov. 11 A gentleman who ‘goes regularly into Society’, ‘attends the Premieress's soirées’, and ‘knows all the best people’. |