| 释义 |
principality|prɪnsɪˈpælɪtɪ|
Forms: α. 4–5 principalte, (4 pry-, 5 -tee). β. 4–6 principalite, etc. (with y for i; also 5 -ete), 5–7 -allitie, 6–7 -alitie, (6 -ye), 6– principality.
[ME. principalite, principalte, a. OF. principalite (c 1170 in Godef.) dominion, power (in mod.F. principalité headship of a college); also principaltee (1362 in Godef. Compl. and in AF.), in mod.F. principauté territory of a prince; both ad. late L. principālitāt-em the first place, superiority, in med.L. also the authority or territory of a prince, f. principāl-is principal a.: see -ity.]
1. The quality, condition, or fact of being principal; chief place or rank; pre-eminence. Now rare.
α1387–8T. Usk Test. Love ii. iii. (Skeat) l. 12 For right as man halte the principalte of al thing vnder his beinge, in the masculyne gender. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 85 Þo lymes þat han principalte in mannes body.
βc1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 327 As wille haþ principalite to-fore witt of mannes soule. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 202/2 He was sayd chief by reson of the pryncipalyte in prelacyon. 1576Baker Jewell of Health 160 b, For the recovering of memory, defnesse, and the crampe, this obtaineth principalitie. 1631Gouge God's Arrows iii. §5. 191 The word..signifieth to obtaine principality, or to prevaile. a1677Manton Christ's Eternal Exist. vi. Wks. 1870 I. 468 Christ hath the primacy of order and the principality of influence. 1884Ruskin St. Mark's Rest x. §196 The heavenly look on the face of St. Stephen is not set off with raised light, or opposed shade, or principality of place.
†b. That which is principal; the chief point or part. Obs.
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 29 b, But now let vs heare in eche Plant his principalitie. a1619M. Fotherby Atheom. i. xi. §5 (1622) 121 The Atheist, giuing the principalitie of his loue and seruice, onely to himselfe.
2. The position, dignity, or dominion of a prince or chief ruler; sovereignty; supreme authority.
α13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1672 Now is alle þy pryncipalte past at ones. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 225 He brouȝte al þe worlde into oon principalte and lordschippe.
βa1400–50Alexander 2311 In a wrath þe wale kyng swyth Him of his principalete priued. a1500Chester Pl. xii. 2 Now by my soverayntie I sweare and principalitie that I beare. 1560Bible (Genev.) Tit. iii. 1 Pvt them in remembrance that they be subiect to the Principalities [1881 R.V. rulers] & powers. 1589Cooper Admon. 157 At the beginning.., all men were alike, there was no principalitie. 1643Prynne Sov. Power Parl. i. (ed. 2) 92 If a Royall Principality be thus instituted, as it is in the proper pleasure and power of the people to ordaine. 1692Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. ii. M.'s Wks. 1851 VIII. 65 Josephus..calls the Commonwealth of the Hebrews a Theocracy, because the principality was in God only. 1737Whiston Josephus, Antiq. xiii. viii. §2 The first year of the principality of Hyrcanus. 1878–83L. Villari Life & Times Machiavelli (1892) II. ii. iv. 180 He then goes on to treat of the civil principality.
b. With possessive, as a title. nonce-use.
1828Scott F.M. Perth xvi, May it please your honour—I mean your principality.
c. Princely action or behaviour. nonce-use.
1819Byron Let. to Murray Wks. (1846) 572/1 It was a very noble piece of principality.
3. The sovereignty, rule, or government of the prince of a small or dependent state.
1459Rolls of Parlt. V. 363/1 Offices, perteynyng to the said Principaltee and Duchie [of Cornwall]. 1485Ibid. VI. 350/1 Auditour of the Principalite of Northwales. 1584D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria C j, The beginning of the Principalitie..of Wales. a1727Newton Chronol. Amended i. (1728) 119 Caranus and Perdiccas..erected small principalities in Macedonia. 1853J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. iv. 176 China was for many centuries the seat of a number of petty principalities. 1897Daily News 25 Mar. 5/4 The proposed Principality of Crete under Prince George.
