| 释义 |
Burmese, a. and n.|bɜːˈmiːz|
Also † Birmese.
[f. Burma + -ese.]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to Burma or its inhabitants or their language.
1823A. Judson in F. Wayland Mem. (1853) I. 256 Translated from the Burmese original. 1827H. G. Bell in Constable's Misc. IX. (title) A Narrative of the Late Military and Political Operations in the Birmese Empire. 1842A. Judson Burmese Lang. 5 The Burmese alphabet consists of ten vowels..and thirty two consonants. 1876Encycl. Brit. IV. 551 The Burmese empire with its present limits contains no maritime districts. 1920Blackw. Mag. Oct. 519/2 Adorable Burmese babies. 1965[see sense B. 2].
b. In the specific names of minerals, fauna, etc., found in Burma, as Burmese naphtha; Burmese cat, a breed of domestic cat (see quots.); also ellipt.; Burmese squirrel, a squirrel native to Burma and Tenasserim, closely allied to Sciurus caniceps; Burmese worm, a mulberry-feeding silkworm found domesticated in India.
1939I. M. Mellen Pract. Cat Book i. 3 Various long-haired cats of the Orient, Persian, Angora, Russian, Burmese, etc. Ibid. i. 26 The Burmese Cat..is of medium size, muscular, with slim legs, the hind legs being long and tilting the body slightly downward. 1962House & Garden Dec. 6/3 The fashionable Burmese, which..combine the fluffy coat of the Persian with Siamese colouring and eyes.
1858Fownes Man. Chem. (ed. 7) 655 The Burmese naphtha (Rangoon tar)..consists principally of liquid homologues of marsh gas, associated with small quantities of hydro⁓carbons of the benzol-series, [etc.]. 1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 60 Bombyx arracanensis, the Burmese worm. Ibid. 438 Burmese squirrel.
B. n.
1. A native of Burma; also collect.
1824T. Evans Disp. 11 Oct. in W. James Naval Hist. Gt. Brit. (1837) VI. 465 The Burmese jumping overboard to save themselves. 1842A. Judson Burmese Lang. 9 The character °..is reckoned among the consonants, by the Burmese. 1876Encycl. Brit. IV. 551 The sugar cane appears to have been long known to the Burmese. Ibid. 552 The Burmese in person have the Mongoloid characteristics. 1876‘J. Bradley’ Trav. & Sport ii. 29 These people, like all other Burmese, were vivacious and noisy. 1885G. C. Whitworth Anglo-Ind. Dict. 54/2 Burman, a native of Burma, a Burmese. 1937C. V. Warren Burmese Interlude xxi. 141 The ‘victories’ claimed by the Burmese in their riots during 1930 against the Chinese and Indians.
2. The language of Burma.
1842A. Judson Burmese Lang. 6 The pronunciation of the cerebrals and the dentals, though different in the Sungskrit, is the same in the Burmese. 1894R. F. St. John Burmese Reader Pref., It is a great mistake to suppose that Burmese..can be learnt properly from a phrase-book. 1965B. Sweet-Escott Baker St. Irreg. viii. 246 None of us could speak Burmese, but..he proposed to read us the Burmese text of a letter he had received. |