| 释义 |
excelsior|ɛkˈsɛlsɪɔː(r)|
[L., compar. deg. of excelsus high: see excelse.]
‖1.
a. The Latin motto (‘higher’) on the seal of the State of New York (adopted by the senate of that state 16 Mar. 1778), the accompanying device being a rising sun. Hence attrib. in The Excelsior State, New York.
b. Used by Longfellow (quasi-int. as an expression of incessant aspiration after higher attainment) as the refrain of a popular poem; hence employed with similar sense by many later writers. Also as n. and attrib.
The adverbial meaning (= ‘upwards’) commonly given to the motto cannot be justified by L. grammar. According to S. Longfellow Life H. W. Longfellow I. 384, the poet was at first unaware of the solecism in the motto as thus interpreted, and when it was pointed out to him suggested that the word might be taken to stand for Scopus meus excelsior est, ‘My goal is higher.’ It is not clear whether the original use on the seal is a blunder, or whether it was meant as an abbreviation for some grammatically admissible phrase.
1778Drawing of Seal in N.Y. Senate Rep. (1881) No. 61 Excelsior. 1841Longfellow Excelsior 30 A voice replied, far up the height, Excelsior! 1858Trollope Three Clerks I. xi. 244 His motto might well have been ‘excelsior!’ if only he could have taught himself to look to heights that were really high. 1863Miss Jemima's Swiss Jrnl. 30 June (1963) ii. 28 Our guide of Excelsior disposition, who would push on more quickly. 1874G. M. Hopkins Let. 29 Apr. (1956) 124 The garden is all heights, terraces, Excelsiors, misty mountain tops..flights of steps. 1929D. H. Lawrence Pansies 143 Up he goes! Up like a bloomin' little Excelsior In his Sunday clothes!
2. Often used as a ‘trade-mark’, and attrib. in the names given by tradesmen to special articles of manufacture; also in the titles of various periodicals in U.S. and in England.
1851Catal. Grt. Exhibition III. 1467 Excelsior soap [An American exhibit]. 1876Furniture Gaz. 24 June 401/1 The Excelsior spring mattress. 1888(title) The New Excelsior Test Cards in Arithmetic.
3. A trade name for short thin curled shavings of soft wood used for stuffing cushions, mattresses, etc. Also attrib. in excelsior-machine. orig. U.S.
1868Specif. U.S. Patent No. 75728 A machine for manufacturing that article of commerce technically called ‘excelsior’ for filling mattrasses. 1873Furniture Gaz. 22 May 3/2 ‘Excelsior’ or fine wood shavings used for cheap upholstery purposes. 1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 815/1 Excelsior-Machine. 1884Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 9 June, Large quantities of poplar-wood, to be used in the manufacture of excelsior. 1928Kipling Limits & Renewals (1932) 47 Mr. Wilham's fashionable West End pet-shop, where dogs lived in excelsior-floored cubicles. 1934J. M. Cain Postman always rings Twice xv. 175 She lined it [sc. a carton] with excelsior, and on top of that put some woollen clothes.
4. Printing. (Usu. with capital initial.) The name of a very small size of type (see quots.). Chiefly U.S.
1902T. L. De Vinne Practice Typogr. ii. 68 Excelsior, or 3-point (the half of nonpareil), is a body used in America for music, piece-fractions, and borders only. It seems to be the same body as the English ‘minikin’. 1936D. Thomas Type for Print II. 83 ‘News’ faces: Ionic..; Excelsior..; Ideal News... Faces such as these, which are designed for the body-matter of newspapers, are rarely cut larger than 9 pt. 1963Kenneison & Spilman Dict. Printing 62 Excelsior, the name of a former standard size of type, approximately 4-point. |