| 释义 |
her·ald
I. \ˈherəld\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English heraud, herald, from Middle French hiraut, heraut, from an (assumed) Germanic compound (akin to the name Chariovolda attested in Tacitus) whose first component is akin to Old High German heri army, and whose 2d component is akin to Old High German waltan to have power over, rule — more at harry, wield
1.
a. : an official at a tournament of arms whose duties consisting originally of making announcements came to include keeping the scores, interpreting the rules, and marshaling the combatants
b. : an officer whose original duties of a tournament official came to include also the marshaling of other chivalric ceremonials, the making of official announcements, and the carrying of messages to or from rulers or commanders especially in war with the status of ambassador
c. : such an officer of a monarch or government also having the responsibility for devising, granting, registering, and confirming armorial bearings, this responsibility coming to constitute his chief function as earlier functions became obsolete : officer of arms
d. : a member of the second of three grades of officers of arms ranking above a pursuivant and below a king of arms
2.
a. : an official crier or messenger having duties similar in one or more respects to those of the herald of medieval and modern Europe
< Mercury was the gods' herald >
b. : one (as a soldier) who signals with a trumpet
< more chieftains came, with heralds who blew on trumpets that were twelve feet long — Hector Bolitho >
c. : avant-courier
3.
a. : one that precedes or foreshadows : harbinger, forerunner
< flights of ravens … are the sure heralds of the approach of the deer — Farley Mowat >
< revolutions … were the heralds of social changes — R.W.Livingstone >
b.
(1) : one that conveys news or proclaims : announcer
< hark the herald angels sing — George Whitefield >
< it was the lark, the herald of the morn — Shakespeare >
(2) : one that supports or advocates : spokesman
< conspicuous herald of this enfranchising movement — C.A.Dinsmore >
4. : a specialist in heraldry : heraldist
5. : a European noctuid moth (Scoliopteryx libatrix)
6. : the identifying symbol or monogram of a railroad usually displayed on its freight cars
II. transitive verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
1. : to give notice of : announce, signal
< the publisher heralds a second series — J.N.Hazard >
< the approach of a cold air mass … is heralded by a shift of the wind — P.E.James >
2.
a. : to bring to public notice : publicize
< one of the most heralded and most exciting events in the country — T.H.Fielding >
b. : to greet especially with enthusiasm : hail
< the show was heralded with a glum essay — E.R.Bentley >
< automation has been extravagantly heralded by some as the threshold to a new Utopia — John Diebold >
3. : to signal the approach of : precede, foreshadow
< heralded by a man ringing a bell and esquired by his clerk — Adrian Bell >
< an increase in … local quakes in a volcanic region is fairly sure to herald an eruption — Howel Williams > |