| 释义 |
† ˈdiverb Obs.
[f. di- (? di-2 two, twice) + L. verbum word: cf. L. dīverbium ‘the colloquial part of a comedy, the dialogue’, to which, however, the Eng. use shows no approach.]
A proverb, byword; a proverbial expression.
(Often used, and app. introduced by Burton; Richardson explains ‘an antithetical proverb or saying, in which the parts or members are contrasted or opposed’; but this is hardly applicable to all Burton's diverbs.)
1621–51Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iv. (1676) 178/2 You may define ex ungue leonem, as the diverb is, by his thumb alone the bigness of Hercules. Ibid. ii. iii. vii. 220/1 Durum & durum non faciunt murum, as the diverb is. Ibid. iii. iii. i. ii. 364/1 England is a paradise for women, and hell for horses; Italy a paradise of horses, hell for women, as the diverbe goes. 1678Bp. Wetenhall Office of Preaching 793 What do we mean by the usual diverb, the Italian Religion? 1689Hickeringill Ceremony-Monger Wks. (1716) II. 498 Verifying the Proverb, A great Head and little Wit; not that the Diverb is always true, but it is often so. |