| 释义 |
Sibyl|ˈsɪbɪl|
Forms: α. 4–7 sibil (4 sibbil), 5–7 sibill (7 sibell); 4–5, 7 sibille, 4, 6 sibile (5 Sc. sebile), 6 sibylle; 7– sibyl, 7–8 sibyll. β. 4 sybyl, 5 -ylle, 7 -yll; 4, 6– sybil, 5–7 sybill, 6–7 sybille.
[a. OF. Sibile, Sebile (F. Sibylle), or ad. med.L. Sibilla, L. Sibylla, Sibulla, a. Gr. σίβυλλα; the explanation of this as Doric σιοβόλλα = Attic θεοβούλη is given by Jerome. In sense 1 now usually written with a capital, in sense 2 with a small letter.]
1. One or other of certain women of antiquity who were reputed to possess powers of prophecy and divination.
In later times the number of these was usually set down as ten, flourishing at different times and places in Asia, Africa, Greece, and Italy.
a1300Cursor M. 6999 Þe first sibile o pers, Men findes of in al wers. c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 1450 He for sibille his suster sente, That called was Cassandre al aboute. 1390Gower Conf. II. 383 That Sibille of whom ye wite, That alle men yit clepen sage. c1450Myrr. our Ladye 299 Hethen prophesyes, whiche spake of the comynge of Crist, & specyally one of the Sybylles. 1513Douglas æneid vi. Prol. 70 Oft by Sibillis sawis he [Virgil] tonis his stevin. 1547–64Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) 2 Lactantius doubteth not to count him [Hermes] among the sibiles and prophets. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. ii. 56 The spirit of deepe Prophecie she hath, Exceeding the nine Sibyls of old Rome. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. v. xi. 250 The Pictures of the sybills are very common, and for their Prophecies of Christ in high esteem with Christians. 1712Addison Spect. No. 495 ⁋10 The Prophecies of the Sybils..made many Years after the Events they pretended to foretell. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. xliii. IV. 307 Their industry had scooped the Sibyll's cave into a prodigious mine. 1831–3E. Burton Eccl. Hist. xvii. (1845) 373 The verses of the Sibyls were known to the heathen from a remote antiquity. 1870Emerson Soc. & Solit. Wks. (Bohn) III. 54 The grand sibyls and prophets, painted in fresco by Michel Angelo.
transf.1513Douglas æneid vi. Prol. 145 Thou art our Sibill, Cristis modir deir.
2. A prophetess; a fortune-teller, a witch.
1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 56 How now Samela, wilt thou be a Sybil of mishap to thy self? 1604Shakes. Oth. iii. iv. 70 A Sybill..In her Prophetticke furie sow'd the Worke. 1632Heywood 1st Pt. Iron Age i. i, Thou art no Sibill, but from fury speak'st, Not inspiration; we reguard thee not. 1775Sheridan Duenna i. iii, Thou wanton sybil, thou amorous woman of Endor. Ibid. ii. iii, Handsome! Venus de Medicis was a sibyl to her. 1811J. B. S. Morritt Let. 28 Dec. in Lockhart Scott, I often heard of her in my early youth, from a sibyl who lived in the park. 1856G. H. Boker Francesca da Rimini i. i, Bah! on your sibyl and her prophecy! 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. vi. 111 O sibyl excellent, enough of adjuration!
attrib. and Comb.a1718Parnell Fairy Tale 181 This tale a Sybil-nurse areed. 1811W. R. Spencer Poems 115 To pow'r like thine no sybil spells pretend. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. vii, Shouting question after question into the Sibyl-cave of Destiny. 1839–52Bailey Festus (1848) xix. 220 She sibyl-like Instinct with inspiration.
3. Ornith. (See quot.)
1829Griffith tr. Cuvier VI. 437 Sibyl Warbler, Sylvia Sperata. |