| 释义 |
▪ I. pursue, v.|pəˈsjuː, -ˈsjuː|
Forms: see below.
[ME. a. AF. pursiwe-r, pursue-r (also pursu-re) = OF. porsievre, porsieure, -sivre, -suire, etc. (see sue v.), mod.F. poursuivre = Pr. perseguir, persegre, Sp. perseguir and proseguir, It. proseguire and perseguire:—L. prosequĕre, -īre, persequĕre, -īre, popular forms of prōsequī and persequī, compounds of sequī to follow, which to a great extent ran together in Romanic. In ME. the L. form of the prefix, prō-, was sometimes, and per- frequently, substituted.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
(α) 3 pursiwe(n, 4–5 -suwe, -sewe, 4–6 -sew, 5 -siewe, -syewe, -sywe, -suie, -suye, -su, -swe; 4– pursue.
c1290Beket 945 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 133 Ȝwane..luþere men pursiweden me: louerd, min help þov beo! 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 4450 Þan sal anticrist bygyn felly To pursue men thurgh tyrauntry. c1375Cursor M. 19618 (Fairf.) Saule saule..qui pursewes þou me. a1400Pursywed [see B. 11 b]. c1400Destr. Troy 1150 Pollux with his pupull pursu on the laste. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy (E.E.T.S.) 506/3889 Þat with al his myȝt My deth pursuwet[h]. c1430― Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 251 Heeryng this voys, after I shal purswe [rime remwe = remue]. 1449Rolls of Parlt. V. 150/1 At the sute of him whiche in this cas will pursuye. 1470–85Malory Arthur Table ii. v. 7 How Balyn was pursyewed. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lix. 206 They were so hastyd and pursewyd.
(β) 4 poursuie, 4–6 -sewe, 5 -syewe, -sue, -su.
1390Gower Conf. II. 117 Thei..lesen hope forto spede And stinten love to poursewe [rime hewe]. 1390poursuie [see B. 5]. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 119 To poursu bataill. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 150 Knowyng that he was poursyewed. 1487Hen. VII in Ep. Acad. Oxon. (1898) II. 524 To be poursued unto us hereafter. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. vii. 30 Whom seeing flie she speedily poursewed.
(γ) 4–5 porsewe, -sue.
c1350Will. Palerne 2474 Al þe puple..þat him porsewed hadde. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xviii. 167 And porsuede to haue be pope pryns of holychurche.
(δ) ? 4 persywe, 5–7 persew(e, 5–8 persue, 6 -seu, -schew.
a1400Trevisa's Higden (Rolls) V. 71 (MS. γ) Persywed. c1400Apol. Loll. 24 Wan men schal..persew ȝow. 1414Rolls of Parlt. IV. 57/1 How that I persuede diverse billes. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 18 To resyst and persewe the kynge. 1588in Lib. Offic. S. Andree (Abbotsf.) 170 Þat we nor nane..in our nayme sall perschew nor follow [etc.]. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. 22 To persew his clame. 1759Johnson Rasselas xxx, Pekuah..entreated the princess not to persue so dreadful a purpose. Ibid. xxxii, Rasselas prepared to persue the robbers. 1779Persued [see B. 10].
(ε) 5 prosew(e.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 133 Anthiocus..prosewede [1387 Trevisa pursuede] Triphon.
B. Signification.
I. Transitive uses.
1. To follow with hostility or enmity; to seek to injure (a person); to persecute; to harass, worry, torment. Now rare or Obs. exc. as implied in 2.
c1290, etc. [see A. α]. 1382Wyclif Matth. v. 11 Ȝee shulen be blessid, when men shulen curse ȝou, and shulen pursue ȝou. Ibid., Acts ix. 4, 5 ‘Saul, Saul, what pursuest thou me?’.. ‘I am Jhesu of Nazareth, whom thou pursuest’. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 97 Loue your ennemyes,..praye for them that persueth you. 1693Pepys in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 212 To pursue you in the matter of the Prints soe farr beyond what in good manners I..would have done. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 79 ⁋12 Those may justly be pursued as enemies to the community of nature. 1855Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) V. ix. viii. 415 To expel, or to pursue to death, a large part..of their subjects.
†b. To avenge, to follow with punishment. Obs.
1570Satir. Poems Reform. xxiii. 111 Thocht thair war nane his deith that wald persew, The michtie God he wald Reuenge his blude. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 109 That with such vehemency he should pursue Faults proper to himselfe. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 654 No vulgar God Pursues thy Crimes, nor with a common Rod.
