| 释义 |
constable|ˈkʌnstəb(ə)l, ˈkɒn-|
Forms: 3 cunestable, 4–6 conestable, 4–7 cunstable, 5 connestable, constabyle, -bylle, -bill, cunstabylle, konstabel, 5–6 constabulle, cunstabulle, 6 connestabul, connistable, 7 conistable, 3– constable.
[ME., a. OF. cunestable, conestable (mod.F. connétable = Pr. conestable, Sp. condestable, Pg. condestavel, It. conestabile), repr. late L. comes stabulī count or officer of the stable, marshal (in the Theodosian Code a.d. 438, Gregory of Tours 575), corresponding to the earlier tribūnus stabulī (Ammianus), whence later comesta-, conestabulus: Skeat quotes from a document under date 807, ‘comes stabuli quem corrupte conestabulum appellamus’. Other med.L. forms were comestabilis, conestabilis, etc.: see Du Cange. The early development of the sense, whereby the comes stabuli, from being the head groom of the stable, became the principal officer of the household of the Frankish kings, and of the great feudatories, and the field-marshal or commander-general of the army, had taken place before the word came into English; the development was parallel to that of marshal. The earlier English uses were simply taken over from French.]
1. gen. The chief officer of the household, court, administration, or military forces of a ruler.
a1240Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 247 Wit þe husbonde godes cunestable cleopeð warschipe forð ant makið hire durewart. c1320Sir Tristr. 2169 Now haþ ysoude her wille, Tristrem constable is heiȝe. 1375Barbour Bruce vi. 201 Ethiocles Bad his constabill vith hym ta Fifty weill Armyt, and forouth ga To meit thedeus in the way. c1380Sir Ferumb. 4445 Þe Amyral hadde y-loued hym long..Constable he mad him of ys lond. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 256 Sholde neuere conscience be my constable, Were ich a kyng ycoroned. c1430Lydg. Bochas i. viii. (1544) 15 a, Zisara..Of king Jabin, called the great constable Of his hoost, leader, and gouernoure. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. (1880) 167 And the sayd paynym was conestable of al the londes of thadmyral.
2. spec.
a. Constable of France: the principal officer of the household of the early French kings, who ultimately rose to be commander-in-chief of the army in the absence of the monarch; he was the supreme judge of military offences and of questions of chivalry, and had the regulation of all matters connected with tilts, tournaments, trials by combat, etc.
The office was abolished in 1627; the title was revived by Napoleon I, but discontinued on his overthrow. An officer bearing the name of constable existed also in the households of the great feudal lords of France.
1475Bk. Noblesse (1860) 12 The erle of Eu, connestable of Fraunce..and others knightes and squiers were take prisoneris. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. vii. 15 Whome we call now in fraunce conestable. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vii. 135. 1777 Watson Philip II (1839) 15 Constable Montmorency, so much celebrated for his heroic valour. 1795Southey Joan of Arc x. 33 One day, Perhaps the Constable of France may learn He wrong'd Du Chastel. 1875Maine Hist. Inst. v. 139 The Constables of France repeatedly shook or saved the French throne.
b. Constable of England, Lord High Constable: one of the chief functionaries in the English royal household, with duties and powers similar to those of the same officer in France.
Together with the Earl Marshal, he was the judge of the Court of Chivalry, and in early times his powers of jurisdiction were extensive. The office, which had been made merely titular a few years before, was forfeited by Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, in 1521; since which time the title has been granted only temporarily for particular occasions, esp. the sovereign's coronation. Thus the Duke of Wellington was Lord High Constable at the coronation of Queen Victoria.
