| 释义 |
enormity|ɪˈnɔːmɪtɪ|
Forms: α. 5–6 enormyte(e, -ie, -ye, 6–7 -itie, 6– enormity. β. 7 inormitie, -y, innormity.
[ad. Fr. énormité, ad. L. ēnormitātem, f. ēnormis (see enorm).]
†1. Divergence from a normal standard or type; abnormality, irregularity. Obs. or arch.
1538Starkey England i. iii. 84 The partys in proportyon not agreyng..leue much enormyte..in thys polytyke body. 1647H. More Song of Soul ii. iii. iii. lxx, The strange absurd enormity Of staggering motions in the azure skie. 1865Mozley Mirac. v. 95 Pure, boundless enormity, then is itself incredible.
†b. concr. Something that is abnormal; an irregularity, extravagance, eccentricity. Obs.
1494Fabyan vi. cxlix. 135 For his dulnesse and his other enormytes in hym exercysyd. Ibid. vii. ccxxiv. 251 That tyme clerkes..rode with gylte spurres, with vsynge of dyuerse other enormytees. 1577T. Vautrollier Luther on Ep. Gal. 26 And yet we can not remedie this enormitie. 1687Death's Vis. ix. (1713) 41 note 4 The Irregularities and Enormities that appear in the Mundane System. 1710Addison Tatler No. 250 ⁋1 Enormities in Dress and Behaviour. 1781J. Moore View Soc. It. (1790) I. xxxix. 432 Keep the citizens from reflecting on..the enormities of the new form of government.
2. Deviation from moral or legal rectitude. In later use influenced by enormous 3: Extreme or monstrous wickedness.
1563Homilies ii. Repentance ii. (1859) 537 Our natural uncleanliness and the enormity of our sinful life. 1777Robertson Hist. Amer. (1778) II. v. 138 Stained an illustrious name by deeds of peculiar enormity and rigour. 1863Bright Sp. Amer. 30 June, The protest..against the enormity of the odious system. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xxvi. 358 Lecture her two boys on the enormity of telling a fib.
b. concr. A breach of law or morality; a transgression, crime; in later use, a gross and monstrous offence.
1475Caxton Jason 134 b, Certes Madame sayd yet Jason for these enormytes know that I have left and repudied her. 1549Coverdale Erasm. Par. Hebr. 16 Beware that we fal not agayne into our olde enormyties. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. 10 Provided there be but found a colour for these gross enormities. 1713Addison Guardian No. 116 ⁋1 There are many little enormities in the world which our preachers would fain see removed. 1766Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) II. xiv. 267 A single look is construed into I know not what enormity. 1842H. Rogers Introd. Burke's Wks. (1842) I. 28 The enormities of Debi Sing, one of the worst agents of Indian tyranny. 1879Froude Cæsar xi. 119 Other enormities Catiline had been guilty of.
†3. Excess in magnitude; hugeness, vastness. Obs.; recent examples might perh. be found, but the use is now regarded as incorrect.
1792Munchhausen's Trav. xxii. 93 A worm of proportionable enormity had bored a hole in the shell. 1802Howard in Phil. Trans. XCII. 204 Notwithstanding the enormity of its bulk. 1830Fraser's Mag. I. 752 Of the properties of the Peak of Teneriffe accounts are extant which describe its enormity. 1846De Quincey Syst. Heavens Wks. III. 183 The whitish gleam was the mask conferred by the enormity of their remotion. [Mod. ‘‘You have no idea of the enormity of my business transactions’, said an eminent Stock Exchange speculator to a friend. He was perhaps nearer the truth than he intended’.]
b. concr. Something enormous. (humorous.)
1825Hone Every-day Bk. I. 436 This waxen enormity [an enormous taper] was lighted. |