| 释义 |
ˈearth-born, ppl. a. poet. or rhetorical.
1. Born by emerging from the earth: applied e.g. to the Titans, to the offspring of the dragon's teeth of Cadmus, etc. Also = autochthonous.
1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 231 They had like the earth-borne brethren, wrought one anothers destruction. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 403 Young turtles..are seen bursting from the sand, as if earth-born. 1831Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 324 Lessing still towers in the distance like an Earth-born Atlas. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 41 Cadmus and his earth-born men.
2. Born on the earth; of earthly or mortal race, as opposed to angelic or divine.
1667Milton P.L. iv. 360 Creatures of other mould, earth-born perhaps, Not Spirits. 1738Wesley Psalms cxlvii. ii. vi, By all the Earth-born Race His Honours be express'd.
b. transf. Of humble, as opposed to royal birth.
1709Edm. Smith Phædra & Hippol. i. ii. (1793) 594 Earth-born Lycon may ascend the throne.
3. Of things: Produced by the earth; arising from the earth.
1702Rowe Tamerl. v. i, Behold the vain Effects of Earth-born Pride. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. xi, Nor were these earth-born Castles bare. 1864Pusey Lect. Daniel ix. 563 The serene depth of heaven..undimmed..by the black earth-born clouds, which roll so far below. |