释义 |
▪ I. bliss, n.|blɪs| Forms: 1 blíðs, blíds, bliss, blis; 3–7 blisse, 4–6 blysse, blis, 6– bliss; occas. 4–7 blesse, bless. [OE. blíðs (acc. blíðse) str. fem. = OS. blîdsea, blîtzea, blîzza:—OTeut. type *blîþsjâ- f. *blîþi-s, Goth. bleiþs, OS. blîthi, OE. blíðe blithe, joyous + suffix -sjâ-, standing, after dentals, for original -tjâ (cf. L. lætitia). Goth. has, instead, the parallel form bleiþ-ei:—OTeut. *blîþ-în-. In later OE. by assimilation and vowel-shortening blíðs became bliss, blis, ME. blisse: cf. OE. milds, milts (:—OTeut. *mild-sjâ- = *mild-tjâ-) mildness, clemency, ME. milze, milce, milse. The meaning of bliss and that of bless have mutually influenced each other since an early period; cf. bless v.1; confusion of spelling is frequent from the time of Wyclif to the 17th c. Hence the gradual tendency to withdraw bliss from earthly ‘blitheness’ to the beatitude of the blessed in heaven, or that which is likened to it.] †1. Blitheness of aspect toward others, kindness of manner; ‘light of one's countenance,’ ‘smile.’ (Only in OE.)
a1000Metr. Bœth. ii. 30 Hi me towendon heora bacu bitere and heora blisse from. 2. Blitheness; gladness; joy, delight, enjoyment: a. physical, social, mundane: passing at length into b.
971Blickl. Hom. 3 Maria cende þone Drihten on blisse. a1000Cotton Psalm l. 99 (Gr.) Sæle nu blidse me, bilewit dryhten. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 115 Hie weren swo bliðe þat hie ne mihten mid worde here blisse tellen. c1340Cursor M. 1013 (Trin.) Mony oþere blisses elles, Floures þat ful swete smelles. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 234 Two blessis ben,—blesse of þe soule and blisse of þe bodi. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 1021 This glade folk to dyner they hem sette; In ioye and blisse at mete I lete hem dwelle. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 55 She lost alle worshipe, richesse, ese, and blysse. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 268 Tha rouch rillingis, of blis that war full bair. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. ii. 31 And all that Poets faine of Blisse and Ioy. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 508 These two Imparadis't in one anothers arms..shall enjoy thir fill Of bliss on bliss. 1806Wordsw. Ode Immortality 86 Behold the Child among his new-born blisses. 1841L. Hunt Seer (1864) 54 He does not sufficiently sympathise with our towns and our blisses of Society. b. Mental, ethereal, spiritual: perfect joy or felicity, supreme delight; blessedness. (Early instances difficult to separate from prec.)
c1175Lamb. Hom. 15 Blisse and lisse ic sende. a1300Cursor M. 605 A land o lijf, o beld, and blis, Þe quilk man clepes paradis. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 142 To lyve evere in blis wiþouten peyne. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour F iij, The grete reame of blysse and glory. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. v. 64 The contrarie bringeth blisse, And is a patterne of Celestiall peace. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxii. §13 To them whose delight..is in the Law..that happiness and bliss belongeth. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Cypr. Grove Wks. 31 O only blest, and Author of all bliss. Ibid. 26 All bless returning with the Lord of bliss. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 522 The sum of earthly bliss Which I enjoy. 1747Gray Ode Eton Coll., Where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 62 May gather bliss, to see my fellows blest. 1875B. Taylor Faust I. xii. 141 The purest bliss was surely then thy dower. c. esp. The perfect joy of heaven; the beatitude of departed souls. Hence, the place of bliss, paradise, heaven.
