| 释义 |
undertaker|ˈʌndəteɪkə(r)|
[f. undertake v.]
†1. One who aids or assists; a helper. Obs.
In early quots. rendering L. susceptor.
1382Wyclif Ps. iii. 4 Thou forsothe, Lord, art myn vndir⁓takere. Ibid. liii. 6 The Lord is vndertakere of my soule. c1450tr. De Imitatione iii. xviii. 85 In God, þe consolacion of poure & þe undertaker of meke men. 1612Two Noble K. i. i. 78, I hope..some God hath put his mercy in your manhood Whereto hee'l infuse powre, and presse you forth Our undertaker. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 223 Columbus..repaires to some Christian Princes for his vndertakers. 1645Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith 56 If believers have not Christ for their undertaker to bring them to glory, to intercede for them.
†2. A rebuker, reprover. Obs.—1
c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. civ. (1869) 114, I wole haue noon vndertakere [F. repreueur], no maister ne techere.
3. One who undertakes a task or enterprise. Also const. of (the thing attempted).
c1400Destr. Troy 3789 He was..falsest in his fare, and full of disseit, Vndertaker of treyne. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxxi. 87 Schir Johne Kirkepakar, Off many cures ane michtie vndertaker. 1595Raleigh Discov. Guiana (1596) 21 Neither could any of the forepassed vndertakers, nor Berreo himselfe discover the country. 1603Daniel Def. Ryme H 3, May wee not..suspect these great vndertakers, lest they haue conspired with enuy to betray our proceedings. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xvii. 55 That was like some enterprises that owe more to extremity of occasion, then to the courage of the undertaker. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 236 The Devil was the first o' th' Name,..Who was the first bold Undertaker Of bearing Arms against his Maker. 1712E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 251 All Attempts fail'd, either by the Death of the Undertakers, or some other Accidents. 1779Johnson L.P., Pope Wks. IV. 28 Perhaps no extensive and multifarious performance was ever effected within the term originally fixed in the undertaker's mind.
†b. Const. to with inf. Obs.
1601Holland Pliny II. 594 Wee find it expressely set downe, That the undertaker to build a house at a certaine price, shall use no mortar under three yeers of age. 1634Rainbow Labour (1635) 40 Let the..Constables..be the undertakers to draine..this fenny..ground. 1684T. Burnet Theory Earth I. 214 Those projectors of immortality, or undertakers to make men live to the age of Methusalah.
†c. One who takes up a challenge. Obs.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 349 Nay, if you be an vnder⁓taker, I am for you.
4. Hist.
a. One who undertook to hold crown lands in Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries.
1586Acts Privy Counc. (N.S.) 208 A letter to the Lord Deputie of Irelande..in the favor of Mr. Smithwicke,..that he might be accepted into the nomber of those that were Undertakers for landes in that Realme. 1589R. Payne Descr. Irel. 10 The worsser sorte of vndertakers which haue seignories of her Maiestie, haue done much hurt in the countrie. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 26 The hatred which the Geraldines bare to those English Vndertakers..which possessed their Ancestors lands. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. x. (1821) 121 A Castle..appertaining to Master Edward Gray, an Vndertaker. 1642in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1692) I. iii. 417 The Cities of London-Derry, and Coleraign,..and some other places and Castles which were for the present gallantly defended by the British undertakers. 1778Phil. Surv. S. Irel. 311 The occupier of the ground..was unable to pay the fines, and therefore dispossessed by the wealthy undertaker. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. xviii. II. 738 These lands in the counties of Cork and Kerry..were parcelled out among English undertakers at low rents. 1888E. Lawless Ireland xxxiii. 229 Something like a regular stampede of men ambitious to call themselves undertakers, began to cross over from the larger to the smaller island.
b. One of those who in the reigns of Jas. I, Chas. I, and Chas. II undertook to influence the action of Parliament, esp. with regard to the voting of supplies.