2. To follow with intent to overtake and capture or kill; to chase, to hunt.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 241 Þe pekok, and men pursue hym may nouȝte fleighe heighe; For þe traillyng of his taille. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 30 Kyng Pharao persued þam. 1560Bible (Genev.) Ps. lxxi. 11 Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliuer him. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 314 Boreas in his Race..with impetuous roar Pursues the foaming Surges to the Shoar. 1783Cowper Epitaph on Hare 1 Here lies, whom hound did ne'er pursue, Nor swifter greyhound follow. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. vii, To rout their other wing of horse as it returned breathless from pursuing the Scots.
b. fig. Said of the action of things evil or hurtful.
1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 79 Ay quhen temptatioun dois zow persew. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. ii. 25 So went to bed; where eagerly his sicknesse Pursu'd him still. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 261 The worst inconvenience that pursued us. 1842Borrow Bible in Spain viii. 47 The cold still pursued me. 1895Salmond Chr. Doctr. Immort. vi. iii. 647 The penalties of a selfish life and wasted opportunity pursue one beyond death.
3. To prosecute in a court of law, to sue (a person). Chiefly Sc.
1580Rot. Scacc. Reg. Scot. XXI. 548 Persewing the said Alexander for mair nor ten thousand pundis. 1643Declar. Com., Reb. Irel. 58 The Lords of his Majesties Privy Councell have given order that Nithisdail and Aboyne be cited, and criminally pursued of high Treason. 1688Pennsylv. Archives I. 102 All..such Person or Persons shall be pursued with the utmost Severities and the greatest Rigor. 1876World V. 8 She cannot be pursued in Germany, for there she has committed no crime. 1893Dict. Nat. Biog. XXXIII. 403 She ‘pursued’ him in the Scottish courts in November 1703 for the sum of 500 l.
4. To follow, as an attendant; to come after in order, or in time. Now rare or Obs.
c1470Henry Wallace vi. 120 Schyr Jhon the Grayme,..To Laynrik come, gud Wallace to persew. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xii. 26 Fortune pursue thee. 1658Bramhall Consecr. Bps. iii. 74 Here we see..how al things do pursue one another. 1700Dryden Meleager & Atalanta 339 My son requires my death, and mine shall his pursue. 1755Gray Progr. Poesy 64 Her track, where'er the Goddess roves, Glory pursue, and generous Shame. 1789W. Gilpin Wye (ed. 2) 119 Grand woody promontories, pursuing each other, all rich to profusion.
b. To follow the course of (in description, etc.); to trace. poetic. In quot. 1883 = follow v. 10.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 1 The Gifts of Heav'n my foll'wing Song pursues. 1712Addison Hymn, ‘When all thy mercies’ xi, Through every Period of my Life Thy Goodness I'll pursue. 1883F. M. Peard Contrad. vii, Said Lady Molyneux, pursuing them with her eye-glass.
5. To sue for, to seek after; to try to obtain or accomplish, to aim at.
1390Gower Conf. III. 154 In Rome, to poursuie his riht. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiv. 152 Oþer iles þare er, wha so wald pursue þam, by þe whilk men myght ga all aboute þe erthe. c1440Jacob's Well v. 29 Þat he may noȝt defendyn hym þere, ne pursewyn his ryȝt. 1538Starkey England i. i. 7 For euer that wych ys best ys not of al men..to be persuyd. 1594Kyd Cornelia iii. iii. 83 He murdred Pompey that pursu'd his death. 1611Bible Ps. xxxiv. 14 Seeke peace and pursue it. 1712Steele Spect. No. 462 ⁋4 He pursued Pleasure more than Ambition. 1874Carpenter Ment. Phys. i. vii. (1879) 318 The mind instinctively pursues what is pleasurable.
†b. To make it one's aim or endeavour, to try (to do something). Obs.
1390Gower Conf. III. 82 Such Sorcerie..I schal eschuie, That so ne wol I noght poursuie Mi lust of love forto seche. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 67, I counsaile thow pursue all thy lyve To lyve in peas. c1430Hymns Virg. 62 Þi foote þou holde, And pursue for to passe þe beest. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxxix. 308 People and men of warre, that wolde pursue to go into Castell.
†6. To seek to reach or attain to, to make one's way to. Obs.
c1470Henry Wallace vi. 190 Than Cartlane craggis thai persewit full fast. 1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 478 All my luffaris lele, my lugeing persewis. a1520― Poems ix. 84 To keipe the festuall and the fasting day, The mess on Sonday, the parroche kirk persew. 1611Heywood Gold. Age ii. i, Dianae's Cloyster I will next pursue. 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. 855 Here stop, my Muse..No Pinions can pursue Immortal height.
†b. To attack, assail, besiege. Sc. Obs.
c1470Henry Wallace viii. 498 Sotheroun marueld giff it suld be Wallace, With out souerance come to persew that place. 1547Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 81 Our auld ynemeis intendis to cum and persew the said house..to recover the samyn furth of the said lordis handis. 1583Ibid. III. 567 A greit nowmer of wickit and seditious personis..persewit the houssis of the provest and ane of the baillies.
