| 释义 |
ˈsingleness
[f. single a. + -ness.]
1. Sincerity, straightforwardness, honesty, integrity; freedom from deceit, duplicity, or guile.
1526Tindale 2 Cor. ix. 11 That..ye maye be made ryche in all Synglenes. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. 54 The poorer they became..throughe theyr godly liberalitie, the rycher are they growen in gentle heartes and singlenes. 1796F. Burney Camilla III. 392 Ashamed to have heeded..advice so contrary to the singleness of the doctrines of her father. a1822Shelley Assassins i. Prose Wks. 1888 II. 148 A character superior in singleness and sincere self-apprehension to the slavery of pagan customs. 1845Disraeli Sybil (1863) 108 With artlessness..and a degree of earnest singleness. 1874Creighton Hist. Ess. i. (1902) 13 The purity and singleness of his first motive was gone.
b. Const. of heart, mind, eye, etc.
1535Coverdale Wisd. i. 1 Haue a good opinion of the Lorde, & seke him in the synglenesse of hert. 1575–85Abp. Sandys Serm. xx. 357 The thirde [virtue] is singlenesse of heart. 1660Jer. Taylor Worthy Comm. i. v. 94 We must speak of his power..with joyfulness and singleness or simplicitie of heart. 1798V. Knox Chr. Phil. (ed. 3) Pref. p. x, A consciousness of having, with singleness of heart, espoused a cause beneficial to mankind. 1828Macaulay Hallam Ess. (1897) 57 Unsparing devotion, boldness of speech, and singleness of eye. 1842Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. ix. 154 Miss Martineau is a person of great singleness of mind, sincere and truthful. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. p. xxxiii, Respected for his integrity, industry, and singleness of character. 1885North Star 18 May 3/2 Doing what he held to be his life-work with singleness of soul.
2. The state or condition of being unmarried, or of not marrying again (quot. a 1817); celibacy.
1560Bible (Geneva) 1 Cor. vii. 28 note, He doth not preferre singlenes as a thing more holy than mariage. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 437 Whether becometh better the ministers of the church, mariage or singlenesse. 1788F. Burney Diary 24 July, Whether he is happy or not in marrying, I am sure he will be wretched in singleness. 1800Wordsw. Michael 78 His days had not been passed in singleness. His Helpmate was a comely matron. a1817Jane Austen Persuasion i, Sir Walter's continuing in singleness requires explanation. 1881H. James Portr. Lady xliv, She appeared to have accepted the idea of eternal singleness.
b. A single or unmarried person. rare—1.
1818Byron Let. to Rogers 3 March, They are marrying the remaining singleness of the royal family.
3. The quality of being single; the fact of consisting of one in number or kind; oneness.
In the Shakes. quotation used punningly for ‘simplicity’.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 70 O single sol'd ieast, Soly singular for the singlenesse. 1608R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1842) 4 Since all is one, and one all that's car'd for, singlenesse hath such regard [etc.]. 1620Venner Via Recta viii. 176 Neither alwaies..ought variety, or singlenes of meats to be exhibited. 1839Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xlii. 574 The mind becomes impressed with the singleness of nature's laws. 1841D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 130 The first writers, combining in a singleness of taste, may construct a particular style. 1870Rolleston Anim. Life p. xcv, The singleness of the larval velum.
†b. Unmixed nature or quality. Obs.—1
1695Ld. Preston Boeth. iv. 194 That pure Simplicity or Singleness, dwelling in the Divine Nature.
†c. Singularity. Obs. rare.
1728R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. 21 Novelty and Singleness were as destroying..to Art, as all the Barbarism..of the Enemies of the Romans. Ibid. 22 To appear single for the sake of Singleness.
4. The fact of standing alone; solitude, solitariness, isolation.
1805Wordsw. Prelude xiv. 211 Here keepest thou in singleness thy state: No other can divide with thee this work. 1816Byron Prisoner of Chillon xiii. note, From its singleness and diminutive size [it] has a peculiar effect upon the view.
5. The quality or fact of having one single aim or purpose; concentration of the faculties upon one object. Const. of (purpose, aim, etc.).
1806Wordsw. Happy Warrior 40 Who comprehends his trust, and to the same Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim. 1833–5J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) ii. ii. ii. 234 His unrivalled charm..lies in his singleness of purpose. 1873Hamerton Intell. Life x. ii. 344 He lived in it with an unhesitating singleness of purpose. 1886Athenæum 30 Oct. 560/3 His failure seems..due to a want of singleness of aim. |