单词 | maltese cross |
释义 | Maltese crossn. 1. A cross with the limbs broadened outwards and often indented at the ends (as worn by the Knights Hospitallers). Also figurative. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > cross > [noun] > Malta cross Malta crossa1684 Maltese cross1829 1828 C. Calvert Diary 20 May in E. M. Richardson Next Door Neighbours (1926) ix. 101 At Mrs. Blake's ball I lost my Maltese diamond cross.] 1829 G. Griffin Collegians II. xix. 76 A Maltese cross formed from the hoof of the red deer. 1841 Southern Literary Messenger Sept. 662/1 What an elaborate piece of patchwork covers yonder barrow!.. There is the ‘French patch’, the ‘star patch’, and the ‘Maltese cross’. 1857 Southern Literary Messenger Dec. 431/2 A crusader's shield, in which were fleurs de lys, and a Maltese Cross. 1877 W. Jones Finger-ring Lore 373 A Maltese cross in red on a black ground. 1890 J. S. Billings National Med. Dict. II Maltese cross, square compress cut out at the corners in form of a Maltese cross. 1931 H. S. Williams Bk. Marvels 123 It is quite feasible to bore..holes that are star-shaped or octagonal or in the form of a Maltese cross. 1991 J. Litten Eng. Way of Death (BNC) 92 The lead is unadorned save for an appliqué lead Maltese cross on the breast. 2. Watchmaking and Clockmaking. = Geneva stop n. at Geneva n. 3a; (also) a Geneva mechanism in a film projector or other mechanism. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [noun] > other specific mechanisms stop?1523 clockwork1652 sector1715 rackwork1755 scapement1789 scape1798 safety catch1827 controller1836 dog1840 Geneva stop1841 Maltese cross1852 throw-off1852 gearhead1869 tripper1870 Scotch yoke1880 Geneva movement1881 belt-tightener1882 watch1882 selector1890 Geneva wheel1891 throw-out1894 Geneva motion1897 horse-geara1899 Geneva mechanism1903 safety catch1904 Geneva drive1913 Geneva1919 Possum1961 1852 Brit. Patent 1165 (1854) 3 The application of that motion known as the ‘star wheel’, or Maltese cross, for the purpose of effecting the picking motion of looms. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 247 The wheel of the going barrel stop work..is called indifferently a star wheel or a Maltese cross. 1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. xiv. 169 Two broad arms of painted wood... They, with two others below, formed the revolving Maltese cross of the reaping-machine. 1917 C. N. Bennett Guide to Kinematogr. ix. 127 Modern Maltese cross movements are descendants of the ‘Geneva stop’ by which overwinding of watches is prevented. 1953 L. J. Wheeler Princ. Cinematogr. vi. 179 The Geneva Movement, or Maltese Cross,..is now used almost exclusively throughout the industry. 1984 Antiquarian Horol. Dec. 152/2 This has the four step subsidiary piece..for Februarys indexed by a Maltese Cross device. 1987 I. Konigsberg Compl. Film Dict. (1988) Maltese cross movement,..the mechanism in a professional projector that moves each frame of the film intermittently in front of the aperture for projection of the image. 3. The scarlet lychnis, Lychnis chalcedonica (family Caryophyllaceae), native to Siberia and cultivated widely elsewhere for its bright red flowers. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > non-British flowers > of Asia Prophet flower1861 ixia-lily1866 Maltese cross1868 toad-lily1884 whorl-flower1884 Perovskia1907 1831 G. Don Gen. Syst. Gardening & Bot. I. 415/2 This most shewy plant is called Scarlet Lychnis in England. Croix de Malthe in France and Portugal. 1859 E. G. Storke Domest. & Rural Affairs 188 L. chalcedonica, when single, offers the form of a Maltese cross, in white, pink, scarlet, and saffron-yellow.] 1868 A. Gray Field, Forest, & Garden Bot. (1870) 65 Lychnis Chalcedonica, Maltese-Cross or Scarlet Lychnis. Very common in country-gardens. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Maltese cross, a plant, Lychnis Chalcedonica. Also called cross-of-Jerusalem. 1960 J. W. Matthews N.Z. Garden Dict. (rev. ed.) 129 The best known species [of Lychnis] is chalcedonica, which has many popular names, including Maltese cross (which the petals resemble), Jerusalem cross and scarlet lightning. 1992 H. Mitchell One Man's Garden iv. 78 At $1.50 a packet, they are as follows:..lavender, cardinal flower, honesty, Maltese cross,..and Johnny-jump-up. 4. Philately. A cross-shaped postmark used on British postage stamps from their introduction in 1840 until 1844. ΘΚΠ society > communication > correspondence > postal services > payment for postage > [noun] > postmarking > postmark > types of ship-mark1801 Maltese cross1881 surcharge1881 1881 F. A. Philbrick & W. A. S. Westoby Postage & Telegr. Stamps Great Brit. 291 Several obliterating marks are found: 1. The Maltese cross, or croix patée, as then in use. 1909 J. G. Hendy Hist. Postmarks Brit. Isles 1840–76 9 The Maltese Cross or croix patée obliterator—the latter is really the correct term to apply to it from a heraldic point of view—varied a good deal in shape in different places. 1934 J. B. Seymour Stamps Great Brit.: Line-Engraved Issues 1840–53 9 The design generally used for obliterating the British stamps from 1840 to 1844 has been called, incorrectly, a Croix Patée or Maltese Cross; it is neither one nor the other. But it is so well known as the Maltese Cross that it is deemed advisable to call it so for the purpose of this work. 1963 Great Brit.: Specialised Stamp Catal.: Queen Victoria (Stanley Gibbons Ltd.) 23 The Maltese Cross is a valuable plating aid for collectors of the Penny Red imperf. 1994 Stamp Mag. Nov. 41/2 Franked with two Twopence Blue and one Penny Black, very tidily affixed, all four-margined and lightly cancelled with red Maltese crosses. 5. Crystallography. The right-angled form of the cross-shaped twinned crystals of the mineral staurolite. ΚΠ 1963 N. Austral. Monthly Nov. 10 The Staurolites—commonly called ‘Maltese crosses’—are geologically known as ‘twin crystals’. 1973 C. Austin I left my Hat in Andamooka 142 Were we interested in going out after some ‘Maltese crosses’?.. A well-formed ninety-degree twin makes a perfect cross and they can be used as attractive charms to hang on a necklace. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022). > as lemmasMaltese cross Maltese cross n. (also cross of Malta) extracted from crossn.< n.1829 as lemmas |
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