| 释义 |
ˈspaeman Sc.
Also 5–6 spay-, spaman.
[a. ON. spámann (nom. -maðr; MSw. spāmann, Sw. spåman, Norw. spaamann, Da. -mand), f. spá spae v.]
A prophet, soothsayer, fortune-teller, wizard.
c1480Henryson Orph. & Euryd. 436 This Theseus..sett his entencion To fynd the craft of diuinacion, And lerit it vnto the spamen all. 1513Douglas æneid iv. ii. 29 O walaway! of spamen and diuinis The blind myndis. 1536Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 121 The spaymen said, thir prodigies signifyit gret damage appering to Romanis. 1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iii. ii, Spae-men! the truth of a' their saws I doubt. 1790Shirrefs Poems 124, I never, a' my days, Had meikle faith in spaemen, or their says. 1830Scott Demonol. ix. 315 Pretending..to possess the power of a spaeman. 1867Pearson Hist. Eng. I. 32 note, Either the ‘spae man’ of the district or the priest of an imported religion.
attrib.1513Douglas æneid vi. iii. 77 Praying thus, eftir the spamen werd. |