7. To follow (a path, way, course); to proceed along; = follow v. 1 b. Now chiefly fig. In quot. 1390, to go through in reading, to peruse.
1390Gower Conf. III. 46 For full enformacioun The Scole which Honorious Wrot, he poursuieth. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 120 They could not choose but chearefully pursue the same way of Art. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 449 We too far the pleasing Path pursue. 1709Steele Tatler No. 97 ⁋2 To consider what Course of Life he ought to pursue. 1788Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 369, I..shall pursue the course of the Rhine as far as the roads will permit me. 1879R. K. Douglas Confucianism iii. 72 The Sage..pursues the heavenly way without the slightest deflection.
8. To proceed in compliance or accordance with; = follow v. 8. Now only with method, plan, scheme, system, and the like: see quots. 1817–79.
1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 9039 Al hys desyrs thow pursues. 1656Bramhall Replic. vi. 241 This is not to alter the Institutions..of generall Councells..but..to tread in their stepps, and to pursue their grounds. 1718Pope Iliad xi. 192 The king's example all his Greeks pursue. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xiv, As we were going to pursue this advice. 1817Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. i. 315 The following scheme was invented and pursued. 1879Techn. Drawing in Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 69/2 The same system is now to be pursued.
9. To follow up, carry on further, proceed with, continue (a course of action, etc. begun).
1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 119 Nocht all men that pursewis bataill is nocht cled with that vertu of force. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. (1823) cxv. iv, Israel pursue Thy trust in God. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iii. xxxvi. (S.T.S.) I. 191 Thay drew to pairties, and began to pe[r]sew the mater wt swordes. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. iv. ii. 76, I cannot pursue with any safety this sport [to] the vppeshot. 1668Dryden Evening's Love iv. i, This is the Folly of a bleeding Gamester, who will obstinately pursue a losing Hand. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough I. 99 The Earl was resolved to pursue this good Success. 1759Johnson Rasselas xxv, The Princess persues her enquiry. 1796Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xxx, The subject was pursued no farther. 1802E. Forster tr. Arab. Nts. (1815) II. 355 The brothers then pursued their journey.
b. Law. To carry on (an action); to lay (information); to present (a libel). Chiefly Sc. (Cf. 3 and 13 b.)
1478Acta Dom. Conc. 3/1 Þe accioun and cause persewit be William of Cavers..on þe ta part again Andro broun..one þe tother part. 1530–1Act 22 Hen. VIII, c. 12 The moytee thereof to be to him that pursueth the informacion for the same. c1750Interlocutor in J. Louthian Process (ed. 2) 152 The Lords Justice-Clerk and Commissioners of Justiciary, having considered the Libel pursued at the Instance of A. B. of ― [etc.].
10. To follow as an occupation or profession; to carry on, practise; to make a pursuit of.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccxx. 735, I have..pursewed myne offyce, to the honoure of you and of your people. 1673S. C. Art of Complaisance 25 When we enterprise any affair with hopes well conceived..we pursue it with all perseverance. 1779Gentl. Mag. XLIX. 363 He persued..his studies, or his amusements without persecution, molestation or insult. 1851Helps Comp. Solit. i. (1874) 2 Others may pursue science or art.
II. Absolute and intransitive uses.
11. To go in chase or pursuit.
c1350Will. Palerne 2196 Þe puple þanne porsewed forþ & of here prey þei missed. 1390Gower Conf. III. 236 The womman fleth and he poursuieth. 1611Bible Prov. xxviii. 1 The wicked flee when no man pursueth. 1755Gray Progr. Poesy 32 Now pursuing, now retreating, Now in circling troops. 1853M. Arnold Scholar Gypsy xxii, Far on the forest-skirts, where none pursue.
b. to pursue after, to follow in pursuit, to chase; = sense 2. Also with indirect passive.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 158 Peter..pursued after, Bothe iames & Iohan, Ihesu for to seke. a1400Arthur 574 Arthour on gret haste Pursywed after hym faste. 1560Bible (Genev.) Exod. xiv. 9 And the Egyptians pursued after them. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. vii. §15 Left to be pursued after by hunger and cold. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 66 To take every horse he had..and to pursue after the fugitives.
†c. to pursue for, to seek or ‘hunt’ after.
1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 1892 Þei pursue ay for pluralite.
