| 释义 |
enthusiasm|ɛnˈθjuːzɪæz(ə)m|
Also 7 enthusiasme, (entousiasm, 8 enthysiasm).
[ad. late L. enthūsiasm-us, Gr. ἐνθουσιασµός, f. ἐνθουσιάζειν, f. ἐνθουσία (Zonaras Lex.) the fact of being ἔνθεος possessed by a god. Cf. Fr. enthousiasme.
The word ἔνθουσία has been explained by Leo Meyer as for *ἐνθεουσία, abstr. n. f. *ἐνθεοῦντ- stem of pr. pple. of *ἐνθεεῖν to be ἔνθεος.]
†1.
a. Possession by a god, supernatural inspiration, prophetic or poetic frenzy; an occasion or manifestation of these. Obs.
[1579E. K. Gloss. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Oct. Argt., A certaine ἐνθουσιασµός and celestiall inspiration. 1608Sylvester Du Bartas 210, I feel the vertue of my spirit decayed, The Enthousiasmos of my Muse allaid.] 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1342 The Dæmons use to make their prophets and prophetesses to be ravished with an Enthusiasme or divine fury. 1620J. Pyper tr. Hist. Astrea i. v. 146 The Bacchanals runne thorow the streets raging and storming, full of the Enthusiasme of their god. 1651Baxter Inf. Bapt. 87 Doth he think they knew it by Enthusiasm or Revelation from Heaven? 1674Hickman Hist. Quinquart. (ed. 2) 8 Nothing made the Anabaptists so infamous as their pretended enthusiasms or revelations. 1693Urquhart Rabelais iii. Prol., It is my sole Entousiasm. 1807Robinson Archæol. Græca iii. xii. 253 The second sort of θεοµάντεις..were such as pretended to enthusiasm.
b. (cf. 3.) Poetical fervour, impassioned mood or tone. Obs.
1693Dryden Juvenal Pref. (J.), Poetry, by a kind of enthusiasm, or extraordinary emotion of soul, makes it seem to us that we behold, etc. 1779–81Johnson L.P., Cowley Wks. II. 70 He [Cowley] was the first who imparted to English numbers the enthusiasm of the greater ode, and the gaiety of the less.
2. Fancied inspiration; ‘a vain confidence of divine favour or communication’ (J.). In 18th c. often in vaguer sense: Ill-regulated or misdirected religious emotion, extravagance of religious speculation. arch.
1660H. More Myst. Godl. To Rdr., If ever Christianity be exterminated, it will be by Enthusiasme. 1711Shaftesbury Charac. §7 (1737) I. 53 Inspiration is a real feeling of the Divine Presence, and Enthusiasm a false one. 1747Doddridge Life Col. Gardiner §137. 163 There is really such a Thing as Enthusiasm, against which it becomes the true Friends of the Revelation to be diligently on their Guard. 1766Walpole Let. 10 Oct., Towards the end he [Wesley] exalted his voice and acted very ugly enthusiasm. 1772Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 121 Enthusiasm [makes us] imagine that we are the peculiar favorites of the divine being. 1829I. Taylor Enthus. ii. (1867) 20 The most formal and lifeless devotions..are mere enthusiasm unless, etc. 1841–4Emerson Ess. Over-Soul Wks. (Bohn) I. 118 Everywhere the history of religion betrays a tendency to enthusiasm.
3. a. The principal current sense: Rapturous intensity of feeling in favour of a person, principle, cause, etc.; passionate eagerness in any pursuit, proceeding from an intense conviction of the worthiness of the object.
1716Kennett in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 429 IV. 306 The King of Sweden..must have much more enthusiasm in him to put it in execution. 1766–7Mrs. S. Pennington Lett. III. 167 Different religions have introduced prejudices, Enthusiasms, and Scepticisms. 1792Anecd. W. Pitt I. xviii. 282 A passion for glory which was nothing short of enthusiasm. 1808Sir John Moore in Jas. Moore Camp. Spain 76 The armies you see are also without enthusiasm, or even common obstinacy. 1817Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life II. i. 11 Enthusiasm is very catching, especially when it is very eloquent. 1863M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer's Greece I. ii. 56 Enthusiasm for the ideals of his country and of humanity.
b. An object of (freq. temporary) enthusiasm; an action or idea about which one feels enthusiastic, a ‘craze’.
1916Joyce Portrait of Artist ii. 102 The letters cut in the stained wood..stared upon him, mocking his bodily weakness and futile enthusiasms. 1931M. Sadleir Bulwer iv. v. 224 Godwin, whose enlightened political philosophy and actual achievements in fiction were among Bulwer's youthful enthusiasms. 1937H. G. Wells Brynhild v. 58 Cummington's enthusiasms always annoyed him and this last enthusiasm just now he felt might annoy him very much. |