| 释义 |
† ˈprester Obs.
[a. L. prēstēr, a. Gr. πρηστήρ a fiery (or scorching) whirlwind, also a kind of venomous serpent, agent-n. f. πιµπρά-ναι, πρή-ειν (root pra-) to burn, also to inflate, blow.]
1. A serpent, the bite of which was fabled to cause death by swelling.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. x. (Bodl. MS.), Prester is an horrible addre alwei wiþ open mouþe and castinge and schedinge venym as he goþe. 1562Turner Herbal ii. 118 The bramble..is good for the biting of y⊇ serpent called prester. 1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 745 The Dipsas killing by thirst, and the Prester by heat, as their very names do signifie. 1627May Lucan ix. 828 The Prester too, whose sting distendeth wide The wounded's foamy mouth. 1706Phillips, Prester, a venomous Serpent, whose Sting causes a deadly Thirst. [1847Emerson Repr. Men, Swedenborg Wks. (Bohn) I. 328 Philosophers are, therefore, vipers, cockatrices, asps,..presters.]
2. A burning or scorching whirlwind.
1601Holland Pliny I. 25 The same [wind], if it be more hot and catching a fire as it rageth, is named Prester; burning. 1643Howell Parables on Times 15 As if it had been that incendiary Prester wind, or rather an Haraucana..had blowne here. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. ii. (1701) 61/2 Thunders, Lightnings, Presters, and Whirl-winds are caused by the wind enclosed in a thick Cloud, which..breaketh forth violently. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Prester, a meteor, consisting of an exhalation from the clouds downwards with such violence, as that by the collision it is set on fire. 1797Monthly Mag. III. 518/2 (tr. Procl. in Crat.) From him leap forth the implacable thunders, and the prester-capacious bosoms [πρηστηροδοχοι κολποι] of the all⁓splendid strength of the father-begotten Hecate.
‖3. (See quots.)
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Prester, a word used by some to express the external part of the neck, which is usually inflated in anger. 1858Mayne Expos. Lex., Prester, ēris, formerly used for the white of the eye when inflamed; also, for the veins, when swollen under excitement. |