| 释义 |
triumvirate|traɪˈʌmvɪrət|
Also 6–7 -virat, 7 -verat, erron. triumpherate.
[ad. L. triumvirāt-us, f. triumvir, triumvir: see -ate1.]
1. Rom. Hist. The position, office, or function of the triumviri, or of a triumvir; an association of three magistrates for joint administration: see triumvir.
1601Holland Pliny xxxv. xi. II. 546 A pretie jest..reported.. as touching Lepidus: It happened during the time of his Triumvirat. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. vi. 28 He frets That Lepidus of the Triumpherate, should be depos'd. 1718Rowe tr. Lucan i. 182 The fierce Triumvirate combin'd in peace. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 89 Cæsar's..weaker rivals.., Antony and Lepidus, who had formed with him the Second Triumvirate.
2. By extension: Any association of three joint rulers or powers.
1584Leycesters Commw. (1641) 86* What doe you thinke..of this new Triumvirat so lately concluded about Arbella? c1650Denham On Fletcher's Wks. 30 When Jonson, Shakespear, and thyself,..swayed in the triumvirate of wit. 1741–2H. Walpole Lett. to Mann (1834) I. 64 A triumvirate who hate one another more than any body they could proscribe. 1861Sat. Rev. 23 Nov. 526 He wishes Germany to be ruled by a triumvirate of Ministers.
fig.1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §19 There is in our Soul a kind of Triumvirate, or triple Government of three Competitors. 1649Milton Eikon. xxii. Wks. (1847) 323/2 That violent and lawless triumvirate within him, under the falsified names of his reason, honour, and conscience. 1898C. Martyn in Voice (N.Y.) 9 June 6/4 The third member in his triumvirate of powers was a robust conscience.
3. Less exactly, A group or set of three persons (rarely things) thought of together, but not necessarily associated in fact; a trio; esp. three persons of authority or distinction in any sphere.
1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 145 June the 14. a Triumvirate of Libellers, Mr. Prin,..Dr. Bastwick,..and Mr. Burton..received a severe censure in the Star-chamber. 1748Richardson Clarissa Wks. 1883 VIII. 197 How I cursed the censoriousness of this plaguy triumvirate! A parson, a milliner, and a mantua-maker! 1873Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. 2 The great triumvirate of Italian poetry, good sense, and culture. 1898W. Graham Lost Links 117 The triumvirate of the young century [Byron, Shelley, Keats].
4. attrib. or as adj.
1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. 659 Brutus and Cassius..slew Cæsar: wherupon..the triumvirate war was opened against them. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia v. 181 A petition..vnto the triumuerat Gouernors. 1849Morning Chron. 3 Feb., A triumvirate leadership..Mr. Herries, Lord Granby, and Mr. Disraeli. |