| 释义 |
chivalry|ˈʃɪvəlrɪ, ˈtʃɪvəlrɪ|
Forms: 3–4 chy-, chivalerye, -ie, 4 chevalerie, chyualrie, 4–5 chiualrye, 4–6 cheuelry(e, chevelry, Sc. chewalry, 4–7 chevalrie, -ry, chyualry(e, chivalrie, 5 cheyvalery(e, chevallry, 6 chevalree, 7 chivaldry, -altry, 5– chivalry.
[ME., a. OF. chevalerie (11th c.), chivalerie = Pr. cavalaria, Sp. caballería, Pg. cavallería, It. cavalleria knighthood, horse-soldiery, cavalry, a Romanic deriv. of late L. caballerius (Capitularies 807):—L. caballāri-us rider, horseman, cavalier: see -ery, -ry. (The same word has in later times come anew from It. into Fr. and Eng., as cavalerie, cavalry.) As a ME. word the proper historical pronunciation is with (tʃ-); but the more frequent pronunciation at present is with |ʃ-|, as if the word had been received from modern French.]
1. collect. Knights or horsemen equipped for battle.
†a. The contemporary name for the ‘men-at-arms’, or mounted and fully armed fighting-men, of the Middle Ages. Obs. (In OF. chevalier translates miles, chevalerie = militia.)
c1300K. Alis. 1495 He schipeth into Libie, With al his faire chivalrie. c1320Sir Beues 2217 Þai wolde after vs..Wiþ wonder-gret cheualrie, And do vs schame and vileinie. 1393Gower Conf. III. 252 A parte of the chivalrie With him to suppe in compaignie Hath bede. c1400Melayne 203 With fourty thowsande chevalry Of worthy men of Were. 1485Malory Arthur i. xiv. (Globe) 39/2 The eleven kings with their chivalry never turned back. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxxvii. 302 Sir John Mountfort..had..taken all the cheualry of Bretayne.
†b. as collect. sing. A body of men-at-arms.
1375Barbour Bruce iv. 187 King Eduard..gaderit a gret cheuelry.
†c. Applied by early translators to the horsemen (ἵππος, equitatus, equites) of ancient Greece and Rome, for which cavalry is the modern equivalent. Obs.
1529Rastell Pastyme (1811) 15 Lucius Tarquinius..captayn of cheualry. 1552Lyndesay Monarche 4030 Prince Tytus, with his Chewalrye. c1580Sidney Psalms xx. vi, Let trust of some men be In chariots, and some in chivalry [hi in curribus et hi in equis]. 1581Marbeck Bk. Notes 651 Hermogenes master of the Chiualrie, was slaine. 1796Potter Antiq. Greece i. xxvi. (1715) 181 The chivalry shall be detacht out of the most puissant and wealthy Athenians.
†d. Rarely applied to cavalry in the ordinary modern sense. Obs.
1560Whitehorne Arte of Warre 59 a. 1693Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 65 The elector of Bavaria had remounted his chivalry.
e. As a historical term for the mediæval men-at-arms. Occasionally applied poetically or idealistically to ‘cavalry’ or ‘horsemen’ in general, esp. when chivalrous gallantry is attributed.
1556Chron. Gr. Friars (1852) 13 The lordes and chevaltre of France..wolde have stoppyd [Hen. V] the kynges waye, that he shulde not passe to Callys. 1570B. Googe Pop. Kingd. i. (1880) 5 Able..to decke the fieldes with lustie cheualrie. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 20 And by his Light Did all the Cheualrie of England moue To do braue Acts. 1667Milton P.L. i. 307 The Red-Sea Coast, whose waves orethrew Busiris and his Memphian Chivalrie. Ibid. 765 At the Soldan's Chair Defy'd the best of Panim Chivalry To mortal Combat. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. I. xv. 518 A valorous knight, who charged at the head of the Spanish chivalry..against the Moors. 1802Campbell Hohenlinden, Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave, And charge with all thy chivalry! 1836W. Irving Astoria II. 311 They met with some of the ‘chivalry’ of that noted pass. 1843Prescott Mexico v. ii. (1864) 281 Cortez and his chivalry rode down the whole extent of the great street.
f. In more extended and complimentary sense: Gallant gentlemen.
