释义 |
austereadj.n.Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French auster; Latin austērus. Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman auster, Anglo-Norman and Middle French austere (French austère ) (of a person) stern, severe, merciless (c1170 in Old French), (of a person) furious, (of rules) strict, severe, (of a way of life) harsh, ascetic, (of flavour) astringent (all 13th cent.), (of a person) stringently moral (1486), (of a road or terrain) difficult to navigate (early 16th cent.), (of abstract concepts) simple in character, plain (1567; from the 17th cent. also with reference to concrete objects), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin austērus (also austēr and in post-classical Latin also austeris (Vetus Latina, Vulgate)) strict, stern, rigorous, severe, unadorned, sour, bitter, harsh, (of wine) dry, acrid, pungent, (of colour) dark, sombre < ancient Greek αὐστηρός harsh, rough, bitter, rigorous, in Hellenistic Greek also rugged, severe, unadorned, strict, ultimately (probably via an unattested verbal adjective *αὐστός ) < Hellenistic Greek αὔειν to dry (although this is apparently first attested later) < ancient Greek αὖος dry ( < the same Indo-European base as sere adj.1) + -ηρος, extended form of -ρος, suffix forming adjectives. Compare Old Occitan austier (early 14th cent.), Catalan auster (1695), Spanish austero (late 15th cent.), Portuguese austero (1572), Italian austero (14th cent.).In α. forms apparently influenced by association with stern adj.; compare the variation recorded in quot. c1384 at sense A. 1a. A. adj. 1. society > authority > strictness > [adjective] > severe or stern the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [adjective] c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xix. 21 I dredde thee, for thou art an austerne [a1425 L.V. a sterne; L. austeris] man... I am an hausterne [a1425 L.V. a sterne; L. austeris] man. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) ii. 54 Þei dred þe kyng folle sore, for he was fulle austere. a1425 (a1400) (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 5235 (MED) Þan sal our loverd..spek til þam with an austerne chere. a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun (Nero) v. l. 2512 Persecucion, Þat was auster and fellone. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil (1959) x. xii. 59 With astern fyry eyn. 1584 T. Lodge f. 35v Forbonius..amazed at this austere iudgement, yet remembring the nobilitie that was alwayes accounted in him, aunswered him thus. 1609 T. Heywood xvi. 415 They had of late, Theyr nine and forty husbands by th'austere Iniunction of their Sire, brought to sad Fate. 1648 Bp. J. Hall xxxviii. 62 O thou, who justly holdest thy self wronged with the style of an austere master. 1693 106 The Holy Man, stroking up his Beard, with an austere look, told him, that this was no Jest. 1700 E. Ward II. iv. 5 Churlish his carriage, and Austeer his face. 1790 E. Burke 187 By a revolution in the state, the fawning sycophant of yesterday, is converted into the austere critic of the present hour. 1814 J. West II. 289 The Earl..was too austere, cold, and misanthropic to be a meet companion for his Phœnix bride. 1873 R. Browning iv. 248 They would be gentle, not austere. 1963 25 Jan. 62/2 Joe draped his athletic frame in ultraconservative clothes and affected an austere scowl. 1995 (Nexis) 25 June 28 She argues that despite public sentiment favoring austere punishment, society could save money and reduce crime by fostering and financing more family reunification programs. society > armed hostility > warrior > [adjective] > qualities or attributes ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) ii. 263 Þe folk he with him ches wer first auster & smerte. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) ii. 28 Þese þre with þer powere Werred on Athelstan with oste fulle austere. c1440 (?a1400) l. 2256 (MED) All his austeryn oste þareofe ware affrayede. the world > the earth > land > landscape > [adjective] > scenic > wild ?1580 M. K. tr. Luis de Granada xii. f. 53v To shewe vs therby the way to heauen, whiche before was austere and difficult. ?1587 R. Southwell iv. f. 53v If this waye leade vs through austere, and paynfull passages, if this trueth teach vs the trace of humilitye [etc.] 1595 A. Munday tr. xv. sig. P4v The blessed olde man departing this mortall life passed into life euerlasting, and left behinde him this comfortlesse..Hermitesse in the austere desert. 1685 C. Cotton tr. M. de Montaigne I. xix. 103 We mistake..to say when we come to Vertue, that like Consequences and Difficulties overwhelm and render it austere and inaccessible. 1871 J. Weiss 43 The grim, austere land was settled and subdued without the æsthetic influences of stained glass and ogive lines. 1883 G. Barlow 91 The foaming white salt sea-waves' crested line, And the blue-gentianed austere mountain-meads..are mine. 1935 16 May 9/4 It is a strange, austere landscape, mainly volcanic in origin. 