| 释义 |
▪ I. sayer1|ˈseɪə(r)|
Forms: 4–5 segger; 4 seiere, 4–5 seyere, 6 saier, 6 Sc. (9 arch.) sayar, 5– sayer.
[f. say v.1 + -er1.]
One who says.
†1. A professional reciter. Cf. disour. Obs.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 76, I mad noght for no disours, ne for no seggers, no harpours.
b. A poet, narrator. arch.
1513Douglas æneis ix. Prol. 27 The sayar eik suld weil consider this, His mater, and quhamto it entitillit is. 1806W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. IV. 560 This is not a truth of nature; it is therefore not the meaning of Samund the sayer. 1819W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 17 Ilk comic scene of ilka age, Gleam'd out of ilka sayar's page.
2. One who says (something specified or implied).
1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 158 Lette not the autorie of the Seyere meve the; take no cure of the Seyere what Persone he is. a1539in Archæologia XLVII. 55 That by the hering of the same devocion may encrease aswell in the singers and sayers as in the herers. 1587Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1814) III. 430/1 All sayaris and heiraris of messe. 1768Boswell Corsica (ed. 2) 331, I cannot endure long the sayers of good things. 1779F. Burney Let. Dec. Diary (1891) I. 208, I never..have been a sayer of the thing that is not. 1838Wilberforce in Ashwell Life (1880) I. 119 But merely saying a strong thing would..do them no good; they would only identify the sayer with a party. 1897F. Thompson New Poems 136 Mother of mysteries! Sayer of dark sayings in a thousand tongues!
†b. With qualifying word, as false sayer, ill sayer, sooth sayer: One who speaks falsely, ill, truly, etc. Obs.
1382Wyclif Job xvi. 9 My ryuelis seyn witnesse aȝen me, and the false seiere is rered vp aȝen my face. a1400Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 524/33 Bettre is chidyng of a soþ seyere Þen deceyuyng of a losyngere. c1400title (of ‘Richard the Redeless’) Mum, Soth-segger! 1533More Debell. Salem Wks. 954/2 Lest men myghte thinke he fayned, he should seke out and bring furth some of those shrewd sayers himself. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) N n iij b, The most vylanie in men, is to bee ylle saiers. 1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 40 We ar forbiddin be it to bear fals and deceptfull witnes..as verralie is doone be quhisperars, bakbytters, and euil sayers.
†3. A director. Obs. rare—1.
1483Caxton Golden Leg. 112/4 (Inv. St. Firmin) And the peple of thyse cytees meued them eche from his place..wythout sayer or comander [L. quasi ut unusquisque suum habuisset præceptorem et ducem].
▪ II. † ˈsayer2 Obs.
[Aphetic var. of assayer. Cf. say v.2]
One who assays or tests; an assayer of metals, a foretaster of food, etc.
1370Robt. Cicyle 166 in Ellis Metr. Rom. (1805) III. 146 Thy 'sayer [v.rr. assayar, tastour] shall ben an hound, To assay thy meat before thee. c1460Wisdom 868 in Macro Plays 64 Wyth yow tweyn, wo ys replyede, He may sey he hathe a schrewde seyer. 1579in R. W. Cochran-Patrick Rec. Coinage Scotl. (1876) I. Introd. 34 The generall of his cunyehous Mr. Cunyear Wardanis sinkar syer prentaris forgearis and vtheris. 1835App. Munic. Corpor. Rep. iv. 2242 The Market Sayer, Corn Prizer, and all the other inferior officers mentioned above, are annually appointed by the alderman's court [at Grantham].
▪ III. ‖ sayer3 India.|ˈsɑːjə(r)|
Also syre, sair.
[Urdū, a. Arab. sā'ir, pres. pple. either of sāra to go or of sā'ara to remain. (For various proposed explanations see Yule.)]
A general name for a class of imposts of the nature of transit and excise duties, originally levied by the zemindars within their own estates, and under the East India Company's rule chiefly collected by the government. Also attrib.
The sayer duties had been abolished in the three presidencies before the rule of the Company came to an end, and the term is no longer in official use.
1789in Cornwallis Corresp. (1859) I. 557 What are called the Sayer collections. 1790Ibid. II. 492 Our former despatches will have acquainted you that we had taken into the hands of Government the collection of the internal duties usually denominated the Sayer. 1811Kirkpatrick Nepaul 103 The revenues of a village..consist principally in the rent of houses, and the Sair, or duties charged on salt, tobacco, pepper, beetle-nut [etc.]. 1850Directions Rev. Off. N.W. Prov. 43 There are also other items, called Sayer or Sewaee collections, which are much prized by the proprietors, and which in some cases constitute a valuable property. |