| 释义 |
‖ estafette|ɛstafɛt|
[Fr. estafette, ad. It. staffetta, dim. of staffa stirrup, f. OHG. stapho step.]
A mounted courier.
1792Boothby Burke's App. Whigs 84 note, An estafette was despatched on the part of our Ministers at the Hague, requiring Marshal Bender to suspend his march. 1812Wellington in Gurw. Disp. VIII. 649 They can secure the services of the Estafette..only by placing him in the centre of the escort. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1865) II. v. ii. 77 Diplomatic correspondence, carried once by breathless estaffettes.
Hence estaˈfetted ppl. a., provided with estafettes; in quot. app. taken as ‘provided with arrangements for posting’.
1837Palgrave Merch & Friar (1844) 18 The best estafetted road, the road to Rome. |