[1384Act 8 Rich. II, c. 5 Quod diversa placita..trahuntur jam de novo coram Constabulario et Marescallo.] 1520Chron. Eng. vii. 156/1 He was arested by the Vycounte Beaumont the Constable of Englande. 1538Starkey England ii. ii. (1871) 182 Our old aunceturys..ordeynyd a Connestabul of Englond, to conturpayse the authoryte of the prynce. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. i. 102 When I came hither, I was Lord High Constable, and Duke of Buckingham: now, poore Edward Bohun. 1700Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 892 The Earl of Chester (as Lord High Constable) carried the Sword of St. Edward, called Curteine, before the King. 1820Scott Ivanhoe xliv. 1863H. Cox Instit. iii. iv. 642 The Constable—Constabularius Regis or Constabularius Angliæ—seems to have been..(next the king) the supreme commander of the army.
c. Constable of Scotland: a chief officer in the Scottish royal household, having powers of jurisdiction in respect of all transgressions committed within four miles of the king's person, the parliament or privy council. (The hereditary title is still in existence.)
1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. (1885) 127 Quha is..ouir the kingis court to punise offenderis, Connistable, we cal. 1746–7Act 20 Geo. II, c. 43 §2 All heretable constabularies, other than the office of high constable of Scotland. 1881J. Russell Haigs ii. 29 This De Morville is therein designed Constable of Scotland. 1886Whitaker's Almanack (Scotland), Officers of State: Royal Household, Hereditary High Constable, Earl of Erroll.
d. The title of dignitaries in other countries.
c1350Will. Palerne 3842 Þan was þer a kud kniȝt þe cunstables sone of spayne, come wel þre daies bi-fore þe king for to help. 1718Berkeley Tour in Italy Wks. 1871 IV. 594 Marino, a pretty clean village, belonging to the Constable Colonna. 1777Watson Philip II (1839) 509 Velasco, the constable of Castile and governor of Milan. 1837Penny Cycl. VII. 357/2 Vittoria Colonna..was the daughter of Fabrizio Colonna, Great Constable of the kingdom of Naples.
3. The governor or warden of a royal fortress or castle. (Still the official title of the governors of some royal castles in England.)
[1215Magna Carta §29 Nullus constabularius distringat aliquem militem ad dandum denarios pro custodia castri, si, etc.] 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 565 Of castel of Keningwurþe wardeins þer were, Sir William de la Cowe, þat constable was þere. c1300Havelok 2366 Hwan he hauede of al þe lond Þe casteles alle in his hond, And conestables don þerinne. 1375Barbour Bruce viii. 507. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccix. 191 They token hir way toward Bristowe and ther the kyng..made sir hugh the spencer the fader as conestable and keper of the castel. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. xv. (1821) 647 The Constable sued for a Protection and rendered the Castle to Captaine Flower. 1891Whitaker's Almanack 92 Governor and Constable of Windsor Castle. Ibid. 234 London—Constable of the Tower.
fig.c1320Cast. Love 910 Þer þe castel is faste and stable And Charite is constable. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 16 Þe Cunstable of the Castel þat kepeþ hem alle Is a wys kniht wiþ alle, Sire Inwit he hette. 1393Ibid. C. xxiii. 214.
4. A military officer.
c1300K. Alis. 4329 Alisaundre hath, saun faile, Y-clepid to him ten constables. 1490Caxton Eneydos lx. (1890) 160/1 Eneas..called to hym Menesteus and Sarestum, that were connestables of his folke, and of the bataylles. 1570Levins Manip. 2/5 A constable, constabularius, Ethnarca. 1831Scott Ct. Rob. vii, My countryman, Whitikind, being a constable of our bands.
5. An officer of the peace. (See Sir J. Stephen Hist. Crim. Law, I. vii. 194–200.)
a. generally.
