| 释义 |
▪ I. emissary, n.1 and a.|ˈɛmɪsərɪ|
[ad. L. ēmissāri-us adj., that is sent, also absol. an emissary, spy, f. ēmiss- ppl. stem of ēmittĕre to send out (see emit) + -ārius, -ary1.]
A. n.
a. A person sent on a mission to gain information, or to gain adherents to, or promote the interests of a cause. (Until recently used almost exclusively in bad sense, implying something odious in the object of the mission, or something underhand in its manner.) Also fig. Now freq. used without implication of odiousness or underhandedness.
In B. Jonson's Staple of News (see quot. 1625) the word is used app. as a novelty, and recurs constantly through the play as the official title of the agents employed by the imaginary ‘office for the collection of news.’
1625B. Jonson Staple of N. i. ii. (1631) 9 What are Emissaries? Men imploy'd outward, that are sent abroad To fetch in the commodity [news]. 1637–50Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 465 The Bishops purseivants, and others their emissaries. c1650Denham Progr. Learn. 126 Lucifer's..faithful emissary, rose from hell To possess Peter's chair. 1665Glanvill Sceps. Sci. iv. §3 The meatus, or passages, through which those subtill emissaries [the ‘Spirits’] are conveyed to the respective members. 1708Bickerstaff detected in Swift's Wks. II. i. 168 Culprit aforesaid is a popish emissary. 1756Burke Subl. & B. i. §7 (1808) 134 Pain..is..an emissary of this king of terrours. 1810Wellington in Gurw. Disp. VII. 2, I am endeavouring to get this information by emissaries. 1841D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 379 Burghley..had..emissaries to inform him of the ballads sung in the streets. 1876Green Short Hist. vii. §6 (1882) 400 She viewed the Douay priests simply as political emissaries of the Papacy. 1968J. A. W. Bennett Chaucer's Book of Fame ii. 67 As Jove's emissary the bird speaks as though he has divined these limitations.
b. = spy.
1676in Bullokar. 1721–1800in Bailey.
†c. attrib. quasi-adj. Obs.
a1637B. Jonson Lyrick Pieces 8 (R.) Nor forth your window peepe, With your emissarie eye.
B. adj. That is sent forth.
†1.
a. Emitted as an emanation.
b. Sent forth on a mission (cf. A).
c. In transl. L. emissarius caper, Levit. xvi. 8. = scape-goat. Obs. rare.
1659H. More Immort. Soul (1662) 121 Emissary atoms. 1688― Para. Proph. 399 Emissary Agents from the Roman See. 1688― An Illustration 311 The Rivers must be Emissary Powers of the said Kingdom. 1833Rock Hierurg. (1851) 55 The High-Priest..offered the emissary goat.
2. Phys. Of small vessels: Sent forth, branching out from a main trunk.
1831R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 741 The veins..communicate..by a multitude of emissary twigs.
▪ II. emissary, n.2|ˈɛmɪsərɪ|
[ad. L. ēmissārium an outlet, f. ēmiss- (see prec.) + -ārium: see -ary1.]
An outlet, channel, duct: chiefly of a lake or reservoir. Also fig. Obs. exc. in Rom. Antiq.
1601Holland Pliny II. 530 Without any emissaries, tunnels, or holes. 1727Swift To a very young Lady Wks. 1755 II. ii. 44 To be the common emissary of scandal. 1786Phil. Trans. LXXVI. 368 The famous Emissary of the Emperor Claudius remains nearly entire. 1859Ld. Broughton Italy II. xvii. 121 The great emissaries of the Alban lake.
†b. Phys. A canal by which any fluid passes out. Obs.
1657Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 166 *The emissaryes of the palate from the brain. 1732Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 355 The Obstruction of the Emissaries of the Saliva. |