| 释义 |
▪ I. spence1|spɛns|
Also 5–7 spens(e, 5 spenyse.
[Aphetically f. OF. despense (mod.F. dépense), = Sp. and Pg. despensa, It. dispensa, med.L. despensa, dispensa (rarely spensa), in the same sense: cf. dispense n.1 So Swiss dial. spense.
The prefix de- is similarly dropped in other words; in this case there may have been association with spense n.]
1. A room or separate place in which victuals and liquor are kept; a buttery or pantry; a cupboard. Now dial. or arch.
αc1386Chaucer Sompn. T. 223 Fat as a whale, and walking as a swan; Al vinolent as Botel in the spence. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 23026, I hadd no maner lyberte;..in the seller, nor in the spence, ete nor drynke on no syde. c1460Play of Sacram. 529 He syttyth with sum tapstere in y⊇ spence. 1540Palsgr. Acolastus Q iij, If we..bring out of (the buttery) or spence all the meate that is left. 1600Surflet Countrie Farme i. v. 22 [A] vaulted roome, which shall also be for the huswifes vse and serue for a spence, to keepe her prouision of victuals in. 1684Yorks. Dial. 183 (E.D.S.), Our Sew hes been 'ith Spence, thrawn down Whigg-Stand. 1720Postmaster 25 Nov. 103 House..contains Four Chambers,..a Kitchen, with two Spences. 1790Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2), Spence, a small place for setting milk or drink in, made with wainscot, or a lattice. 1814Scott Wav. xvii, In one large aperture, which the robber facetiously called his spence (or pantry). 1865R. Hunt Pop. Rom. W. Eng. (1871) Ser. i. 110 Nancy must have something to drink before she started for Penzance, and she went to the spence for the bottles.
fig.1609Holland Amm. Marcell. xix. xii. 141 These cruell enterludes, which out of a spence or budget of craftie devices he brought forth.
β14..Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 578 Dispensa, a spense. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1441 He bare þe bordeclath to þe spens. 1519W. Horman Vulg. 151 b, I haue ij spensis: one for euery day: a nother for store of all vitayle, tyll newe come. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. 6 Hir keyes..of hir spens, hir ark of hir claithing and jewells, or of hir cist or coffer.
2. Sc. An inner apartment of a house; a parlour.
α1783Burns Poor Mailie's Elegy iv, Our Bardie, lanely, keeps the spence. 1786― Vision i. ii, Ben I' the Spence, right pensivelie, I gaed to rest. 1820Scott Monast. iv, They rushed into the spence, (a sort of interior apartment in which the family ate their victuals in the summer season,) but there was no one there. 1843A. Bethune Sc. Fireside Stor. 154 Others assisted in conveying the invalid to the spence of the inn, which had been readily offered for the accommodation of the family.
3. attrib., as spence-basket, spence-door.
1825Jamieson Suppl., Spense-Door, the door between the kitchen and the spense. 1844W. H. Maxwell Wand. Highl. & Isl. I. ix. 180 A peg behind the spence door. 1881Cussans Hist. Hertfordsh. III. ii. 321 Spence-Basket, a basket used by waggoners to hold provisions for their journey.
▪ II. † spence2 Obs. rare.
Also 4 spense.
[Substituted for spencer n.1, after prec.]
A steward.
a1300Cursor M. 28740 For quat [need] es þat spense [v.r. spenser] mai be Nithing þar þe lauerd es fre. c1325Metr. Hom. 165 Hir spense [v.r. spensar] knew hir fleysleye. a1568Henryson's Twa Myss xix. in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Cl.) 963 The spense come in, with keis in his hand. 1644Digby Nat. Soul ii. §3. 367 In the scripture we meete with these wordes, the iudge of vniustice, the spence of wickednesse, the man of sinne,..which in our phrase of speaking, do signify an vniust iudge, a wicked spence, and a sinnefull..man. |