| 释义 |
myrmidonn. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin Myrmidon. Etymology: < classical Latin Myrmidon < ancient Greek Μυρμιδον-, Μυρμιδών. Compare Middle French, French Mirmidon, Myrmidon (early 16th cent.; c1165 in Old French as Myrmidoneis, plural), Italian mirmidone (14th cent. as mirmidoni, plural).In Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and English the word appears first in the plural; the singular, when it appears, remains rare. Sense 3 does not appear in French (or in ancient Greek); however, French has a transferred use ‘insignificant fellow’ (1586), an allusion to the playful etymology from ancient Greek μύρμηξ ant (found first in Hesiod and recounted in Ovid Metamorphoses 7. 614–60), which is the origin also of myrmidonian adj. 1 (compare quot. 1989 at sense 1β. ). The α. forms may have arisen from minim confusion. society > armed hostility > warrior > [noun] > member of warrior caste or race the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > native or inhabitant of ancient or medieval Europe > ancient Greeks and neighbours > [noun] > native or inhabitant of states, regions, or cities α. c1425 J. Lydgate (Augustus A.iv) ii. 8574 (MED) Achille Ariued is with his knyȝtes alle, Mirundones whom men are wont to calle. ?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre (1894) II. lf. 286v And then arryued the right stronge Achilles wyth his myrondones. society > armed hostility > warrior > armed retainer > [noun] society > authority > subjection > service > servant > retainer or follower > [noun] > faithful or devoted 1609 W. Shakespeare v. vii. 1 Come here about me you my Myrmidons, Marke what I say, attend me where I wheele. View more context for this quotation] 1620 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher v. 62 We are thy Mermidons. 1639 H. Glapthorne ii. ii. sig. Diiv Fall on my Mirmidon, While we retreat. 1648 in J. Raymond (1993) viii. 360 Decem. 3. The Mirmydons swagger'd above the Streets, and took a view of the City, as if they meant to divide the inheritance by Lot. 1699 G. Farquhar iii. ii. 36 Now, my Myrmidons fall on. 1748 S. Richardson III. xiii. 88 Who knows what consequences might have follow'd upon..my projected visit, followed by my Myrmidons? 1821 W. Scott I. i. 5 Which produced the following dialogue betwixt the myrmidons of the bonny Black Bear [sc. hostler and tapster]. 1838 4 306/1 Vulcan's stout myrmidons, wielding the hammer, Could not have occasioned a clatter more stunning. 1881 Dec. 284 The trembling myrmidons of dew remain No longer than the flash of morning's eye. 1896 J. Curtin tr. H. Sienkiewicz x. 87 He felt that it was more appropriate to receive her at home than to go in the rôle of a myrmidon to the palace. 1904 H. O. Sturgis x. 143 A real chef directed an army of myrmidons in the adjoining kitchen. 1988 4 Feb. 397/1 Perhaps the most flamboyant of these invaders was Albert Szent-Györgyi, who arrived in 1947 with his group of myrmidons, a Nobel prize and a mixed reputation. 3. the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > ruffianly conduct > ruffian > [noun] > hired society > authority > subjection > service > servant > retainer or follower > [noun] > low, venal, or unscrupulous the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > violent treatment or force > masterful or bullying > person > hired 1647 4 Was it not Massey [who]..with his Mirmidons routed the proud Hoptonian powers? 1666 S. Pepys 12 July (1972) VII. 204 He spoke contemptibly of Holmes and his Mermidons that came to take down the ships from hence. 1708 E. Ward No. 6. 20 His Scoundrel Mermidons must do their Duty at the Table. 1724 ‘C. Johnson’ (ed. 2) xv. 374 The poor Man was bound to the Main-Mast and burnt in the Ship, to the no small Diversion of Low and his Mirmidons. 1749 H. Fielding V. xv. v. 224 The Door flew open, and in came Squire Western, with his Parson, and a Set of Myrmidons at his Heels. View more context for this quotation 1803 R. Heber Let. 18 Nov. in (1950) iv. 144 I trust if Bonaparte's myrmydons venture to put to sea they will sup with Neptune. 1816 T. L. Peacock ii. 12 His myrmidon on this occasion was a little red-nosed butler. 1874 F. W. Farrar ii. lx. 372 Herod and his corrupt hybrid myrmidons ‘set Him at nought’. 1927 S. Lewis iii. 45 No timid Jesus did he preach, but the adventurer who had..dared to face the soldiers in the garden, who had dared the myrmidons of Rome and death itself! 1944 10 21 Hening bitterly reproached the ‘myrmidons’ of George III, who ‘with more than the savage barbarity of the Goths and Vandals committed to the flames’ Virginia records. 1987 (Nexis) 12 Apr. 1 The young woman who survived incineration by General Pinochet's myrmidons last year. the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > servile flattery or currying favour > [noun] > servile flatterer > parasite 1800–5 A. Carlyle (1973) 172 [In 1758] Smollett..agreed to Dine with us... He only beg'd Leave to withdraw for an Hour that he might Give audience to his Mirmydons. 1834 1 144/1 None but the cunning myrmidons of party vengeance..dreamed that any criminating circumstance was in the possession of this young lady. 1860 W. H. Russell II. vii. 142 The Southern who harried their glens with his canine myrmidons in the evil days ere King Jamie annexed England to Scotland. 1900 LXII. 109/1 The renowned ‘Chaldee Manuscript’.., which was in fact a satire..upon the rival publisher and his myrmidons. 1999 28 May ii. 13/1 Trashed by the critics, rubbished by the new myrmidons of the style pages, it [sc. a film] went down with all hands. society > law > law enforcement > law-enforcement or peace-officer > [noun] 1699 B. E. Myrmidons, the Constable's Attendants..; also the Watchmen. 1714 No. 616. ⁋4 I have just left the Right Worshipful and his Myrmidons about a Sneaker of Five Gallons. 1809 Ld. Byron 467 Bow-street Myrmidons. 1841 C. Dickens lxvi. 320 His complaint should be..fully stated..to all the inferior myrmidons of justice. 1889 XVIII. 227/2 The myrmidons of the law burst in upon them and carried off a dozen or so of the boldest and threw them into prison. 1909 ‘I. Hay’ in J. Philip et al. i. 43 I found myself confronted by a grim-looking gentleman in a cap and gown and bands, behind whom stood two of the most ferocious-looking myrmidons I have ever beheld. 1916 E. P. Oppenheim i. 14 In case we should turn out to be desperate characters,..a myrmidon of the law is lurking near. 1935 M. Anderson i. iii. 35 A uniformed minion of the rich, a guardian myrmidon of the Park Avenue pleasure hunters, steps in and puts a limit on the innocent enjoyments of the poor! 1949 B. Frechtman tr. J. Genet 106 To escape from the myrmidons of the law. Compounds1837 3 746/2 This conqueror, the Napoleon of the East [sc. Tamerlaine], overran the greater part of Asia with his myrmidon horde of Tartars, spreading death and desolation around him. 1897 3 240 We get something better than a myrmidon allegiance contingent on success as soon as we get disinterestea admiration. 1925 Jan. 392 Home is a house on a cliff in a wind-break of cedars and larches; Below it, with myrmidon waves, the vast sea eternally marches. 1986 D. Carey vi.123 He was acting the myrmidon role. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.c1425 |
