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单词 menial
释义

menialadj.n.

Brit. /ˈmiːnɪəl/, U.S. /ˈminiəl/
Forms:

α. Middle English meignal, Middle English meinal, Middle English menall, Middle English meygnall, Middle English meynal, Middle English meynel, Middle English–1500s menal, Middle English–1500s meynall.

β. Middle English manyall, Middle English mayneal, Middle English mayneall, Middle English menealle, Middle English menyal, Middle English menyall, Middle English menyalle, Middle English meyneal, Middle English meyneyall, Middle English meynyal, Middle English meynyall, Middle English 1600s meniall, Middle English– menial, 1500s maneall, 1500s meigniall, 1500s meneal, 1600s maeniall.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French menial, mesnal.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman menial (noun) servant, and mesnal, meignal, meynal (adjective) menial, domestic, (noun) menial worker, retainer < mesnee meinie n. + -al -al suffix1. Compare post-classical Latin menialis domestic, relating to the household (mid 15th cent. in a British source).
A. adj.
1. Relating to the household, domestic. Also in extended use. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > [adjective] > of or belonging to home
homelyc1384
householdc1384
meniala1387
hamald?a1400
domestical1459
home1552
householdly1557
homish1561
housal1611
domestica1616
domal1728
fireside1740
householdy1863
hearthrug1864
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 215 A mannes owne meynal wittes [L. domestici sensus] beeþ his owne enemyes.
a1425 Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) Rom. xvi. 5 Grete ȝe wel her meyneal chirche [L. domesticam Ecclesiam].
c1535 Ploughman's Tale i. sig. A.vi The tithyng of Turpe lucrum With these maisters is meynall.
1710 D. Manley Mem. Europe I. i. 7 He had exchang'd his own Property, his very menial Necessaries for Bread to support 'em.
2. (a) Of a servant: forming one of the household; domestic. (In quot. c1487 used figuratively) Now chiefly historical. (b) gen. Of any worker: engaged in menial work (see sense A. 3; usually with similar disparaging implications).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > types of servant > [adjective] > menial or drudge
menial1429
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > domestic servant > [adjective]
menial1429
housemaidenly1839
1429 Will in Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. (1895) 5 299 I wol, that after my deces my meyne meygnall be kepte togederes in houshold.
1444 Close Rolls Henry VI 269 Þe said Geffrey was a menall man of þe worshipfull howsold of our soveraigne lord.
1450 Rolls of Parl. V. 179/2 The wages and fees of youre menyall servauntez.
c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iv. 303 Aftre, by contynuaunce of yeres, the Muses of theire enstynctions divyne adioyned vnto this enstrument menyall strynges.
a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) 900 To gret and smal menal persones.
1516 Will of R. Peke of Wakefield in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1884) V. 75 Every one of my maneall servantes.
1642 King Charles I in Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion (1702) I. v. 533 And all this, whilst his Majesty had no other attendance than his own Menial Servants.
1675 in O. Airy Essex Papers (1890) I. 294 That none shall heare Masse either at the Queen's or any Ambassrs Chappell but their owne meniall Servants.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. xiv. 413 The first sort of servants therefore, acknowledged by the laws of England, are menial servants; so called from being intra moenia, or domestics.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. ii. iii. 400 The labour of a menial servant..adds to the value of nothing. View more context for this quotation
1791 E. Inchbald Simple Story I. iv. 32 She felt herself but as a menial servant.
1847 J. R. McCulloch Descr. & Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire (ed. 3) I. iii. i. 595 Many also of the menial servants..are enrolled in the official returns in other classes.
1895 William & Mary Coll. Q. Hist. Mag. 4 37 In 1643 he and his nine menial servants were exempted from all military service.
1958 Listener 20 Nov. 824/1 There are signs that the law is moving with the times. A distinction has been drawn between menial servants and others.
1991 Harvard Jrnl. Asiatic Stud. 51 102 War captives reduced to the status of hereditary menial servants who performed mundane tasks in government offices or on behalf of men of rank.
3. Of service, employment, etc.: proper to or performed by a menial or domestic servant. In later use only with disparaging implication: of the nature of drudgery; servile, degrading; (spec. of work) lacking in reward or prestige, glamour, or status, undignified; requiring little skill.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > degrading or debasement > [adjective]
vile1297
derogative1477
derogatory1502
vild1568
derogatoriousa1575
lessening1592
dishonoured1608
indignous1611
derogant1616
unmanning1625
infimatinga1641
prostituting1646
embasing1652
menial1673
degrading1684
debasing1775
vilifying1781
degradatory1783
dishonouring1843
relegating1872
demeaning1880
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > types of servant > [adjective] > menial or drudge > of service of
menial1673
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > domestic servant > [adjective] > proper to domestic servant
menial1673
1673 W. Temple Observ. United Provinces ii. 113 His [sc. De Wit's] Train..was only one man, who performed all the Menial service of his House at home.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. iii. 53 A Maid to dress her, and two other Servants for menial Offices.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. iii. 70 Those menial offices, which, in the household and bedchamber of a limited monarch, are so eagerly solicited by the proudest nobles.
