| 释义 |
▪ I. empress, n.1|ˈɛmprɪs|
Forms: 2–4 emperice, 3–8 emperess(e, 4 (amperesse), emperis(e, -isse, empiresse, 5 emprice, -ise, 5–7 empresse, 7– empress. Also 4–5 imperes, -ice.
[ME. emperesse, a. OF. emperesse, fem. of emperere emperor (late L. type *imperatorissa). OF. had also empereriz, -is, = Pr. emperairitz, Sp. emperatriz:—L. imperātrīcem, and various mixed forms, as emperice, amperice, some of which occur in ME.]
1. The consort of an emperor. Also, a female sovereign having the rank equivalent to that of an emperor.
1154O.E. Chron. an. 1140 Þe hæfde ben Emperice. 1297R. Glouc. (1725) 440 He louede hyr, vor heo was eyr & hey emperesse. Ibid. 474 The nexte ȝer ther after the Amperesse Mold Wende out of this liue. c1350Will. Palerne 5343 And Melion..was crouned emperice. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. vii. (1520) 79 b/1 Wyllyam..helde warre agaynst Maude the empresse. 1559Bp. Scot in Strype Ann. Ref. I. ii. App. vii. 417 The emperesse Theodora that then was. 1704Addison Italy (1733) 236 Among the Emperesses. a1745Swift Wks. (1768) IV. 301 The earl of Chester..commanded there for the empress. 1836Penny Cycl. V. 132/2 Napoleon..crowned his wife as empress. 1888Times No. 32,573. 7/4 The Queen and the Empress Frederick were compelled to delay their departure from the Royal borough. Mod. In 1876 Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India.
2. A female potentate exercising supreme or absolute power. Chiefly transf. and fig.
a1300Cursor M. 20801 Of heuen and erth..scho es quene, Bath imperice and heind leuedi. c1374Chaucer Boeth. (1868) 109 For felonie is emperisse and flowreþ ful of rycchesse. c1460Towneley Myst. 171 Thi moder is of helle emprise. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 40 Harke Tamora, the Empresse of my Soule. 1634Habington Castara 30 The pale-faced Empresse of the night Lent in her chaste increase her borrowed light. 1682Dryden Mac Fl. 87 Now Empress Fame had publisht the renown Of Shadwells coronation. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xii, Who..seemed the empress of the scene. 1832Blackw. Mag. Feb. 353/1 The British capital has been called..the empress of all cities. 1844Kinglake Eöthen v. (1878) 73 Yonder empress throned at the window of that humblest mud cottage.
3. Comb.
a. appositive.
a1661B. Holyday Juvenal 93 Before his bed she chose a mat that stunk, And wore a night-hood too, an empress⁓punk! 1705in Lond. Gaz. No. 4156/1 The Earl of Sunderland..had Audience..of the Empress-Dowager. 1711Ibid. 4875/2 His Excellency deliver'd her Majesty's Credentials to the Empress-Regent.
b. empress-cloth: a woollen fabric differing from merino chiefly in not being twilled. (App. not known as a trade term in England.)
1884in Knight Amer. Mech. Dict.; and in later Dicts.
▪ II. † ˈempress, n.2 Obs.
Forms: 6 emprese, 7 empresse, empressa. See also impress n.2, impresa.
[A var. of impress n.2, ad. It. impresa of same meaning. The form with em- may be ad. the equivalent Sp. empresa, and is therefore treated separately.]
A motto or significant device; see impress n.2 Also attrib.
1593Nashe Christ's T. 19 b, Let..this for an Emprese be engrauen. 1603Drayton Baron's Wars vi. 43 Emblems, Empressas, Hirogliphiques. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 287 A blew garter, carrying this Empresse..Hony soit qui Mal y pense. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 146/2 Emblem or Empress work is drawing Faces from the Life.
▪ III. † emˈpress, v. Obs.
Forms: 4 enprece, -presse, 4–5 empresse. See also impress v.
[a. OF. empresse-r, emprecier, f. en- (see en-) + presser to press.]
trans. and absol. To subject to pressure, press, oppress. Also intr. to crowd, press eagerly into.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. C. 43 And þere as pouert enpresses, þaȝ mon pyne þynk. Ibid. 528 Pouerte me enprecez & paynez innoȝe. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 518 Such feendly thoughtes in his hert empresse. c1400Rom. Rose 3691 No man..ne may..of the reisins have the wyne Til grapes..Be sore empressid. 1475Bk. Noblesse 4 Every man in hym silf let the passions of dolours be..empressid into vyfnes. |