| 释义 |
doubtless, a. and adv.|ˈdaʊtlɪs|
[f. doubt n. + -less.]
A. adj. Free from doubt or uncertainty; undoubted, indubitable; † formerly also, free from apprehension, fear, or suspicion.
c1440Promp. Parv. 129/2 Dowteles, indubius, sine dubio. 1577Fulke Confut. Purg. 362 This doubtlesse institution. 1595Shakes. John iv. i. 130 Pretty childe, sleepe doubtlesse, and secure. 1596― 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 20, I am doutlesse I can purge My selfe of many I am charg'd withal. a1603T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 172 You have put that..for a doubtlesse doctrine, which he maketh a doubtfull opinion. 1894P. T. Forsyth in Independent 20 Dec., It is another and a doubtless thing.
B. adv. Without doubt or question; unquestionably, undoubtedly, certainly. Now generally concessive of something asserted or claimed.
c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 725 Nade he ben duȝty & dryȝe..Douteles he hade ben ded. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 128, I wol be cristned doutelees. c1400Destr. Troy 3477 Ye dowtles mun degh. 1535Coverdale Ps. lvii[i]. 11 Doutles, there is a God that iudgeth the earth. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 44 Doubtlesse he would haue made a noble Knight. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. i. §16 Of good things, the greater good is most excellent? Doubtless. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 223 He doubtless attacked many of the beliefs which good men held sacred.
b. Often in a weaker sense, implying that the speaker sees no reason to doubt the truth of an opinion or presumption uttered; = No doubt.
1664Butler Hud. ii. iii. 1 Doubtless the pleasure is as great Of being cheated as to cheat. 1728Young Love Fame iii. Wks. (1757) 102 Since his great ancestors in Flanders fell, The poem doubtless must be written well. 1840Hood Up Rhine Introd. 1 The reader of Robinson Crusoe will doubtless remember the flutter of delight [etc.].
Hence ˈdoubtlessness.
1895Eclectic Mag. Oct. 565 With equal doubtlessness, Bulgaria would owe her national independence to [etc.]. |