[1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 173 Þe kyng..Comaunde þe Cunstable [v.r. a Cunstable, B. ii. 198 a constable, C. iii. 210 a constable] þat Com at þe furste To a-Tache þe Traytours for eny Tresour. 1455Sc. Act Jas. II (1597) §60 Puir commounes ar greattumlie injured and oppressed be the Kingis Schireffes, Constables, and their ministers in time of Faires. ]1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. iv. 4 The Constables haue deliuer'd her ouer to mee: and shee shall haue Whipping cheere enough, I warrant her. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords App. (Camden) 143 They went and fetched a cunstable and searched all her howse. 1707G. Miege State Gt. Brit. i. 481 The common Officers appointed to seize upon Malefactors are those we call Constables. 1806A. Duncan Nelson's Fun. 26 Special, petty, and other constables..were on duty. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 132 He is dragged away or put out by the constables at the command of the prytanes. 1890G. J. Symons in Times 20 Dec. 5/6 Stories of pre-police days and of sleeping constables finding themselves on the pavement imprisoned in their own box.
b. High Constable: an officer of a hundred or other large administrative district, appointed to act as conservator of the peace within his district, and to perform various other duties. (Abolished in 1869.)
The office seems to have been originally established for military purposes, to raise the military force of the hundred in case of war or civil commotion; the duties attached to the office became in the course of time more of an administrative character.
[1285Act 13 Edw. I, Stat. Wynton c. 6 E en chescun hundred e fraunchise seyent eleus deus Conestables, a fere la veue des armes.] 1543Act 34–35 Hen. VIII, c. 26 (Wales) The said Justices of the Peace..shall appoint and name in euery hundred..two substantiall gentlemen, or yeomen to be chiefe Constables of the hundred wherin they inhabite, which two constables of euery hundred shall haue a speciall regard to the conseruation of the Kings peace. 1569B. Randolph in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 197 II. 255 The highe Constable of the saide Cytie and Lyberties taking with hym suche nomber of petit constables and others as to his discression sholde seme mete. 1715Act 1 Geo. I, in Lond. Gaz. No. 5348/4 High or Petty Constable, or other Peace Officer. 1827Act 7 & 8 Geo. IV, c. 31 §7 (Schedule) Form of Notice to the High Constable of a Hundred or other like District, or to the Peace Officer of a County of a City or Town. 1844Act 7 & 8 Vict. c. 33 An Act for..relieving High Constables from attendance at Quarter Sessions in certain cases. 1846McCulloch Brit. Empire (1854) II. 233 Papists were..prohibited from being high or petty constables. 1869Act 32 & 33 Vict. c. 47 An Act to provide for the discharge of the duties heretofore performed by High Constables, and for the abolition of such office. Ibid. §8 This Act may be cited as the High Constables Act. 1869.
c. Petty Constable or Parish Constable: an officer of a parish or township appointed to act as conservator of the peace and to perform a number of public administrative duties in his district. (Abolished, exc. as incorporated in the County Police system, in 1872.)
[1328Act 2 Edw. III, c. 3 Meire & Baillifs des Citees & Burghs deinz meismes les Citees & Burghs, Burghaldres, conestables, & gardeins de la pees deinz lour gardes, eint poair affaire execucion de cest acord.] 1472Presentmts. of Juries in Surtees Misc. (1890) 23 Wt the constabylle William Baker. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 66 Grett bonfyeres with grett chere at every cunstabulles dore in every parich thorrowe alle London. a1626Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law 8 The Lord of the hundred court is to appoint in every village, a petty constable with a tithing-man to attend in his absence. 1736Berkeley Discourse Wks. III. 430 From the supreme executor of the law down to a petty constable. 1765Blackstone Comm. (1793) 439 These petty constables have two offices united in them; the one antient, the other modern. Their antient office is that of head⁓borough, tithing-man, or borsholder..who are as antient as the time of king Alfred: their more modern office is that of constable merely; which was appointed so lately as the reign of Edward III, in order to assist the high constable. 1857Toulm. Smith Parish 55 The position of principal Parish Officer, in which character the Constable was summoner, has long been filled by the churchwardens. 1858Froude Hist. Eng. III. xvi. 409 The parish constables were necessarily inefficient as a police. 1872Act 35 & 36 Vict. c. 92 An Act to render unnecessary the general Appointment of Parish Constables. Whereas the establishment of an efficient police in the counties of England and Wales has rendered the general appointment of parish constables unnecessary, etc.
