单词 | castle in spain |
释义 | > as lemmascastle in Spain 11. castle in the air n. visionary project or scheme, day-dream, idle fancy; to form castles in the air: to form unsubstantial or visionary projects. Common since 1575, varied occasionally with castle in the skies, and the like; castle in Spain [= French château en Espagne] is found 1400–1600, and occasionally as a Gallicism in modern writers. Castle alone is also used where the allusion is obvious: cf. castle-builder n., castle-building n. and adj. at castle-builder n. Derivatives.[As to the French faire des châteaux en Espagne (found in 13th cent.) see Littré; since it varied with châteaux en Asie, en Albanie, it appears that the phrase at bottom meant only to build castles in a foreign country where one had no standing-ground, Spain being finally taken as the nearest Moorish country to Christendom, or perhaps with some reference to the arms of Castile.] ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > mental image, idea, or fancy > daydream or reverie > [noun] castle in Spainc1400 reverie1477 brown studyc1555 castle in the skies1576 castle in the air1579 comedown1583 memento1587 towers in the air1599 daydream1651 dream1732 air castle1786 châteaux in air1793 chateau(x) en Espagne1834 cloud-castle1887 pipe dream1890 fantasy1926 c1400 Rom. Rose 2573 Thou shalt make castels thanne in Spayne, And dreme of joye, alle but in vayne. 1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 25 He began to make castellis in Spaygne as louers doo. 1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxviii. f. 303 He was in this expectation, building castles in the ayre, and deuising a thousande Chimeras in his braine. 1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas sig. C.ij Things are thought, which neuer yet were wrought, And castels buylt, aboue in lofty skies. 1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 219 They built castells in the ayer, and thought to doe greater wonders. a1592 R. Greene Hist. Orlando Furioso (1594) sig. Ciiv In conceit build Castles in the Skie. 1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 182 Some..haue their wittes a wool-gathering, and, as wee vse commonly to say, are building of castles in Spaine. 1601 W. Watson Important Considerations (1675) 60 Mr. Saunders (building Castles in the Air amongst his Books). 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Faire des chasteaux en Espaigne, to build castles in the aire (say we). 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. iii. i. ii. 239 That castle in the ayre, that waking dreame. a1649 W. Drummond Poems (1656) 184 Strange Castles builded in the Skies. 1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge Ep. Ded. Castles in the Air, whose Groundsils are laid with Whims, their Overwayes with Dreams, and rooft with Cream of thinking. 1708 J. Keill Acct. Animal Secretion Pref. p. xi The raising of Theories..is but building Castles in the Air. 1757 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) IX. 304 A mere castle in the air. a1763 W. Shenstone Odes (1765) 237 To plan frail castles in the skies. 1796 M. G. Lewis Monk II. vi. 237 She..beguiled the hours with building castles in the air. 1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer II. vi. 177 I built castles till bed time. 1834 M. Edgeworth Helen I. viii. 160 She had left off building castles in the air, but she had outbuilt herself on earth. 1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands IV. 282 The explosion of the Gunpowder Plot blowing the castles in Spain into the air. 1867 F. D. Maurice Patriarchs & Law-givers (ed. 4) vi. 120 In looking back to the castles of earliest boyhood. 1871 M. Collins Marquis & Merchant II. vii. 203 We have all had our castles in Spain. 1887 Freeborn County Standard (Albert Lea, Minnesota) 18 Aug. How often she had built castles in the air, whereof the foundation was, ‘if I were rich!’ 1938 B. Webb My Apprenticeship I. ii. 82 Building castles in the air, where she is always the charming heroine without a fault. 1964 P. F. Anson Bishops at Large vi. 213 He continued to build castles in the air,..paranoiacally refusing to face up to reality. 1998 Bristol Evening Post (Nexis) 21 Mar. 16 Avoid the temptation to build castles in the air. Don't start imagining his surname attached to yours on the second date. < as lemmas |
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