1816Byron Ch. Har. iii. xxi, There was a sound of revelry by night, And Belgium's capital had gathered then Her Beauty and her Chivalry, and bright The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men. a1839Praed Poems (1864) II. 408 When Loveliness and Chivalry Were met to feast together. 1883W. H. Brewer in Daily Tel. 10 July 5/3 The galloping turf was for the chivalry of the South.
†2. As at one time the ‘chivalry’ constituted the main strength of a mediæval army (the archers, slingers, etc. being mere subordinate adjuncts), the word had sometimes the value of ‘army’, ‘host’.
1382Wyclif Gen. xxi. 33 Phicol, the prince of his chyualrye [Vulg. princeps exercitus ejus]. 1388― Jer. xix. 13 Thei sacrifieden to al the chyualrie [1382 knyȝthed] of heuene. 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 275 All the chyualry of heuen prayseth her. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 94/3 A grete companye of cheualrye of heuen.
3. The position and character of a knight, knighthood.
†a. generally. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. (1724) 216 Þo hii seye her kyng aslawe, flour of chyualerye! c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1818 Lucrece, Whi hast tow don dispit to chiualrye? Whi hast thow don this lady vilanye? 1393Gower Conf. III. 237 How this king in womanhede Was falle fro chivalerie. 1486Bk. St. Albans, Her. A iiij b, Foure vertues of cheualry. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal., To his Bk., To him that is the President Of Noblesse and of chevalree. 1601Weever Mirr. Mart. C iiij, Great Bolingbrooke this type of chiualrie. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 249 Braue Troylus the Prince of Chiualrie. 1700Dryden Fables, Pal. & Arc. i. 101 He swore That by the faith which knights to knighthood bore, And whate'er else to chivalry belongs. 1779–81Johnson L.P., Butler Wks. II. 185 Pedantic ostentation of knowledge which has no relation to chivalry.
†b. In early use, esp. Bravery or prowess in war; warlike distinction or glory. Phrase, to do chivalry. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. (1724) 211 He bed hym sywy, trwelyche to do chyualerye. c1325Chron. Eng. 225 in Ritson Metr. Rom. II. 279 Hy weren men of Chevalerie. 1375Barbour Bruce ii. 345 Thai saw Thar fayis ridand..Willful to do chewalry. c1386Chaucer Prol. 45 Fro þe time þat he ferst bigan To riden out, he louede chyualrye Trouthe and honour fredom and curtesye. c1400Destr. Troy 5985 Thurghe Achilles chiualry hom cheuyt the worse. c1475Sqr. lowe Degre 1054 He hath bene in Lombardy And done he hath great chyvalry. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxvi, So through Godde's helpe he had then the victory and bare thens a glorious chyvalrye. 1513Douglas æneis xi. Prol. 1 Hie renowne of Martis cheuelrie. 1534Whittinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 28 The desyre of fame by chyualry [studium bellicæ gloriæ]. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. i. 203 You shall see Iustice designe the Victors Chiualrie. Ibid. ii. i. 54 This England..Renowned..For Christian seruice, and true Chiualrie. 1652Brome Joviall Crew Prol., No Power can redresse Th' Afflicted Wanderers, though stout Chevalry Lend all his aid for their delivery.
c. The military art (of the middle ages), knightly skill and practice in arms and martial achievements. arch.
