| 释义 |
▪ I. taunt, n.1|tɔːnt|
Forms: 6 taunte, tawnte, 6–7 tant, 6– taunt.
[Taunt n.1 and v.1 are not found before 1500; origin obscure.
The most likely suggestion is that the n. arose from the Fr. phrase tant pour tant, ‘one for another, tit for tat’, lit. ‘as much for so much’, englished in 16th c. as taunt pour taunt and taunt for taunt; hence, as primary sense, ‘a return thrust, an effective rejoinder’. But the chronology of the n. and vb. makes this doubtful.
Other suggestions, for vb. or n., are OF. tanter, variant of tenter to try, prove, tempt; MHG. tant empty talk; and Du. tanden ‘impetere, invadere aliquem’ (Kilian), none of which seem adequate.]
†1. In phrase taunt for (pour) taunt, like for like, tit for tat, in reply or rejoinder. Obs.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 311 Cicero for that he had separated & deuided hymself from Piso, who had marryed his doughter, gaue Pompeius again taunte pour taunte, for y⊇ same kept warre against his owne father in lawe. 1548― Erasm. Par. Luke iii. 48 b, Answer taunt pour taunt the one contrarie to the other. c1550Croke XIII Ps. (Percy Soc.) 13 When they rebuked me so sore, I wold not render taunt for taunt. 1620T. Granger Div. Logike 124 Regestion is commonly termed like for like, pin driuing out a pin, tint for taunt.
†2. A smart or clever rejoinder, a jesting quip or witty gibe; banter. Obs.
1571Damon & Pithias in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 24 Ready to answer, quick in taunts, pleasant to jest. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 33 Fine phrases, smooth quippes, merry tauntes. a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieutenant iv. i, She's as wanton as a Kid to th' out side, As full of Mocks and Taunts.
3. a. An insulting or provoking gibe or sarcasm; a mocking or scornful reproach or challenge; a casting of something in any one's teeth.
a1529Skelton Bowge of Courte 70 Her chyef gentylwoman..Gaue me a taunte, and sayde I was to blame. 1548Udall Erasm. Par. Luke ii. 25 b, There was in hym no malapertenesse of cockyng or geuyng tauntes. 1552Huloet, Tawnte, morsus,..pipulum. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 12 Many tantis war gevin thame in thair teith. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. iv. 39. 1598 ― Merry W. v. v. 151 Haue I liu'd to stand at the taunt of one that makes Fritters of English? 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 354 True it is that a man of government may otherwhiles give a taunt and nipping scoffe, he may cast out also a merrie jest to moove laughter. 1680C. Nesse Church Hist. 146 Many a taunt was cast on the old king. 1725Pope Odyss. iii. 179 With ireful taunts each other they oppose. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. xix. 168 With sneers and stinging taunts disgrace me.
†b. transf. An object of insulting or scornful gibes. Obs. rare.
1611Bible Jer. xxiv. 9, I will deliuer them..to be a reproch and a prouerbe, a taunt and a curse.
4. Comb., as taunt-song, used to refer to certain passages in the Old Testament, spec. as a rendering of Heb. māšāl.
1906S. R. Driver Habakkuk (Cent. Bible) 78 ‘Parable’ in these passages [sc. Habakkuk 2: 6] suggests a wholly incorrect idea; and the best rendering is probably taunt-song. 1928C. Gore et al. New Commentary on Holy Scripture 444/1 In that day of relief from sorrow and fear a taunt-song will be sung against the King of Babylon. 1959G. W. Anderson Crit. Introd. O.T. v. 109 The second contains a striking taunt-song over the descent of a tyrant..to the abode of the dead.
▪ II. † taunt, n.2 Obs. rare.
[Origin unascertained.]
A branch, a twig.
1567Golding Ovid's Met. vii. 91 And all the Pismeres creeping still upon his tawnts and sprigs [Lat. totidemque animalia ramis Ferre].
▪ III. taunt, a. (adv.)|tɔːnt|
Also tant.
[Origin and history obscure: perhaps two words; sense 2 evidently goes with taunt v.2 and ataunt adv. 2.]
1. (?) Haughty; ‘high and mighty’; ‘stuck-up’. In mod. dial. saucy, pert.
c1500H. Medwall Nature (Brandl) 823 Thys boy ys passyng taunte [rime avant]. a1550Image Ipocr. ii. 198 in Skelton's Wks. (1843) II. 425/1 He is so hault and taunt That he dare hyme avaunt, All erthly men to daunt. 1880W. Cornw. Gloss., Taunt, pert. ‘A taunt piece of goods.’ 1882Jago Gloss. Cornw. Dial., Taunt, pert, ‘high and mighty’, saucy.