†12. To proceed with hostile intent against some one; with on, upon, to, to attack, assail. Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1177 He pur-sued in to palastyn with proude men mony. c1400Destr. Troy 2773 To pursew On hom þat hir holdis, & vs harme dyd. Ibid. 4853 All þis wale pepull Are comyn to þis cost..And pursuyt to þis prouynse in purpos to venge Of harmys. c1440Alphabet of Tales 158 Þan þe Romans..wold suffre it no langer, & rase & pursewid opon hym, & drafe hym oute of þe cetie. 1480Caxton Cron. Eng. clxiv. 148 Kyng edward..ordeyned men to pursue vpon hym—and dauyd ferselich hym defended. c1500New Not-b. Mayd (Percy Soc.) 33 Yet yf that shrewe To hym pursue.
†13. To make one's suit; to sue, entreat. Obs.
1390Gower Conf. II. 13 For after that a man poursuieth To love, so fortune suieth. c1400Destr. Troy 11431 Þai..chosyn Antenor..with the grekes to trete, And pursew for pes. 1414Brampton Penit. Ps. 25 To thi mercy I will pursewe, Wyth ‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’ c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xi. 7 Ȝe may wt honesty persew, Gif ȝe be constant, trest, & trew.
b. spec. To sue in a court of law; to make suit as plaintiff or pursuer. In later use chiefly Sc.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 302 For þere þat partye pursueth þe pele is so huge, Þat þe kynge may do no mercy. 1389Eng. Gilds 71 Yei shul pursu for her Catelle in qwat cowrte yat hem liste. c1440Jacob's Well 29 Wherby þe man is lettyd of his ryȝt, be-cause he may noȝt pursewe in holy cherch-lawe. c1470Harding Chron. clviii. ii, That al Scottes, and other that were pursuyng Might there appere, their titles claimyng. a1639Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. ii. (1677) 55 If they should happen to die intestate, it was made lawful to their nearest kinsmen to call and pursue for the same. 1756M. Calderwood Journey (1842) 226 He was bred a papist, but his mother..set on the protestant heir to pursue for his estate.
†14. To follow as an attendant or supporter. Obs.
c1470Henry Wallace iv. 197 He thaim comandyt ay next him to persew; For he thaim kend rycht hardye, wis and trew. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 1292 Heir I mak yow ane grant,..Ay to your presence to persew, with al my seruice.
†15. To follow or come after in order. Obs.
1485Rolls of Parlt. VI. 332/2 The Dede and Fyne, wherof the tenoure persueth. 1529More Dyaloge iv. xvii. Wks. 284/2 Rewarde or punishement, pursuing vpon all our dooinges. 1688Holme Armoury i. i. 2 Lest..scandal do arise and effusion of blood do persue.
†16. To proceed continuously. In quot. a 1651, to go or come forth, issue. Obs.
1500–20Dunbar Poems lxiv. 6 In to ȝour garthe this day I did persew. a1651Life Humphrey in Fuller Abel Rediv. (1867) II. 92 Those weighty words which pleasantly pursued out of his mouth. 1652Loveday tr. Calprenede's Cassandra iii. 189 But we pursued on our way, resigning our selves to the protection and guidance of the Gods.
17. To continue (to do or say something); to go on (speaking). Also with on.
1500–20Dunbar Poems xlvi. 12 Quhair did, vpone the tothair syd, persew A nychtingall, with suggurit notis new. 1583T. Watson Centurie of Loue (Arb.) 129 In the other two staffes following, the Authour pursueth on his matter. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xi, But, (pursues Eusebius) this may supply us with another Reflection. 1718Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell i. §33. 58 Notwithstanding this he persued on with all the Meekness of Wisdom. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) i. iii. 17 ‘And I have buried the poor cat’, pursued Forester: ‘and I hope [etc.]’. 1837Whewell Hist. Induct. Sc. i. ii. §2 ‘Something of this’, he pursues, ‘may be seen in language’.
Hence purˈsued ppl. a., purˈsuing vbl. n. and ppl. a.; also purˈsuingly adv.
1716Macfarlane's Geneal. Collect. (1901) I. 136 He was obliged to give his bond for the *pursued Sum. 1742J. Willison Balm of Gilead (1800) xv. 197 Pursued shelterless sinners hearken to Christ's voice.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 206 How hise martirs shulen do in tyme of her *pursuynge. c1380― Wks. (1880) 138 Bi strong pursuynge to deþ of alle trewe men. 1651G. W. tr. Cowel's Inst. 58 If a swarm of Bees forsake my hive, they are said to be mine so long as they continue in my sight and that the persuing of them becomes not impossible. 1864Longfellow Wind over Chimney x, No endeavor is in vain; Its reward is in the doing, And the rapture of pursuing Is the prize the vanquished gain.
1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 282 As a wall against the *pursuing enemy. 1686A. Horneck Crucif. Jesus xviii. 520 The pursuing judgment of God.
1855Tait's Mag. XXII. 422 Many women do love as eagerly..as *pursuingly—as Caroline Helstone is said to have done.
▪ II. ˈpursue, n.
(in draw pursue, etc.): see persue. |