| 释义 |
devilry|ˈdɛv(ə)lrɪ|
Also 4 dewilry, 7 deuillary.
[f. devil n. + -ry.]
†1. A demon; a demoniacal possession. (Cf. F. diablerie.) Obs.
c1380Wyclif Last Age of Chirche p. xxiv, Chaffare walkynge in derkenessis and myddais deuylrye þat is to seye antecrist. 14..Prose Legends in Anglia VIII. 143 Temptyd of þe deuelry þat walkes in derknesse. Ibid. 144 Þis maner of deuilry myghte not anoon be casten oute. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 2023 Fforto cast out Dyvelleres he gaf the auctoritee. 1483Cath. Angl. 98 A Devylry..demonium.
2. Magical operation performed by the supposed help of Satan; dealing with the Devil; diabolical art.
1375Barbour Bruce iv. 690 Throu thair gret clergy, Or ellis throu thair deuilry. c1425Wyntoun Cron. ix. xxiv. 48 Be Wichcraft or Devilry. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 5 Art magike, witchcraft, and all kind of diuelrie. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 287 The king throuch the arte of Magik, Witchcraft, and deuilrie was consumet. 1795Southey Joan of Arc vii. 556 Witch though she be, methinks Her devilry could neither blunt the edge Of thy good sword, or mine. 1867M. E. Braddon R. Godwin III. iii. 44 By what devilry did he stumble upon the truth.
3. Works or operation of the devil.
1533Tindale Supper of Lord Wks. (1573) 463 They be proued starke lyes and very deuelry. 1581Satir. Poems Reform. xliv. 316 Double sonnis of Deuilrie! a1876G. Dawson Biog. Lect. 38 He fought for light against darkness, for God's truth against Devilry.
4. Devilish action or conduct; extreme wickedness, cruelty, or perversity; wicked mischief.
1637Bastwick Litany i. 19 Greater cruelty..(to say nothing of deuillary, atheisme and popery) I know no where. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. viii, What devilry soever Kings do, the Greeks must pay the piper! 1851Helps Comp. Solit. x. (1874) 180 Finding that such is the devilry of circumstances. 1852Thackeray Esmond i. xiv, I took to all sorts of devilries out of despair and fury. 1870Daily News 24 Sept., A sight of misery, chaos, disorganisation, and general devilry.
b. humorously. Reckless indulgence in mischief, hilarity, or daring.
1840Dickens Barn. Rudge lxvii, A fellow..who has the daring and devilry in him of twenty fellows. 1842S. C. Hall Ireland II. 340 The reckless ‘devilry’ of a former time, and the decent hilarity of the present. 1843Lytton Last Bar. i. i, Too sober and studious for such men-at-arms' devilry. 1887M. E. Braddon Like & Unlike ix, What devilry has brought you here, in that get-up.
5. A system of devils; demonology.
1844Masson Ess., The Three Devils iii. (1856) 80 The second part of Faust is devilry all through, a tissue of bewilderments and devilries. 1871Tylor Prim. Cult. II. 230 The evil demon Aeshma Daeva..becoming the Asmodeus of the book of Tobit, afterwards to find a place in the devilry of the middle ages.
6. Devils collectively, a company of devils. (Cf. cavalry, yeomanry.)
1832Examiner 453/2 The carrying-off of Don Juan was managed by the same identical red-and-yellow gauze winged devilry. 1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics viii. ix, The swarming devilry that everywhere attends him. |