| 释义 |
blessedness|ˈblɛsɪdnɪs|
[f. as prec. + -ness.]
The state of being blessed, esp. with Divine favour; felicity; beatitude. Also concr.
a1300Cursor M. 17080 Qua mai tel þe teind part þe blisced-nes o þe! c1400Epiph. (Turnb. 1843) 124 We may not haue full the blessednes Of thi vysage nor of thi presence. a1520Myrr. Our Ladye 73 Delyuered from the seuen dedly synnes . and so to come vnto the seuen blessednesses. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. ii. 66 He..found the Blessednesse of being little. c1746Hervey Medit. (1753) II. 18 An Ante-past of eternal Blessedness. 1823Lamb Elia (1860) 305, I have a quiet homefeeling of the blessedness of my condition.
b. single blessedness: used by Shakes. to express ‘divine blessing accorded to a life of celibacy’; hence (more or less jocularly), the unmarried state.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 78 Earthlier happie is the Rose distil'd, Then that which withering on the virgin thorne, Growes, liues, and dies, in single blessednesse. 1823Lamb Elia (1860) 109 She was one whom single blessedness had soured. 1836Dickens Sk. Boz (1850) 265/1 Single blessedness, as bachelors say, or single cursedness, as spinsters think.
c. Used as a title of honour. Cf. holiness.
1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 94 The Popes began to usurp the Titles of Holiness, and Blessedness. 1848Kingsley Saint's Trag. ii. iii. 78 The Landgrave Lewis With humble greetings prays his blessedness To make, etc. |