d. Now, esp., a police constable, a member of the constabulary or police force, a policeman. Chief Constable: the officer at the head of the police force of a county or equivalent district.
a1836Penny Cycl. XIII. 25 (Irish Constabulary) 10 resident magistrates, 155 chief constables of the first, and 50 of the second class, 1232 constables, 6233 subconstables, and 277 horse of the constabulary force. 1839Act 2 & 3 Vict. c. 93 An Act for the Establishment of County and District Constables. Ibid. §6 Subject to Approval..the Chief Constable shall appoint the other Constables to be appointed for the County, and a Superintendent to be at the Head of the Constables in each Division of the County. Ibid. c. 95 §5 A Police Force for the whole of the Borough..to act as Constables for preserving the Peace. 1885Spectator 3 Oct. Suppl., The very word police..did not become common until late in the last century, and ‘the Police’ as an equivalent for the body of constables, is much more modern.
e. Special Constable: a person sworn in by the Justices of the Peace to act as constable on special occasions when it is apprehended that the force of regular constables will prove insufficient to preserve the peace.
1801Act 41 Geo. III, c. 78. 1806 [see a]. 1831Act 1 & 2 Wm. III, c. 41 An Act for amending the Laws relative to the Appointment of Special Constables, and for the better Preservation of the Peace.
f. In the Channel Islands, the elected chief officer of a parish; in Jersey he is its representative in the States, a magistrate, etc.; in Guernsey his duties are now more restricted.
1652Warburton Guernsey (1822) 62 The Constables..Their office is to keep the peace. 1694Falle Jersey ii. 65 The Constable of the Parish where the Perambulation is to be, takes with him 12 of the Principal Men of his Parish, and meets the Judge attended by 3 or more of the Jurats on Horseback. 1862Ansted Channel Isl. iv. xxiii. (ed. 2) 521 (Jersey) Each parish..elects one constable who represents his parish in the States. 1873J. Lewis Census 1871 203 (Jersey) The constables are the principal magistrates in each parish.
g. attrib.
1809R. Langford Intr. Trade 131 Constable hire, a person's wages for attending a ship till unloaded, to prevent theft.
6. Phr. to outrun the constable:
a. to run away from a constable (or the law and its officers); also to run the constable.
1600Kemp Nine Daies Wond. 15, I far'd like one that had escaped the stockes, and tride the use of his legs to out-run the Constable. 1873R. Broughton Nancy II. 278 Rich! poor Huntley!..why, he was obliged to run the constable two years ago.
b. To go at too great a pace; to go too far; to overstep all bounds of moderation.
1631T. Powell Tom All Trades 167 If the Gentleman be predominant, his running Nagge will out run the Constable. a1654Selden Table-t., Money, In all times the Princes in England have done something illegal, to get money. But then came a Parliament..and so things were quiet for a while; afterwards there was another trick found out to get money, and..another Parliament was called to set all right, etc. But now they have so out-run the Constable, that, etc. 1663Butler Hud. i. iii. 1368 Quoth Hudibras, Friend Ralph, thou hast Out-run the Constable at last.
c. To spend more money than one has; to run into debt; also to overrun the constable.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Out-run the Constable, to spend more than is Got, or Run out of an Estate. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xxiii, ‘Harkee, my girl, how far have you overrun the constable?’ I told him that the debt amounted to eleven pounds, besides the expence of the writ. 1766[Anstey] Bath Guide vii. Poor man! at th' election he threw t' other day, All his victuals, and liquor, and money away; And some people think with such haste he began, That soon he the constable greatly outran. 1850W. Irving Goldsmith xxix. 292 ‘He has outrun the constable’..his expenses have outrun his means. |