释义 |
▪ I. ˈfree-stone, freestone1 Also 4 fre-stane, 6 freese stone, 7 friestane, frise-stone. [f. free a. + stone n.; a transl. of OF. franche pere, where the adj. means ‘of excellent quality’; cf. frank a.2 5.] 1. Any fine-grained sandstone or limestone that can be cut or sawn easily.
c1320Seuyn Sag. (W.) 3036 The knyght gat masons many ane, And grat them hew ful faire fre-stane. 1463Bury Wills (Camden) 37 An ymage of our lady..in an howsyng of free stoon. 1577Harrison England ii. iii. (1877) i. 71 Houses builded..for the most part of hard freestone. 1640–1Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 67 He hes use for certaine friestane for building. 1662Gerbier Princ. 24 As for Free-stone, Portland Stone works well. 1773Brydone Sicily xv. (1809) 172 The streets..are all paved with white free-stone. 1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 18 The alluminous ore of Whitby is sometimes a grey Freestone. 1878F. S. Williams Midl. Railw. 367 The handsome embattled tower..is chequered with flint and freestone. †b. A slab or piece of such stone. Obs.
c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 768 Hec timeria, a fre⁓stone. 1626Bacon Sylva §570 Toads have been found in the middle of a Freestone. 1712Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 412 A White Free Stone is laid over Mr. Wm. Joyner's Grave. 2. attrib. and Comb., as freestone house, † free-stone mason, free-stone ornament, free-stone passage, free-stone quarry; † freestone-coloured a., of the colour of freestone.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. iii. 25 She has..A *freestone coloured hand.
1665–6Wood Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) II. 72 The larg *free-stone house.
1703in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 211 Paid the *freestone Mason his bills in full.
1726Amherst Terræ Fil. xliv. 235 What! are there no living ornaments in Oxford? Are its inanimate, its *free⁓stone ones its greatest glory?
1766Entick London IV. 357 A *free-stone passage.
1776Adam Smith W.N. i. xi. iii. I. 186 The value of a *freestone quarry..will..increase. ▪ II. ˈfree-stone2 A variety of the peach (or nectarine) in which the flesh parts freely from the stone when ripe. Also free-stone peach.
1866,1880[see clingstone]. 1889Farmer Americanisms, Free-stone peach. |