| 释义 |
▪ I. brit, britt, n.1|brɪt|
1. A local name of the young of the Herring and Sprat (Clupea harengus, and sprattus); also the spawn of these.
1602Carew Cornwall 32 a, The Pilcherd..were wont to pursue the Brit, vpon which they feede, into the hauens. 1851H. Melville Whale II. xlviii. 131 We fell in with vast meadows of brit, the minute, yellow substance, upon which the Right Whale largely feeds. 1880–84F. Day Fishes Gt. Brit. II. 232 Britt along the Devonshire coast, consists either of young sprats or young herrings. Ibid. 233 The Town Council of Exeter annually make an official whitebait repast upon ‘britt’. [The author discusses at length the identity of the ‘britt’, and shows that the name includes both species, which are at some seasons taken together, at others separately.]
2. transf. The fry of other fish, as the mackerel.
1886R. C. Leslie Sea-painter's Log viii. 161 The mackerel brit, or small fry.
▪ II. brit, n.2 Judaism.
Brit. |brɪt|, U.S. |brɪt|
Plural britot, brits
Forms: 18– berith, 19– berit, 19– brit, 19– brith, 19– b'rith; Also with capital initial.
[‹ Hebrew bĕrīṯ, short for bĕrīṯ milāh covenant of circumcision (see brit milah n.). Compare bris n.]
= brit milah n.
1856N.Y. Times 8 Apr. 2/1 It was our privilege to witness a ceremony Sunday which..is quite novel and curious to Gentile eyes. It was upon occasion of the ‘Berith’ or ‘naming’ of a grandson of the distinguished Rabbi Raphall, at the Rabbi's residence. 1875J.Picciotto Sketches Anglo-Jewish Hist. xliii. 323 The death occurred of the mother of the gentleman at whose house the Berith had taken place. 1972H. H. Donin To be Jew xvi. 274 The brit must take place on the eighth day even if it is the Sabbath or Yom Kippur. 1987Washington Post (Nexis) 13 June g1 The shortage of mohelim in the South once forced him to perform five briths..in four different states in the course of one day. 2005Cleveland (Ohio) Jewish News (Electronic ed.) 25 Feb. 13 We have celebrated with our neighbors and friends at weddings, b'nai mitzvah, and britot.
▪ III. † brit, britt, v. Obs.
[app.:—OE. bryttian to divide into fragments:—*brutjôjan, f. *brutjon- divider, f. brut- pa. pple. stem of breutan to break, divide. Cf. ON. brytja to chop in pieces.]
trans. To cut in pieces; = britten 3.
1330R. Brunne Chron. 244 His hede þei of smyten..Þe dede body þe[i] britten on four quarters corn [i.e. corven].
▪ IV. brit
variant of bret, brite. |