1620Jas. I Sp. in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 23, I was in my first Parliament a Novice; and in my last there was a kind of beasts called Undertakers, a dozen of whom under⁓took to govern the last Parliament. 1668Pepys Diary 14 Feb., The House is..quite mad at the Undertakers, as they are commonly called,..that are brought over to the Court, and did undertake to get the King money. 1670Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 314 His Majesty, fortified by some undertakers of the meanest of our House, threw up all as nothing. a1734North Examen iii. vi. §38 At such Times, a Sort of People stept in, called Undertakers, who would answer that all should be smooth and well in Parliament. 1738Bolingbroke Patriot., Idea of Patriot King (1749) 180 Let our great doctors in politics..compare the conduct of Elizabeth in this respect with that of her successor, who endeavoured..to manage his parliament by undertakers. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. vi. I. 365 Neville, and others who, like him, professed to understand the temper of the commons, and to facilitate the king's dealings with them, were called undertakers.
c. One of those Lowland Scots who attempted to colonize the Island of Lewis towards the end of the 16th century.
1819Scott Leg. Montrose ix, He mentioned the celebrated settlement of the Fife Undertakers, as they were called, in the Lewis.
5. One who undertakes to carry out work or business for another; a contractor; † a collector or farmer of taxes. Now rare.
1602in Moryson Itin. (1617) ii. 242 So soone as any contract is made with the vndertakers, wee send an abstract thereof vnto your Lordship. 1612in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. I. 604 One yt that hath inritched himselfe..by having been one of the principall undertakers of y⊇ greate farme of salte. 1670Eachard Cont. Clergy 118 An ordinary bricklayer, or carpenter (I mean not your great undertakers and master-workmen). 1688in Cal. Treas. Papers 28 The further answer of the present undertakers for the Tynne Farme. 1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4651/2 An Agreement is concluded with Undertakers for furnishing the Magazines..with Forage. 1751McDouall Inst. Laws Scot. 393 If one give Commission to demolish a house, which the undertaker believes to belong to him. 1778Pryce Min. Cornub. 237 The halvans of halvans are mostly dressed by an undertaker for so much in the pound sterling of the money they produce. 1817Scott in Lockhart (1839) V. 226 The other point is, to take care that the undertakers in their anxiety for employment do not take the job too cheap. 18331st Rep. Comm. Employment Childr., Western District 2 There is a class of workmen [in Birmingham] called undertakers, who receive the material from the master manufacturer, and undertake to get it wrought up.
b. One who makes a business of carrying out the arrangements for funerals.
1698Pres. St. Trade in Chester Waters Parish Reg. (1883) 52 The furnishing of funerals by a small number of men called undertakers. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Pollinctor, an Embalmer of Dead Bodies..; an Undertaker. 1708Swift Wks. (1755) II. i. 164, I was sent, sir, by the company of undertakers,..and they were employed by the honest gentleman, who is executor. 1728Young Love of Fame v. 505 While rival undertakers hover round, And with his spade the sexton marks the ground. 1768Goldsm. Good-n. Man i. i, His appearance has a stronger effect on my spirits than an undertaker's shop. 1822Byron Vis. Judgm. xii, He's buried; save the undertaker's bill, Or lapidary scrawl, the world is gone For him. 1884F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 55 You must look as solemn as an undertaker.
6.
†a. One who engages in the serious study of a subject or science. Obs.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. iv. §7 Those [School-men].., as they are,..are great undertakers indeed, and fierce with darke keeping. 1654Hobbes Lib., Necess., & Chance (1841) 250 He who will speak with some of our great under⁓takers about the grounds of learning, had need either to speak by an interpreter, or to learn a new language. 1682Wheler Journ. Greece v. 356 There is another Greek,..an Undertaker in Physick too, who understands Scholastick Greek a little. 1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth ii. 71 To free the Enquiry from the Perplexities that some Under⁓takers have encumber'd it withall.
b. One who embarks on, or takes part in, some business enterprise. Now rare.