2. Naut. Of masts: Excessively tall or lofty.
[c1579: implied in taunt v.2] 1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea lix. 138 Neither can the ship be so strong with a decke and a halfe..: nor carry her Mastes so taunt: nor spread so great a clue. a1625Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301), Taunt is when a mast is very high for the proportion of the shipp, wee saie it is a Taunt-mast. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. iii. 15 For a man of warre, a well ordered Taunt-mast is best. Ibid. 17 If your Masts be taunt, your yards must be the shorter. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Tant, Tantest, Mast of a Ship or Man, Tall, Tallest. 1736Lewis Hist. Thanet Gloss., Taant, tall, or too high for its breadth or bigness, ‘a taant mast, house’. 1831Examiner 740/2 With a deep keel and sharp run, taunt sticks and spanking sails. 1851Kipping Sailmaking (ed. 2) 189 Taunt, an epithet, at sea, signifying high or tall. It is particularly expressed of the masts, when they are of extraordinary length. 1863Robson Bards Tyne 397 Tant ships, that come with rampant rig, Against its sides are rested. 1898F. T. Bullen Cruise Cachalot 370 The ‘crow's nests’ are dismantled, taunt topgallant-masts sent up, and royal yards crossed.
†b. Phr. with taunt sail(s), also bearing a taunt sail, with all sail set: cf. ataunt 2. Obs.
1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea liii. 124 With much winde, and a chapping Sea, bearing a taunt-sayle. 1632Lithgow Trav. v. 177 Shippes were wont to passe vnder with taunt sayles. Ibid. x. 502 A gallant ship, puft with taunt saile.
c. Comb., as taunt-masted, taunt-rigged.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. iii. 15 Taunt-masted. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Taunt, when the Masts of a Ship are too tall for her, they say she is Taunt-masted, or that her Masts are very Taunt. 1825H. B. Gascoigne Nav. Fame 70 Taunt rigg'd she seems, and like a Privateer.
†B. adv. (?) To the full, thoroughly: cf. ataunt 1. Obs.
a1550Hye Way to Spyttel Ho. 542 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 49 And there they prate, and make theyr auaunt Of theyr deceytes, and drynk adew taunt.
▪ IV. taunt, v.1|tɔːnt|
Also 6–7 tant.
[See taunt n.1]
†1. intr. To make a smart or effective rejoinder; to answer back in equivalent terms; to exchange banter. Obs.
1513More Rich. III in Hall Chron. (1548) 16 b, [Jane Shore] had a proper wytte..somtyme tantyng without displeasure, but not without disporte. a1529Skelton Agst. Garnesche ii. 37 To turney or to tante with me ye ar to fare to seke. 1548Thomas Ital. Dict. (1567), Motteggiare, to taunt pretely, or to cutte another mans woordes wittily or finely.
†2. trans. To answer (a person) with a bantering or mocking rejoinder; to ‘chaff’, banter. Obs.
1515Barclay Egloges ii. (1570) B iv/1 If thou call for ought by worde, signe or becke, Then Jacke with the bushe shall taunt thee with a chek. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 58 The king receyued him..taunting him iestingly and merily, as though one Realme were not able to holde them both. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vii. (S.T.S.) 8 This man tane in the feild the Bruse mirrilie tantis, and sayis, Welcome father, says he.
b. dial. (See quot.)
a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Taunt, v. to teize, to pester with silly questions, importunate entreaties, or any mode of minute vexation.
3. To reproach (a person) with something in a sarcastic, scornful, or insulting way.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 363 b, Than waxed he also more angry, and..taunted them with sore rebukes. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Increpare probris, to taunte with reprochful woordes. 1601Holland Pliny II. 571 Mamurra, whom the Poet Catullus..so tanted and reuiled in his verses. 1722De Foe Plague (1840) 66 Taunting him with want of courage to leap into the great pit. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xiii. 103 It ill became a person..who did not dress nearly as well as themselves, to taunt his betters with poverty. 1879Froude Cæsar xxii. 386 They taunted him with cowardice.
b. intr. To utter taunts or stinging reproaches.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 306, I am not so cleane without experience, but I could taunte againe. 1577Fulke Conjut. Purg. 370 You taunt at the author of that booke. a1688Bunyan Israel's Hope Encouraged Wks. (ed. Offor) I. 613 Those very men that are pleased to taunt at this kind of inference. 1802M. Moore Lascelles II. 21 Mr. Richards was taunting at the disappointed Miss le Gros. 1833Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound i. 91 Here, now, taunt on!
c. trans. with obj. clause. To say tauntingly. rare.
1873Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country ii. 462 Folk may taunt That half your rock-built wall is rubble-heap! 1878― La Saisiaz 299 Taunt not ‘Human work ape work divine?’
4. trans. To drive or get by taunting; to provoke.
1813Byron Br. Abydos ii. xviii, Proscribed at home, And taunted to a wish to roam. 1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. xlix. 253 But the Blackfeet were not to be taunted out of their safe shelter. 1888Pall Mall G. 31 July 11/2 Viscount Wolmer probably repented of having helped to taunt it out of Mr. Morley.
Hence ˈtaunted ppl. a.
1818Scott Battle Sempach xii, ‘Shalt see then how the game will fare’, The taunted knight replied. 1882Sat. Rev. 6 May 567/1 When the taunted victim..has drunk deep enough of the bitterness of death.
▪ V. † taunt, v.2 Naut. Obs. rare—1.
[app. f. taunt a. 2.]
trans. To hoist, raise, elevate.
c1579Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlviii. 93 Vp uent our saillis, tauntit to the huins [= hunes], The trumpits soundit tuentie mirrie tuins. |