2012 (Nexis) 4 Nov. (Film section) 45 A small party of settlers get lost in some extremely austere terrain. the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > asceticism > [adjective] a1425 J. Wyclif (1869) I. 1 An ypocrite, þat shewide him to þe world boþe austerne and clene. 1538 D. Lindsay sig. C.iii Where was your prescience That toke on hande tyll obserue chastite Without austere lyfe, labour, and abstinence. 1570 L. Tomson f. 74v Now, touching ye austeritie of M. Gough, God make vs all ageinst vice austere, and not to flatter our selues in our concupiscences. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. iii. 53 Which holy vndertaking, with most austere sanctimonie she accomplisht. View more context for this quotation 1697 tr. 76 Procure me a Confinement, where I may spend the residue of my Life in an unfeigned and austere Penance. 1715 305 We may be Devout and not precise; Religious and not austere. 1773 J. Priestley II. 126 John..led a remarkably austere life. 1855 T. B. Macaulay III. xiii. 249 To these austere fanatics a holiday was an object of positive disgust. 1888 ‘Bernard’ v. 113 The order..is reckoned..one of the most austere in regard to its abstinence from meat,..its plank bed, midnight office, and long hours of prayers. 1929 23 Jan. 90/2 A few austere theatricals drinking coffee and orange-juice because it was after hours. 1966 V. Nabokov (U.S. rev. ed.) iii. 57 She was beautiful, passionate and, I am sorry to say, far less austere in her private morals than it would appear from her attitude toward low necklines. 2011 11 June a1/5 The ultrafundamentalist Salafi strain of Islam that promotes an austere, Saudi-inspired worldview. the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sourness or acidity > [adjective] > astringent ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 82v (MED) Þe coccioun of an austere i. sharp [?c1425 Paris felle, L. austere] herbe. ?1541 R. Copland Galen's Fourth Bk. Terapeutyke sig. Hiv, in I cal austere..a lytell adstryngent. 1583 P. Barrough iii. l. 142 These thinges must be sodden in austere and sharpe wine, or also in water. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny II. Briefe Catal. Words of Art Austere, harsh or hard, as in fruits vnripe, and hard wines of hedge grapes. 1664 J. Beale in J. Evelyn Pomona in 26 Austere Fruit..no better than a sort of full succulent Crabs. 1708 (Royal Soc.) 25 2463 Its [sc. the water's] Taste is masculine and austere; the Smell ferruginous and strong. 1785 W. Cowper i. 7 The bramble, black as jet, or sloes austere. 1811 A. T. Thomson ii. 342 Sorrel leaves are inodorous, and have a grateful austere acidulous taste. 1854 J. D. Hooker I. vi. 143 Both ripen austere and small fruits. 1905 C. S. Sargent 752 The fruit, which is exceedingly austere until it is fully ripe, stains black. the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > simplicity > [adjective] 1581 M. Hanmer tr. Gratian in f. 7v Whosoeuer dispisinge his ordinary trade of liuing, procureth vnto himselfe beyonde others a more delicate or a more austere [L. austeriora] kinde of rayment, or diet. 1597 R. Hooker v. lxxii. 207 This austere repast they tooke in the euening. 1659 H. Hammond (xi. 8 Paraphr.) 58 You found him in an austere habit and diet, and therefore you cannot now imagine that he is troubled. 1707 J. Dunton x. 31/1 Whether a spare and austere Diet serves not without further help to chase away that racking Humour of the Gout. 1781 J. Reynolds 32 Sculpture is formal, regular, and austere; disdains all familiar objects, as incompatible with its dignity. 1795 W. Mason i. 47 I demand no austere solemnity of strain; but I would reject all levity of air. 1832 Sept. 139 That austere portico and the severe simplicity of the wing compartments seem to speak of scientific and philosophic studies. 1852 W. J. Conybeare & J. S. Howson I. ix. 326 The austere comfort of an English jail. 1920 ‘O. Douglas’ xxv. 300 The austere Tudor front, the Restoration wing, the offices built under Queen Anne. 1976 11 June 711/1 Bernhard's language is equally austere and economical. 2001 M. Hughes et al. 168 Locals compensate for an austere diet with locally brewed liquor. the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > seriousness or solemnity > [adjective] 1667 J. Milton ix. 272 Eve..With sweet austeer composure thus reply'd. View more context for this quotation the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > dull 1680 H. More 227 A Chrysoprasus: a Gemm of an austere colour. †B. n.the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sourness or acidity > [noun] > bitterness or acridity > bitter substance 1684 J. Browne Pref. sig. (d)4v Any or all of either of these Acids, Subacids, Salines, Subsalines, Austeres, Acreds, and the like Liquors or Juices, may run by or between these loose fibrous Contextures. 1761 J. Rutty in (Royal Soc.) 51 471 Galls and other austeres. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.c1384 |