1615E. S. Britaines Buss E 2, I confesse the private gaine to euery Vndertaker before propounded may seeme too great to be hoped for. a1661Fuller Worthies, Cumb. i. (1662) 228, I understand two small manufactures are lately set up therein;..and I wish that the Undertakers may not be disheartned with their small encouragement. 1677W. Hubbard Narrative ii. 5 Some of the first Undertakers were encouraged once more to try the verity of their hopes. 1752Phil. Trans. XLVII. 500 The mine, which was formerly wrought on,..yielded vast profit to the under⁓takers. 1776Adam Smith W.N. iv. ii. (1904) II. 52 The undertaker of a great manufacture. 1799Young Agric. Lincoln. 149 It has long been the common practice for the undertakers of this culture to hire grass land. 1828Act 9 Geo. IV, c. 98 (title), The Undertakers of the Navigation of the Rivers Aire and Calder. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. 479 The difference between the interest and the gross profit remunerates the exertions and risks of the undertaker.
†c. One who undertakes the preparation of a literary work. Obs.
1685Dryden Sylvæ Pref., Ess. (ed. Ker) I. 269, I hope it will not be expected from me, that I should say anything of my fellow undertakers in this Miscellany. 1704Swift T. Tub Auth. Pref. ⁋3 The undertaker himself will publish his proposals with all convenient speed. 1787J. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 552, I was told by a bookseller that he was about getting it translated into Dutch. But I doubt whether any of these undertakers will proceed. 1800Monthly Mag. VIII. 878 It seems natural to expect..some patronage of a translation, which must else be a mere sacrifice of toil and time to the English undertaker.
†d. A book-publisher. Obs.
1697Evelyn Numism. p. lxxiii, Finding it so miserably deformed through the confident undertakers, the phrase was expunged at Bentley's request. 1707Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) II. 31 Mr. Wasse..has so swell'd his Salust..yt the undertaker is quite weary. 1762H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1782) V. 261 His performances by no means deserved to be condemned as they were by the undertakers, and the performer laid aside. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. p. iv, The duty of rapid revision was imposed upon the Editor..by the undertakers.
†e. A producer of an opera or play; a manager, impresario. Obs.
1711Addison Spect. No. 5 ⁋7 The undertakers [of the opera] being resolved to spare neither Pains nor Mony, for the Gratification of the Audience. c1720in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 367 The undertaker..has treated me ill..; I never heard a sound of his trifling songs till Monday se'nnight last. 1740Cibber Apol. iii, I laid it down as a settled Maxim, that no Company could flourish while the chief Actors and Undertakers were at variance.
†7. One who acts as security or surety for another.
1601B. Jonson Poetaster Ded., I send you this peece of what may liue of mine; for whose innocence, as for the Authors, you were once a noble and timely vndertaker. a1652Brome Eng. Moor Epil., Now let me be a modest undertaker For us the players, the play and the play⁓maker. 1677J. Owen Justif. xi. 349 Considering the Person and Grace of this Undertaker or Surety. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Sponsor, Surety, an Undertaker for another.
†b. spec. A baptismal sponsor. Obs.
1645Ussher Body Div. (1647) 422 Of the vowes and promises which we in our child-hood made by those who were undertakers for us. 1673Cave Prim. Chr. i. x. 326 A venerable old Deacon who had been the Undertaker for him at his Baptism. 1697G. Burghope Disc. Relig. Assemb. 126 We are brought to Christ by the charitable help of our parents and undertakers.
Hence (from 5 b) ˈundertakerish, -takerlike, -takerly adjs. Also ˈundertakery.
1861Wynter Soc. Bees 136 An attendant in sable habiliments..and with an *undertakerish eye and manner.
1857Dickens Dorrit i. v, One *undertaker-like Cupid had swing round on his own axis.
1876Meredith Beauch. Career xix, You introduced me..to that *undertakerly old Tomlinson.
1869G. J. Chester Transatl. Sk. 240, I had also a side⁓ways view of a large patent-coffin shop... Americans, generally, are great in the matter of *undertakery. |