| 释义 |
▪ I. terp1|tɜːp|
Pl. ‖ terpen (also erron. used as sing.) and terps (in Archæol. contexts).
[WFris. terp village mound, pl. terpen, = EFris. terp (Saterland), NFris. têrp (Sylt), sarp (Amrum) village:—OFris. therp, umlaut variant of OFris. thorp village: cf. thorp.]
An artificial mound or hillock, the site of a prehistoric village, and still in many cases occupied by a village or church, in parts of Friesland below sea-level or liable to inundation. Also applied to similar mounds outside Friesland itself. Also attrib.
These terpen, like the Italian terremare or terramares, have in modern times been excavated for the sake of the fertilizing soil which they yield, and more recently for the prehistoric remains found in them; the name has thus passed into archæological use.
[1838Penny Cycl. X. 481/1 The whole land is flat..nor is there an eminence throughout it excepting some mounds, here called ‘terpen’, on which the antient Frisians were accustomed to take refuge in seasons of marine inundations.] 1866Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Eng. II. i. 153 On the seaside little hillocks, 13 feet to 19½ feet high, may be observed at short distances: they are called Terpens. These hillocks were formed by the hand of man; and when opened, their contents prove that they belong to an ante-historical epoch. 1889Scott. Leader 15 Jan. 7/1 An account of a visit to a terp mound at Aalzum in North Friesland..by Dr. Robert Munro. Ibid., The general character of the antiquities found is that of the Iron Age. In the museum at Leewarden there are two rooms devoted exclusively to the antiquities from the terpen mounds. 1899Munro Prehist. Scotl. x. 401 Double-edged combs like those from the Terp-mounds in Holland. Ibid. xi. 436 The terpen are largely excavated on account of their rich ammoniacal deposits. 1939G. Clark Archæol. & Society iv. 105 ‘Terps.’ Settlement mounds or tells are a commonplace feature of Greek and Middle Danubian prehistory. 1969G. C. Dickinson Maps & Air Photographs xiv. 217 (caption) The villages are built on or (now) around man-made mounds (terps) erected as a defence against flooding by the sea.
▪ II. terp2 Theatr. slang.|tɜːp|
[Abbrev. of terpsichorean a.).]
A stage dancer, esp. a chorus-girl; also, a ballroom dancer. Also attrib. and pl., dancing. Hence terp v. intr., to dance; ˈterping vbl. n.
1937Amer. Speech XII. 317/2 Terp, a dancer. 1937Variety 10 Nov. 58/3 Philly Orch on Thursday (11) night will preem composition of 23-year-old Omaha college soph. Cleffer, titled ‘Mystic Pool’... ‘Pool’ originally composed for his terp. orch. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §594/1 Stage dancing,..terping, terp stuff, toesmithing. 1945Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. I. v. 338 It [sc. Variety] makes verbs of nouns, e.g...to preem and to terp. 1951Green & Laurie Show Biz 571/2 Terps, dancing. Ibid. 572/1 Terp team, ballroom dance team. 1952Granville Dict. Theatr. Terms 183 Terp, a stage dancer. 1974Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald 18 Apr. a6/1 Donna McKechnie is the best dancer in the musical comedy theater (one dance critic tripped over his typewriter when he suggested Donna can't terp). |