c1440Promp. Parv. 76 Chyualry or knyghtehoode, milicia. 1475Bk. Noblesse 21 Vegecius in his boke of Chivalrie [Institutio Rei militaris]. 1481Caxton Myrr. i. v. 29 It happed neuer..that clergye cheualrye & laboures of therthe myght be well knowne by one only man. 1489― Faytes of A. i. i. 1 Experte in tharte of chyualrye. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. ix. (Arb.) 157 The resydewe of the daye they passe ouer in playes and exercise of cheualrye [exercitio militaris disciplinæ]. 1611Bible Pref. 2 He excelled in feates of chiualrie. 1616Bullokar, Chiualrie, Knighthood, the Knowledge of a Knight or Nobleman in feats of armes. 1618Bolton Florus (1636) 104 Spaine, that brave martiall Countrey, ennobled for Chevalry [viris armisque nobilem]. 1655Francion i–iii. 73 My greatest pastime..was to read the feats of Chivaldry. 1805Scott Last Minstr. 8 The last of all the Bards was he, who sung of Border Chivalry.
fig.1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 49 [They] þat gooþ to holy chevalrie [ad sacram militiam].
d. Knighthood as a rank or order. arch.
c1450Merlin xii. 186 Who so myght take ordere of chiualrye moste in eny wise be a gode knyght. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 336/4 Thenne the quene..made them alle to swere this newe chyualrye. 1608Shakes. Per. ii. ii. 29 His device, a wreath of chivalry. 1625Bacon Ess., Greatness Kingd. (Arb.) 491 There be now, for Martiall Encouragement, some Degrees and Orders of Chiualry; which neuerthelesse, are conferred promiscuously, vpon Soldiers, and no Soldiers. 1663Butler Hud. i. 18 Never bent his stubborn knee To anything but Chivalry. 1796H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 488 That an order of Chivalry might be instituted, in imitation of the Civic Crown.
†4. A feat of knightly valour; a gallant deed, exploit. Obs. or arch.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4578 He smot of is heued as liȝtliche as it were a stouple · Þat was is laste chiualerye. c1375Barbour Bruce vi. 12 How ony man sa suddandly Micht do sa gret a cheuelry. c1450Merlin xiv. 220 Many feire chivalryes shewed on the oo parte and on the tother. 1485Caxton Paris & V. 16 Eche of you do Valyantly hys armes and hys chyvalryes. c1580Sidney (J.) Acts less famous, because they were but private chivalries. 1823Lockhart Span. Ball., Introd. 13 In the..chivalries celebrated in the Castilian Ballads.
5. The knightly system of feudal times with its attendant religious, moral, and social code, usages, and practices. age of chivalry: the period during which this prevailed.
1765Percy Reliq. Prelim. Ess., K. Richard I..the great hero of Chivalry. 1774Warton Eng. Poetry I. i. 65 The ideas of chivalry, the appendage and the subject of Romance, subsisted among the Goths. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 149 The age of chivalry is gone..The unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroick enterprise is gone! 1823Byron Juan xiii. xi, Cervantes smiled Spain's chivalry away. 1829Arnold in Life & Corr. (1845) I. 255 If I were called upon to name what spirit of evil predominantly deserved the name of Antichrist, I should name the spirit of chivalry—the more detestable for the very guise of the ‘Archangel ruined’, which has made it so seductive to the most generous minds. 1841–4Emerson Ess. Hist. Wks. (Bohn) I. 12 The student interprets the age of chivalry by his own age of chivalry. 1855Milman Lat. Chr. vii. vi, Chivalry..left upon European manners..a punctilious regard for honour, a generous reverence for justice, and a hatred of injustice. 1857Buckle Civilis. I. ix. 579 In the eleventh century there arose the celebrated institution of chivalry, which was to manners what feudalism was to politics. 1876Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxiv. 482 Chivalry..is in morals very much what feudalism is in law; each substitutes..obligations devised in the interests of an exclusive class, for the more homely duties of an honest man and a good citizen.
6. The brave, honourable, and courteous character attributed to the ideal knight; disinterested bravery, honour, and courtesy; chivalrousness.