1836 W. Irving Astoria II. 39 As to the Indian, he is a game animal, not to be degraded by useful or menial toil.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxiv. 71 The menial offices..the numerous degrading duties..that I've had to do for him.
1899 T. Nicol Recent Archæol. & Bible iv. 153 The menial character of the labour [sc. brickmaking].
1960 E. H. Gombrich Art & Illusion iii. vi. 193 Emphasis on art as the high intellectual activity and the rejection of mere menial skill.
1988 P. P. Read Season in West (1989) i. 9 She got down most cheerfully to the menial chores of copy-editing manuscripts or correcting proofs.
4. Of a person, or his or her temperament, qualities, preoccupations, etc.: servile, mean, ignoble.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > ignobleness or baseness > [adjective]
theowlikec1175
low?c1225
undignec1315
unfreec1330
base?1518
roynish1570
baseborn1573
base-minded1573
haskardly1576
ignoble1592
unnoble1593
slavish1597
disnoble1609
infimous1613
unhandsome1645
unheroical1656
mean1665
unworthy1694
unheroic1732
raff1761
undignified1782
raffish1795
truculent1825
unpromotable1836
menial1837
low-flung1841
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [adjective] > base or vile
low?c1225
lechera1300
vilea1300
feeblea1325
unfreec1330
villain1340
wrackc1375
villains1390
noughty1443
slovenly?1518
peasant1550
sluttish1561
vild1567
knaifatic1568
scallardc1575
base1576
tinkerly?1576
beggarly?1577
cullion-like1591
brokerly1592
broking1592
ignoble1592
cullionly1608
disnoble1609
unsolid1731
lowly1740
blackguard1751
blackguardly1779
menial1837
low-flung1841
caddish1868
basilar1884
bounding1904
bounderish1928
1837 New Monthly Mag. 50 132 Menial in soul, he may as well have the hire of menialism.
1845 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 144 Nor cold insurgent heart, nor menial mind Can compass this.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) II. 399 All other arts which have to do with the body are servile and menial and illiberal.
1891 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 400 Devoted only to the menial care of building a fortune.
1951 S. Spender World within World v. 277 Partly because his nature was so menial that he was unhappy without dust-pan and brush.
B. n.
A menial servant or worker (see sense A. 2); a person engaged in menial work.In the 18th and 19th centuries frequently used disparagingly of liveried menservants kept for ostentation rather than use, with an imputation of pomposity or arrogance.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > types of servant > [noun] > menial servant or drudge
drivelc1225
meniala1387
druggarc1500
drudgea1513
kitchen wencha1556
coal carrier1567
droy1570
packhorse?1577
droil1579
blue coat1583
sumpter1587
mill-horse1602
subsizar1602
jackal1649
mediastine1658
slut1664
hack1699
scrub1709
Gibeonite1798
the lion's provider1808
slush1825
Slave of the Lampc1840
runabout1893
lobby-gow1906
squidge1907
dogsbody1922
legman1939
shit-kicker1950
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > domestic servant > [noun]
hirdmanc993
hirdcnihtc1000
hirdcnavec1275
hirdswainc1275
hewea1350
officerc1375
homely mana1382
meniala1387
household servant1427
homely womana1500
domestical?c1550
comprador1615
domestic1623
spider-brusher1833
house help1837
domiciliary1844
hoghenhine1848
kitchen mechanic1861
home helper1864
home help1883
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 413 (MED) He was i-schote of oon Walter Tirel, þat was his owne meynel [L. sibi familiari].
a1425 Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) 2 Kings xvi. 2 The assis ben to the meyneals of the kyng [L. domesticis regis].
1646 Bp. J. Hall Balme of Gilead 271 Surely, the great House-keeper of the world..will never leave any of his menialls without the bread of sufficiency.
1751 F. Coventry Hist. Pompey the Little ii. v. 170 There was no Table for upper Servants, and her Pride could not endure to sit down to Dinner with Menials.
1769 T. Moss Beggar in Poems 2 A pamper'd Menial forc'd me from the Door, To seek a Shelter in an humbler Shed.
1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) iv. i. 102 Dismiss This menial hence; I would be private with you.
1847 W. H. Prescott Hist. Conquest Peru I. iii. v. 430 The most common soldier was attended by a retinue of menials that would have better suited the establishment of a noble.
1901 J. Watson Life of Master xviii. 170 The servants..allowed Him to pass with a menial's disdain for the poor.
1967 S. Waters Indentures Indorsed i. 11 I was initiated into the mysteries of acting as ‘Peggy’. As the name implies this menial does all the domestic chores.
1986 India Today 31 July 74/3 For several days, work in government offices came to a standstill as officers and menials pored over the report.

Derivatives

ˈmenialism n. rare the condition of a menial; a menial act.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > ignobleness or baseness > [noun] > instance or act of
littleness1622
meanness1683
menialism1832
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [noun] > instance of
littleness1622
meanness1683
menialism1832
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > types of servant > [noun] > menial servant or drudge > condition of
menialty1581
menialism1832
meniality1906
1832 J. G. Lockhart Noctes Ambrosianae in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 702 A miserable sign of menialism.
1848 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 64 344 Lady Suffolk..had been bedchamber woman, and of course had performed this menialism!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.a1387
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