971Blickl. Hom. 25 We maᵹon..éce blisse ᵹeearnian. a1225Juliana 21 Ich schal bliðe bicumen to endelese blissen. a1300Cursor M. 17972 Fro helle to paradys þat blis. c1384Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 344 He [the pope] is not blessid in þis lif, for blis falliþ to the toþir lyf. 1509Hawes Examp. Virt. i. 12, I wyll..brynge thy soule to blesse eterne. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 182 By the hope I haue of heauenly blisse. 1607T. Walkington Opt. Glass 65 The soul is..wrapt up into an Elysium and paradise of blesse. 1667Milton P.L. i. 607 Far other once beheld in bliss. 1781Cowper Truth 301 The path to bliss abounds with many a snare. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 255 Any one who accepted them in the concrete and literal form prescribed by the church, would share infinite bliss. d. concr. A cause of happiness, joy, or delight.
a1000Ags. Ps. (Spelm.) xxxi. 9 (Bosw.) Ðú eart blis mín. c1386Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 346 Womman is mannes Ioye and al his blis. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xcvii. 26 A wither'd violet is her bliss. †3. Glory. (Translating gloria and κλέος.) Obs.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 115 Quis est iste rex glorie? hwat is þis blissene king. a1300Cursor M. 8100 Þe king o blis. 1387Trevisa Higden II. 363 Hercules is i-seide of heros þat is a man, and of cleos þat is blisse; as þey Hercules were to menynge a blisful man and glorious. †4. a bliss of birds: a blithe singing, a ‘choir.’
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems 228 A blysse of bryddes me bad abyde, For cause there song mo then one. 5. Comb. a. objective, as bliss-giving, bliss-making adjs.; b. adverbial, as bliss-bright.
1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 309 This blesse-affording good. 1645Bp. Hall Content. 103 The blisse-making vision of God. 1839Bailey Festus xiv. (1848) 147 The bliss-bright stars. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. II. xxvii. 184 The bliss-giving ‘yes.’ ▪ II. bliss, v. Forms: 1 blíðsian, blissian, -iᵹan, 2 blissien, 3 bliscen, (blescien), Orm. blissenn, 3–4 bliss(en, 4 blesse. [OE. blíðsian, blissian = OS. blîdsean, blizzen, f. blíðs, bliss n. Now blended in the verb bless.] 1. Obs. intr. To be blithe or glad, to rejoice.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xlix. 385 Bliðsa, cniht, on ðinum ᵹioᵹuðhade. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xv. 9 Blyssiað mid me. a1225Ancr. R. 360 Gif we þolieð mid him, we schulen bliscen mid him. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 187 Wel may þe barne blisse [C. text blesse] þat hym to boke sette. b. refl.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 33 Ne mei nan man..blissien him mid þisse wordle. [a1225Ancr. R. 358 Blescieð ou & gledieð.] 2. trans. To give joy or gladness to (orig. with dat.); to gladden, make happy. (In 16–17th c. blended with bless.) Obs.
a1000Hymns vii. 34 (Gr.) Ðu engla God eallum blissast. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. To gladien, and to blissen us. a1300Cursor M. 12779 (Gött.) To blissen þaim vte of þair wa. 1594Constable Diana vi. x, She stands wotlesse whom so much she blisseth. 1636C. Fitzgeffrey Holy Transport. (1881) 189 To thee, who com'st from heauen to blisse the earth. 3. to bliss out (U.S. slang) [after to freak out s.v. freak v. 3], to reach a state of ecstasy. Chiefly blissed out |blɪst| pa. pple. and ppl. a., in such a state; ˈblissing out vbl. n.
1973National Observer (U.S.) 3 Nov. 1 A ‘soul rush’ of blissed-out young pilgrims is heading for the Western mecca of The Most Important Movement in the History of Mankind. 1973Newsweek 19 Nov. 157 Initiates learn to see a dazzling white light, hear celestial music, feel ecstatic vibrations... The process is called ‘blissing out’. 1974New Yorker 8 Apr. 32 The nonstop, glowing smile and the glazed eyes of one who is ‘blissed out’. 1977Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 23/3 Gold albums share the walls with photographs of blissed-out holy men. 1983Atlantic Monthly July 104/2 Toward the end,..Harvey is too blissed out to do much more than bask in Rinpoche's gaze. 1986New Yorker 22 Sept. 84/3 Long-haired Westerners..blissing out or freaking out in the streets. Hence (sense 3) blissout, a state of ecstasy.
1974Time 26 Aug. 66/1 The beach bliss-out was a response the profession can ill afford. 1976New Yorker 20 Dec. 117 This blissout is the movie every actress must..have dreamed of making. 1982Guardian 30 Dec. 1/2 A ‘blissout’, derived from religious cults, is a state of intense happiness. ▪ III. bliss(e obs. form of bless v.1 |