1790Burke [see 5]. 1822K. Digby Broadst. Hon. (1829) 89 Chivalry is only a name for that general spirit or state of mind which disposes men to heroic and generous actions. 1855Milman Lat. Chr. vii. vi, All the noble sentiments, which blended together are chivalry. 1862Trollope Orley F. xl. (ed. 4) 289 He felt himself bound..to cling to her himself. Such was the special chivalry of the man. 1874Sidgwick Meth. Ethics iii. viii. §2. 302 Generosity or Chivalry towards adversaries or competitors seems to consist in shewing as much kindness and regard for their well-being as is compatible with the ends and conditions of conflict. 1885L. Stephen in Athenæum 28 Nov. 696/3 Chivalry of feeling, as I understand the word, means a refinement of the sense of justice—an instinctive capacity for sympathizing with every one who is the victim of oppression.
7. Flower of Chivalry: in various senses:
a. Flower or fairest type of knighthood, or of feudal chivalry;
b. the prize or highest honour of knightly prowess;
c. the choice portion of a force of armed knights.
1297[see 3 a]. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 124 And in his hoost of Chiualrie the flour. c1440Partonope 1227 The rereward..wherin the floure Is herbowred of his Cheualrye. Ibid. 1902 This hethen kyng..Which of chevalry beryth the flour Of alle the sette in hethen lay. 1494Fabyan vii. ccxxxiv. 269 The kynge..with the flowre of that Chyualry of Fraunce set forthward. c1500Lancelot 2181 The flour of knychthed and of chevalry. 1587Thynne Holinshed in Animadv. (1865) Introd. 77 Which duke [Black Prince], being the flower of Chivalrie in his time. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 26 Flowre of chevalrie. 1700Dryden Fables, Pal. & Arc. i. 120 His host, the flower of Grecian chivalry. 1795Southey Joan of Arc xii. 517 Our English swords..Cut down the flower of all their chivalry. 1821― Vis. Judgem. viii, He of the sable mail, the hero of Cressy, Flower of chivalry. 1833Longfellow Coplas de Manrique xxxix, When all the flower of chivalry Was in his train.
†8. Old Law. Tenure by knight's service (abolished in 1662, and since only Hist.). guardian or warden in chivalry: The guardian of a minor holding by knight's service. Obs. exc. Hist.
[1292Britton iii. ii. §1 Plusours maneres de tenures dount touz les plus sount de chevalerie et de graunt serjaunties.] 1574tr. Littleton's Tenures 10 b, And them [xx. acres of lande] hath and occupieth as warden in chivalry duringe the chyldes nonage. 1641Termes de la Ley 57 b, The services are all by Littleton divided into two sorts, Chivalry and Socage; the one martiall and military, the other clownish and rusticall. 1765Blackstone Comm. ii. v, Incident to the tenure in chivalry. 1876Green Short Hist. ix. 607 The conversion of lands held till then [12 Car. II. cap. 24] in chivalry into lands held in common socage.
†9. Court of Chivalry (curia militaris): a court formerly held before the Lord High Constable and the Earl Marshal of England, having cognizance of matters relating to deeds of arms out of the realm. When deprived of its criminal jurisdiction it continued to judge civil cases concerning points of honour and family distinction. Obs.
1616Selden tr. Fortescue xxxii, So as the Cognisance of it belong to the jurisdiction of the said Court of Chivalry. Note: That Court..hath long been discontinued..The Court of Chivalrie, wherein all matters of Armes, Treason committed beyond Sea, Warre, and the like, which could not be tried at the Common Law, were determinable. 1644Coke On Litt. iv. xvii, The Honorable Court of Chivalry before the Constable and Marshall..this Court is the fountain of the Marshall law. 1863H. Cox Instit. ii. ii. 321 footnote.
¶10. improperly. Team of horses. [cf. cheval.]
1863Worsley Poems & Trans., Phaethon 12 Nor even thus..had curbed That chivalry divine.
11. Comb., as chivalry-play, chivalry-ribbon, chivalry-romance.
1827Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 52 The Sentimentalists, the Chivalry-play writers. 1839― Chartism iii. 121 Chivalry-ribbons, and plebeian gallows-ropes. 1849Southey Comm.-pl. Bk. Ser. ii. 230 The chivalry-romances are all battles. |