| 释义 |
ˈunderˌman
[under-1 6 a. Cf. ON. undirmaðr (Norw. undermann, Da. -mand), G. untermann, a subject, vassal.]
1. An inferior or subordinate man. rare.
13..Peter & Paul 65 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 77 Prelates and maisters Þat þaire vndirmen so felli faisters Wiþ chidinge. a1661B. Holyday Juvenal (1673) 152 You under-men (say'st thou) are our base rout, Whose parents country no man can find-out. 1905N. & Q. 9th Ser. III. 273 These [heralds] were so expensive,..that a set of under⁓men arose, who acted in their stead.
2. [tr. G. untermensch.] spec. opp. overman n. 4; a person with sub-human attributes.
1910T. Common tr. Nietzsche's Joyful Wisdom iii. 179 The inventing of Gods, heroes and supermen of all kinds, as well as co-ordinate men and undermen—dwarfs, fairies,..devils—was the inestimable preliminary to the justification of the selfishness..of the individual. 1936A. N. Field All these Things vi. 206 Planned Economy calls for Supermen to control and Undermen to submit. 1963L. Trilling in N. Frye Romanticism Reconsidered 92 More life: perhaps it was this boast of the Underground Man that Nietzsche recalled when he said, ‘Dostoevsky's Underman and my Overman are the same person.’ 1974W. Kaufman tr. Nietzsche's Gay Science iii. 192 Untermensch (underman, for a subhuman man) is not rare.
3. Railways. A subordinate member of a gang of platelayers.
1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §577 Underman.., a worker in a permanent way gang supervised by ganger. 1928Daily Express 18 Feb. 7/3 Sidney Coleman, an underman platelayer, said he was one of the gang which was ‘packing’ sleepers on the down main line. 1931Cambridge Daily News 5 Sept. 5/2 Andrew White, an underman..said he shouted as hard as he could to warn the men that a train was approaching. |