| 释义 |
eath, eith, a. and adv. Obs. exc. Sc.|iːð, iːθ|
Forms: 1–3 eað(e, eð(e, 1–4 eþ(e, 3–6 eth(e, 3 æþ, eið, eitht, ith, ieþe, yþe, 4–5 eyth, (4 eeþ, eeth, eȝathe), 6 eathe, 6– eath, Sc. eith.
[OE. éaþe adv. = OS. ôðo easily, perhaps, OHG. ôdo perhaps (also in un-ôdo ‘with difficulty’):—OTeut. *auþô; the combining form éaþ- = ON. auð-, as in auð-gǫrr easy to do. Of the adj. the normal OE. form is íeþe, ýþe (also used as adv.) = OS. ôđi easy, OHG. ôdi easy, possible:—WGer. *auþjo-z; perh. the word was orig. an -u stem, which would account for the existence of the form éaþ(e without umlaut. The OE. compar. degree of the adv. was íeþ, éþ, but there is no distinct evidence of its survival into ME.
It has been disputed whether the present word is related to OHG. ôdi, MHG. ôde, œde, mod.G. öde, ON. auðr, Goth. auþs (? or auþeis, auþus), desert, uninhabited, empty. The sense offers no valid objection to the connexion of the words, as the notion of ‘empty’ might give rise both to that of ‘desert’ and to that of ‘free from difficulties’.]
A. adj.
1. Of an action: Easy, not difficult.
c1200Ormin 19673 And Crist wass æþ to witenn þatt Forr Crist wat alle þingess. a1300Cursor M. 18385 Of eldrin men þai mette wit tuin, Þat þai war ald was eth [v.r. ith] to se. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 676 To fynde hys fere vpon folde, in fayth is not eþe. 1375Barbour Bruce xvii. 454 It wes nocht eyth till ta the toune. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xxi, In olde men abstinence of mete is eth and esy. 1513Douglas æneis Exclamatioun 28 Far eithar is..Ane othir sayaris faltis to spy and note, Than but offence or falt thame self to wryte. c1579Montgomerie Navigation 200 To the Porte of Leith: To come right in, we thoght it very eith. 1647H. More Cupid's Confl. xiii, And eath it was, since they're so near a kin. 1748Thomson Cast. Indol. i. lxxiv, To stir him from his traunce it was not eath. 1821Mrs. Wheeler App. Cumbrld. Dial. 10 E'en yet its eith to trace A guilty conscience in my blushing feace. 1862A. Hislop Prov. Scotl. 55 Eith working when will's at hame.
b. Of a passage, etc.: That may be travelled with ease, not rough.
Beowulf 228 (Gr.) Wedera leode..ᵹode þancedon Þæs þe him yþlade eaðe wurdon. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. July 90 Hereto, the hilles bene nigher heauen, and thence the passage ethe. 1627P. Fletcher Locusts i. ix, Hels yron gates to every guilty soule yeelds entrance eath.
2. Of the object, means, or method of an action: Making slight resistance; presenting few difficulties; = easy. Const. inf., usually active in form but passive in sense.
a1225Juliana 57 Wenest tu þat we beon se eð to biwihelin? a1240Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 279 Pouerte wið menske is eað for to þolien. 1297R. Glouc. (1810) 327 He was symple & myldore, & eþ to ouercome. c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 849 He was ethe ynough to maken dwelle. c1400Rom. Rose 3955 A foole is eyth to bigyle. c1450Henryson Mor. Fab. 58 The Bairne is eith to buske that is vnborne. 1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 382/1, I woulde euery other thinge wer as ethe to mend as thys is. a1535― Wks. 83 For as saint Poule saith, y⊇ fleshly sinnes be eth to perceiue. 1632Sanderson Serm. 323 A great mountaine is eath to be seene. 1691Ray N.C. Words Coll. 23 It is eath to do, i. e. Easie. 1847–8H. Miller First Impr. xiv. (1857) 235 One of our old Scotch proverbs [says] God's bairns are eath to lear, i. e. easily instructed.
†b. Of a person: Easy to be entreated, gentle; in ME. with genit, eði modes gentle of mood. Also, Ready, susceptible; const. inf. Obs.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 2249 God hunne him eði-modes ben. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. vi. 40 Her gentle hart..More eath was new impression to receive.
†3. Comfortable, at ease, free from pain.
c1205Lay. 2234 Eð him wes on heorten. Ibid. 8178 Þa wes his hurte æðe. Ibid. 1250 Þo was he þe eþere.
B. adv. Easily, without difficulty.
a1000Boeth. Metr. ix. 54 He wel meahte Þæt unriht him eðe forbiodan. a1000Andreas 425 (Gr.) God eaðe mæᵹ heaðoliðendum helpe ᵹefremman. c1175Cott. Hom. 219 He wolde and eaðe mihte bien his sceoppinde ȝelic. a1200Moral Ode 284 in Cott. Hom. 177 Ieþe he muwen ben of-drad þe hine sculled bi-helde. a1225Ancr. R. 62 Ablinde þe heorte, heo is eð ouercumen, & ibrouht sone mid sunne to grunde. a1300K. Horn 61 So fele miȝten yþe Bringe hem þre to diþe. a1300Cursor M. 11219 Moght he not þan..Be born vte of a maiden eth At þe time o nine moneth? c1315Shoreham 7 Wel eȝathe, God thorwe miracles ketheth hit A-lyve and eke a-dethe. c1460Towneley Myst. 193 Oone worde myght thou speke ethe. 1538Starkey England i. ii. §6 (1871) 32 We may the..ether also avoyd thys ignorance. 1600Fairfax Tasso x. xlii. 187 Who thinkes him most secure is eathest shamed. a1774Fergusson Rising of Sess. Poems (1845) 28 Eith can the pleugh-stilts gar a chiel Be unco vogie Clean to lick aff his crowdie-meal. 1862A. Hislop Prov. Scotl. 54 Eith learned, soon forgotten.
C. eath- in Comb.
1. Forming adjs. (which did not survive beyond 14th c.), the final element being f. the stem of a verb: eðbete [see beet v.], easy to amend; eðfele [see feel v.], easily felt; eþgete [see get v.], easily obtained; eðlete [see let v.1, and cf. OE. earfoðlǽte emitted with difficulty], easily dismissed, lightly esteemed; eðluke [see louk v.], easily pulled; eðsene [see sene a., see v.], easy to see; eþwinne [see win v.], easy to win.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 63 Þat we hauen agilt her biforen..buð *eðbete gif hie us sore rieweð.
c1225Ancr. R. 194 Uorði þet heo beoð *eð fele.
c1000ælfric on O. & N. Test. 32 (Bosw.) Him wæs *eaþgete ele to ðam baþe. c1275Sinners Beware 19 in O.E. Misc. 74 Þy vs is eþ-gete Helle þat is unlede.
a1200Moral Ode 38 in E.E.P. (1862) 24 *Eðlete [is] muchel gyue ðenne ðe heorte is ille.
a1225Juliana 70 Me ledde hire & hleac forð ant heo wes *eðluke.
a1000Cynewulf Crist 1235 Ðær biþ *eþᵹesyne þreo tacen. a1200Moral Ode 338 in O.E. Misc. 70 Þat is wel eþ-sene. a1225Leg. Kath. 381 Sutel is and eðsene..þæt tu were iset ȝung to leaf and to lare. a1225Ancr. R. 116 Wiðuten writunge, þe fulðe is to eð-cene.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 49 Nime we þe turtles bitocninge þat is *eðwinne.
2. With final element f. a n.: see edmod, -mede. |