| 释义 |
gentleness|ˈdʒɛnt(ə)lnɪs|
[f. gentle + -ness.]
†1. One's inherited nature. Obs.—1
a1300Cursor M. 28562 Þi smale sinnes..comand of vr gentilnes.
†2. The state or condition of being gentle in respect of birth or social position. Obs.
c1450Merlin 99 Gentilnesse ne richesse shall haue no power a-gein the wille of Ihesu criste. 1572[see generosity 1]. 1671F. Phillips Reg. Necess. 208 A ready way to honour and gentleness, or the bearing of armes.
†b. In animals: Excellence of breed. Obs.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. c. (1495) 846 The gentylnesse of the bulle is knowe..by sterne face and full eeres: and in hornes and in face dysposyd to fyghtyng.
3. The state or condition of being gentle in temper and conduct; † good breeding, courtesy, affability (obs.); kindliness, mildness.
c1374Chaucer Compl. Mars 175 My lady is the verrey sours and welle Of beaute, luste, fredam, and gentilnesse. c1400Rom. Rose 3746 Graunte hym a kis, of gentilnysse! a1450Le Morte Arth. 1083 His gentilnesse was alle a-way, Alle churlysshe maners he had in wone. 1509Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 296 For the straungers..what labour she of her veray gentylenes wolde take with them to bere them maner and company. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. V, 34 b, The kyng..required the prelates that if he were a straied shepe, rather by gentlenes then by rigoure to reduce hym to his olde flocke. 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. (1586) 171 Nothing maketh the servant more insolent and glorious, then ye over great gentlenesse of the maister. 1670–1Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 364 And had not the gentlenesse of the House prevailed, one or two of their own members were in great danger. 1743Appleton Serm. 152 By Gentleness we may understand..a sweet, soft, pleasant, obliging Temper. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 36 His eloquence, his probity, and the singular gentleness of his temper and manners, had made him the favourite of the Londoners. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 287 He is full of gentleness, and flows on silently like a river of oil.
4. The state of being gentle (in other senses of the adj.); freedom from harshness or violence, etc.
1614Markham Cheap Husb. i. v. (1668) 40 Having scop't him a little, walk him with all gentleness home. 1626Bacon Sylva §610 And that (no doubt) is caused, by the Supplenesse and Gentlenesse of the Iuyce of that Plant. 1661J. Childrey Brit. Bacon. 5 Its Maritime scituation is the cause of the gentleness of the Winter. 1693Salmon Bates' Disp. (1715) 460/1 It operates with a world of gentleness, and therefore may be given to the most delicate..Constitution. 1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 214 The gentleness of its [a plough's] sloping towards the head.
†b. pl. Elegancies. Obs.—1
1609B. Jonson Sil. Wom. iv. i, I loue measure i' the feet, and number i' the voice: they are gentlenesses, that oft⁓times draw no lesse then the face. |