| 释义 |
Albion poet. or rhet.|ˈælbɪən|
[OE. Albion, f. L. Albion, -ōnis (Pliny), Gr. Ἁλουίων (Ptolemy):—Celtic *Albio, gen. *Albionis, whence Ir.-Gael. Alba, gen. Alban Scotland (cf. med.L. Albania: see Albanian a.1); usu. referred to *albho- (L. albus) white, the allusion being to the white cliffs of Britain.]
Great Britain. Phr. perfidious Albion, rendering F. la perfide Albion, a rhetorical expression for ‘England’, with reference to her alleged treacherous policy towards foreigners.
The phr. ‘la perfide Albion’ is said to have been first used by the Marquis de Ximenès (1726–1817) (N. & Q. (1932) CLXII. 107/2).
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. (1890) I. i. 24 Breoton is garsecges ealond, ðæt wæs iu geara Albion haten. c1205Layamon's Brut (1847) 1243 Albion hatte þat lond. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 5 Firste þis ilond hiᵹte Albion, as it were þe white lond. c1399Chaucer Purse l. 22 in Wks. (1894) I. 406 O conquerour of Brutes Albioun. a1592Greene Fr. Bacon (1594) sig. E2v, As if that Edward gaue me Englands right, And richt me with the Albion diadem. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI i. iii. 48 Is this the Gouernment of Britaines Ile? And this the Royaltie of Albions King? 1605― Lear iii. ii. 91 Then shal the Realme of Albion, come to great confusion. [1653J. Bossuet Œuvres (1816) XI. 469 L'Angleterre, ah! la perfide Angleterre, que le rempart de ses mers rendoit inaccessible aux Romains.] 1713Pope Windsor-For. 5 When Albion sends her eager Sons to War. 1757Gray Progr. Poesy ii. st. iii in Odes 9 When Latium had her lofty spirit lost, They sought, oh Albion! next thy sea-encircled coast. 1841W. M. Thackeray in Fraser's Mag. June 711/2 Ferocious yells of hatred against perfidious Albion were uttered by the liberal French press. [1846R. Ford Gatherings fr. Spain iv. 37 If there be a thing which ‘La perfide Albion’, ‘a nation of shopkeepers’, dislikes,..it is a bankrupt.] 1850Wordsw. Prel. (1926) x. 239 Since I had seen the surge Beat against Albion's shore. 1903A. McNeill Egregious English 11 The French dislike of perfidious Albion may be reckoned to a great extent an intermittent matter. 1941H. G. Wells You can't be too Careful iii. viii. 146 There I was—a lovely crossing—saying Adieu to the white cliffs of Albion. 1958Observer 18 May 9/4 He [sc. General de Gaulle] felt it to be essential..that he should maintain a proud and haughty demeanour towards ‘perfidious Albion’. |