| 释义 |
desolation|dɛsəʊˈleɪʃən|
[a. F. désolation (12th c. in Hatzf.), or ad. L. dēsōlātiōn-em, n. of action from dēsōlāre to desolate.]
The action of desolating; the condition of being left desolate.
1. The action of laying waste a land, etc., destroying its people, crops, and buildings, and making it unfit for habitation; utter devastation; an act or occasion of this kind. Also personified.
1382Wyclif 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21 Alle the days of desolacioun he dide saboth. c1400Apol. Loll. 58 What more abhominacoun of desolacoun in holi place þan þat a swyn do vpon þe holy vestiment. 1526Tindale Mark xiii. 13 When ye se the abominacion that betokeneth desolacion [Wyclif of discomfort]. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. iii. 18 All fell feats, Enlynckt to wast and desolation. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 201 Wars and all those barbarous desolations which we read of. 1774Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772, 58 The general desolation of the place by the Danes. 1814Byron Lara ii. x, And Desolation reap'd the famish'd land. 1821― Two Foscari i. i, I have follow'd long Thy path of desolation.
fig.1893Chicago Advance 30 Nov., The financial panic..the desolations of which are by no means yet overpast.
2. The condition of a place which by hostile ravaging or by natural character is unfit for habitation; waste or ruined state; dreary barrenness.
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (1840) 144 (Mätz.) In a dirk prisoun of desolacioun. 1490Caxton Eneydos i. 14 Now was that pyetous cyte alle brent and putte in desolacyon suffretous. 1632Lithgow Trav. vii. 318 Least he impede..the course of Nylus..and so bring Egypt to desolation. 1667Milton P.L. I. 181 Yon dreary Plain, forlorn and wilde, The seat of desolation. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, Such elegance..contrasted with the desolation of the house. 1856Stanley Sinai & Pal. i. 16 The general character..of the mountains of Sinai, is entire desolation. If the mountains are naked Alps, the valleys are dry rivers.
b. A thing or place in this condition; a desolate place; a dreary waste or ruin.
1611Bible Jer. xxii. 5 This house shall become a desolation. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Aristocracy Wks. (Bohn) II. 76 Many of the halls..are beautiful desolations.
3. Deprivation of companionship; the condition or sense of being forsaken; solitariness, loneliness.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 357 You haue liu'd in desolation heere, Vnseene, vnuisited. 1628Wither Brit. Rememb. viii. 1046 Loathsome desolation, In stead of company. 1818Shelley Rev. Islam x. xliii, As near one lover's tomb Two gentle sisters mourn their desolation. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 57 Sand-engirded, alone, then first she knew desolation.
4. Deprivation of comfort or joy; dreary sorrow; grief.
1382Wyclif Ezek. xii. 19 Thei schulen drynke her watir in desolacioun. c1477Caxton Jason 22 b, I am cause of alle the desolation of Oliferne. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 400 Euerie thing about you, demonstrating a carelesse desolation. 1752Warburton Lett. (1809) 118 Poor Foster..is overwhelmed with desolation for the loss of his master. 1759Robertson Hist. Scotl. I. vi. 480 Desolation and astonishment appeared in every part of the Scottish Church. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 274 The hopeless inner desolation which is the unbroken lot of myriads.
5. That which makes desolate. rare.
1608Yorksh. Trag. i. ix, Ruinous man! The desolation of his house. |