| 释义 |
prowess Now chiefly literary.|ˈpraʊɪs|
Forms: 3–5 prouesse, 3–7 prowesse, prowes, 4–5 pruesse, 5 prowez, -is, -ys, prouwis, prouese, -es, proes, -esce, 5–6 prosse, 5–7 proesse, 6 pruice, prowse, 6– prowess.
[ME. prowesse, a. OF. proec(c)e, -eisse, -oise, in mod.F. prouesse = Prov., Sp. proeza, Cat. proesa, It. prodezza: f. pro, prou, prow a. and -ess2. (In 15–17th c. often a monosyllable.)]
1. Valour, bravery, gallantry, martial daring; manly courage, active fortitude.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 397/163 More prouesse ne miȝte be þan was of þis kniȝte. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 279 Vor þe noble kinne þat þou art of & vor þi prowesse iwis. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 118 Of pruesse had he fame. 1375Barbour Bruce ix. 503 Schir yngerame vmphrevell, that ves Renownit of so hye prowes. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 154 That euery man..sholde haue hope to come to glorie of a Prynce or of an empyre, by prosse and vasselage. 1436Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 200 Science, proesce, devocion, equyté, Of moste estate his magnanimité. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 1207, I aught as prynce him to prise for his prouese. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn xxix. 109 Thourgh þ⊇..hyghe proesse of Blanchardyn. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lv. 188 His hye prowes was suche that no paynym durst abyde him. Ibid. lix. 207 By the prowess of .xiiii. persons. 1567Drant Horace, Epist. ii. ii. H ij, Prease on with luckie foote to where thy pruice calleth the. 1586Warner Alb. Eng. i. v. (1612) 16 Philoctes trustlesse of his prowse. 1603Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 209 A mightye, and valiant gentleman of no small power or prowes. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 7 Whom they matched every way in manhood and proesse. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 789 First seen in acts of prowess eminent And great exploits. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. xli. (1869) II. 548 Their prowess was always conspicuous in single combats. 1809Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) IV. 538 So glorious a display of the valor and prowess of his troops. 1877Ruskin Arrows of Chace (1880) II. 216 Military distinction is no more possible by prowess.
b. An act of bravery; a valiant deed; a daring feat or exploit. (Chiefly in pl. = deeds of valour.)
1340Ayenb. 59 Þe zenne of þan þet zuo bleþeliche recordeþ hare dedes and hare prowesses. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 205 Vayne glory of this forsayde proesses. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 13 By these men, worthie prowesses haue been dooen. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. ix. 352 To do those actes and prowesses which shall be spoken of. 1843Carlyle Past & Pr. iii. i, If he speaks of his excellencies and prowesses.
†2. Moral goodness or excellence; virtue. Obs.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. iv. pr. vi. (E.E.T.S.) 138 What oþer þing semeþ hele of corages but bounte and prowesse. c1386― Wife's T. 273 (Ellesm.) For god of his goodnesse [6 texts prowesse, prouesse] Wole that of hym we clayme oure gentillesse.
Restrict ‘Now chiefly literary’ to sense 1 a and add: [1.] c. Exceptional ability or talent (in a particular field or undertaking); skill, expertise.
1916Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) 181 Side by side with his memory of the deeds of prowess of his uncle Mat Davin, the athlete, the young peasant worshipped the sorrowful legend of Ireland. 1928E. O'Neill Strange Interlude i. 20 The boy, for all his good looks and prowess in sport and his courses, really came of common people and had no money of his own. 1940W. Faulkner Hamlet ii. ii. 126 His reputation as a gambler..got him the obedience of the negro field hands even more than..his proved prowess with a pistol. 1965‘Malcolm X’ Autobiogr. ii. 31, I didn't yet appreciate how most whites accord to the Negro this reputation for prodigious sexual prowess. 1974‘J. Herriot’ Vet in Harness (1975) xii. 89 Siegfried's prowess as an animal doctor was highly regarded. 1987N. F. Dixon Our Own Worst Enemy (1988) xi. 171 We continue to assess mental prowess by such ridiculous contests as Mastermind. |