| 释义 |
gayness|ˈgeɪnɪs|
[f. gay a. + -ness.]
The quality, condition or state of being gay.
†1. Delight, merriment, pleasure. Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 81 But in gaynesse and in glotonye..for-glotten her goode hem-selue, And breken nouȝte to the beggar. 1435Misyn Fire of Love ii. x. 97 Oftyms also odyr noys happyns þat gaynes & swetnes of lufars sturbyls. 15..in Pinkerton Anc. Scot. Poems (1786) 192 The gaynis of my yeiris gent, The flouris of my fresche youtheid, I wait nocht how away is went.
†2. Gay appearance, brightness of colour, dressiness, display, pomp. Obs.
c1449Pecock Repr. ii. xviii. 255 For to speke and write tho wordis in sum gaynes and bewte..thei vsiden certein colouris of rethorik. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. xix. (1634) 727 Clerkes did everywhere sheare their heads, least they should seem to covet the gainesse of haire. a1594J. Aylmer in Strype Life xiii. (1701) 274 Oh! ye English ladies, learn rather..to make your Queen rich for your Defence, than your Husbands poor for your garish Gayness. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. i. ii, A modest eye forceth affection, Whilest outward gainesse light lookes but entice. 1660S. Ford Loyal Subj. Exhult. 21 Such pomp and glory as declared how glad his Subjects were in their hearts, by the gayness of their habits. 1676Hobbes Iliad (1677) 77 In Hyla..he dwelt..And known was by the gayness of his belt.
†b. A decoration, distinction. Obs.
1670Walton Lives iv. 338 The Orator..takes place next the Doctors, is at all their Assemblies and Meetings and sits above the Proctors, is Regent or Non-regent at his pleasure, and such like Gaynesses. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. To Rdr., Those borrowed words & gaynesses, that Englishmen have pickt and cull'd from other Tongues.
3. = gaiety 1.
1896Advance (Chicago) Oct. 438 ‘There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip’, she quoted with a gayness that belied her own words.
Add:4. Homosexuality. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1973Our Bodies, Ourselves (Boston Women's Health Bk. Collective) v. 61/2 If we keep our gayness hidden, we are constantly subjected to the insult and embarrassment of being assumed to be heterosexual. 1975L. Barnett Homosexuality i. 20 ‘Gay’ and ‘gayness’ are terms used today in serious and reputable publications to describe homosexual people and their condition. 1981Q. Crisp How to become Virgin vi. 85 Public interest was beginning to be focussed on me just when the new image of gayness (by no means the same thing as gaiety) was being advertised. 1989Japan Times 21 May 12/4 When it was really risky, he refused to hide his gayness—even in the heart of the macho black community. |