| 释义 |
adversity|ædˈvɜːsɪtɪ|
Forms: 4–6 adversite(e, adversyte(e; 4–7 adversitie; 7– adversity.
[a. MFr. adversité, refash. f. OFr. aversite:—L. adversitāt-em opposition, contrariety, f. adversus: see adverse and -ity.]
†1. The state or condition of being contrary or opposed; opposition, contrariety. Obs.
1382Wyclif Ps. iii. 8 For thou hast smyte all doende adversite [1388 beynge adversaries] to me with oute cause. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 390, I was agast fulle sore of the, Leste thow thurghe thoughtfulle adversitee Not hadest stonden in the feithe aright. c1450Lonelich Grail xviii. 174 One bone, sire kyng, þat thow graunte me Withowten lettynge owthir adversite.
2. The condition of adverse fortune; a state opposed to well-being or prosperity; misfortune, distress, trial, or affliction. (The earliest sense in Eng.)
c1230Ancren Riwle 194 Þe uttre uondunge is mislicunge in aduersite. 1340Ayenb. 27 Kuead of aventure, ase povertie oþer adversitie. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 399/4 Thenne late us praye..that he so gouerne us bytwene welth & aduersyte in this present lyf. 1535Coverdale Prov. xvii. 17 In aduersite a man shall know who is his brother [1611 A brother is borne for aduersitie]. 1570–87Holinshed Scot. Chron. (1806) I. 81 Adversitie findeth few friends. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. iii. 55 Aduersities sweete milke, Philosophie. 1600― A.Y.L. ii. i. 12 Sweet are the vses of aduersitie. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 150 ⁋5 He that never was acquainted with adversity has seen the world but on one side. 1771Junius Lett. xlix. 254 A virtuous man, struggling with adversity, [is] a scene worthy of the gods. a1852D. Webster Wks. 1877, III. 341 The discipline of our virtues in the severe school of adversity.
3. An adverse circumstance; a misfortune, calamity, trial.
1340Ayenb. 84 Þe kueades and þe aduersetes of þe wordle. c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 551 Noon accident for noon aduersitee Was seyn in hire. 1483Caxton Cato b ij. b, Strengthe for to resiste ageynst all aduersytees. 1526Tindale Acts vii. 10 And God was with him, and delivered hym out off all his adversities. 1651Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxxi 188 The Prosperities and Adversities of this life. 1842Longfellow Sp. Stud. ii. i. 1 Pray, tell me more of your adversities.
†4. Contrariness of nature; perversity. (In Shak. = perverse one, quibbler.) Obs.
1489Caxton Faytes of Armes iii. ix. 186 The felawes muste be chaunged by som aduersyte that is in them. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. i. 14, P. Who keepes the Tent now? T. The Surgeons box, or the Patients wound. P. Well said aduersity. |