| 释义 |
undine|ˈʌndiːn|
Also ondine.
[ad. mod.L. Undina (Paracelsus De Nymphis etc., Wks. 1658 II. 391), f. L. unda wave. Hence also G. undine, F. ondine (whence the α-forms), ondin.]
A supernatural female being, imagined as inhabiting the water; a nymph. Also attrib.
(The following early instance is based upon the variant Undena also employed by Paracelsus:—1657 Pinnell tr. Crollius Philos. Reformed i. 26 To the Water there belongs Nimphs, Undens, Melosyns.)
α1821Tales Landlord, Fair Witch Glas Llyn III. 207 The ondines rich in the spoils of pearls and coral from the deep bed of ocean. 1865Lecky Ration. (1878) I. i. 42 The Cabalists believed in the existence of spirits of nature, embodiments..of the four elements, sylphs, salamanders, gnomes, and ondines.
β1837Hallam Hist. Lit. i. vii. §19 Nature..is peopled with spiritual beings,..the silvains (sylphs), undines, or nymphs, gnomes and salamanders. 1867A. J. Wilson Vashti vi, Their foaming cataracts braided glittering spray into spectral similitude of Undine tresses and Undine faces.
Add: Hence unˈdinal a., of, characteristic of, or associated with undines.
1891in Cent. Dict. 1955J. K. Baxter Fire & Anvil 62 Hart Crane's image of the ‘undinal vast belly’. 1977RiverSedge (Edinburg, Texas) I. ii, Notice how the dry leaves Already rustle between us, And the rising winds fly them up Like shreds of proximity Over the vast undinal ocean. |