4. A region or state ruled by a prince. the Principality, a familiar designation of Wales.
a1400–50Alexander 1737 Þe prouynce & principalte [v.r. principalite] of Persye la graunt. 1592W. Wyrley Armorie, Chandos 60 He safely went his way The principalitie through I him conuay. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 275 Vpon the confines of Italy, and the seuerall principalities thereof. 1705Addison Italy 8 On the Promontory..was formerly the Temple of Hercules Monœcus, which still gives the Name to this small Principality [Monaco]. 1838Murray's Handbk. N. Germ. 331 Paderborn..formerly capital of an ecclesiastical principality, and seat of a University. 1889Gretton Memory's Harkb. 189 Of your fashionable sea-bathing resorts, the Principality boasts a pair—Tenby and Aberystwith. 1905Whitaker's Alm. 617 Samos... A principality of the Ottoman Empire, more or less independent.
5. A spiritual being (good or evil) of a high order; spec. in pl., in mediæval angelology, one of the nine orders of angels (see order n. 5), which has been variously reckoned as the seventh, fifth, or fourth. (Representing L. principātūs, Gr. ἀρχαί. In the Dionysian hierarchy, ἀρχαί were the seventh order.)
This use is founded mainly on passages in the Pauline epistles, in which ἀρχή ‘rule, ruler’, has been taken to refer to a spiritual power. (In the Bible of 1611, principality renders ἀρχή seven times; in five of these the Vulgate has principātus, in two (Eph. vi. 12, Tit. iii. 1) principes ‘princes’. The Revised version has in Eph. i. 21, rule; in Tit. iii. 1, rulers: cf. 1560 in sense 2.)
[1560Bible (Genev.) Eph. vi. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities [1557 Rulers], against powers, and against the worldlie gouernours. ― Col. i. 16 By him were all things created, which are in heauen, and which are in earth..whether they be Thrones, or Dominions, or Principalities, or Powers [1534 Tindale to 1557 Geneva, maieste or lordshippe, ether rule or power]. ]
1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. i. ii. (1651) 45 Plato..made nine kindes of [spirits], first God, secondly Ideæ, 3 Intelligences, 4 Arch-Angels, 5 Angels, 6 Devils, 7 Heroes, 8 Principalities, 9 Princes. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 447 In th' assembly next upstood Nisroc, of Principalities the prime. 1756A. Butler Lives Saints 8 May II. 317 The fathers from the sacred oracles distinguish nine Orders of these holy spirits, namely the Seraphims, Cherubims and Thrones; Dominations, Principalities and Powers; Virtues, Arch⁓angels, and Angels. 1839C. Elliott Hymn, ‘Christian, seek not yet repose’ ii, Principalities and Powers, Mustering their unseen array, Wait for thine unguarded hours.
6. The office of principal of a college, university, etc.; principalship. Now rare. (In quot. 1641 applied to the lordship or presidency of a colony.)
[1423Act 2 Hen. VI, c. 8 §1 Qils ne preignent sur eux la principalte dascun Sale ou Hostell.] 1641in E. Hazard Hist. Coll. (1792) I. 474 Sir Ferdinando Gorges Knight Lord of the Province of Maine..in the second yeare of my Principallity in Newe England. 1660Wood Life Dec. (O.H.S.) I. 363 First, the principality of Jesus; then, the presidentship of Trinity College. 1691― Ath. Oxon. I. 148 In 1546 he was made Principal of St. Maries Hall,..in 1550 he resign'd his Principality. 1712Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 460 No body to have two Principalities at the same time. 1855G. Hill (title) The Right of Appointment to the Principality of St. Edmund's Hall. a1882R. Christison Life (1885) I. 428 The principality of a small University like that of St. Andrews. |