单词 | roi fainéant |
释义 | roi fainéantn. 1. Any of the later Merovingian kings, who increasingly played a ceremonial role with only nominal political power.The decline in the power of the Merovingian dynasty is typically taken to start after the death of Dagobert I in 639. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > king > [noun] > petty king > Merovingian roi fainéant1879 the do-nothing kings1904 1777 J. Richardson Dict. Persian, Arabic & Eng. I. p. vi/2 An office nearly resembling the Maire du palais to the rois faineants of the Merovingian race of France. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 530/2 Children were kings in both Austrasia and Neustria; we reach the days of the ‘do-naught’ princes, the rois fainéants, and of the struggle between the mayors of Austrasia and Neustria. 1898 L. Sergeant Franks xiv. 199 Dagobert's death..marked the beginning of a series of Merovingian rois fainéants. 1935 Chambers's Encycl. IV. 810/1 Charles Martel, maire du palais to the ‘Rois Fainéants’, defeated Arab invaders at Poitiers. 1990 Eng. Hist. Rev. 105 994 The image of the later Merovingians as rois fainéants is one of the great successes of Carolingian historiography. 2. Any king, ruler, or leader who has only nominal power. Also in extended use. ΘΚΠ society > authority > lack of power > [noun] > people without power > person or country without real power roi fainéant1811 paper tiger1836 figurehead1883 1811 Brit. Rev. 3 431 A succession of unprincipled and warlike satraps will perpetuate civil discord and eternal bloodshed by never-ending contests for the possession of the ‘roi faineant’. 1822 W. Scott Peveril II. iii. 71 I am, you know, a most complete Roi faineant, and never once interfered with my Maire de palais in her proceedings. 1841 T. B. Macaulay Warren Hastings in Edinb. Rev. Oct. 198 The Mahratta states..acknowledged, by words and ceremonies, the supremacy of the heir of Sevajee—a roi fainéant,..and of his Peshwa or mayor of the palace, a great hereditary magistrate. 1884 Cent. Mag. Dec. 167/2 Between the two types stands a literary roi fainéant who lives upon the reputation of a great unwritten book. 1929 W. R. Inge Assessments & Anticipations ii. 35 I have acquiesced in the undignified rôle of a roi fainéant. 1966 Economist 1 Jan. 23/1 The launching of the Sputnik in 1957, in the reign of the roi fainéant, President Eisenhower, seemed to justify Krushchevian boasts that America's days of..supremacy were numbered. 2000 J. Simpson Mad World, my Masters (2001) vi. 182 He wasn't..a grand luxurious roi fainéant like the royalty of the Gulf. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < |
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