| 释义 |
unˈtold, ppl. a.
[OE. unteald (un-1 8 b), = MDu. ongetellet, -telt (Du. ongeteld), MLG. ungetelt (LG. -tald), MHG. ungezalt, -zelt (G. ungezahlt, -zählt), ON. útaliðr, útaldr, (M)Da. utalt.]
†1.
a. Not counted or reckoned; not counted out or paid. Obs.
c1000Sax. Leechd., etc. III. 264 Be ðam dæᵹe spræc se wisa Augustinus,..ᵹyf he byð forlæten unteald, þær rihte awent eall ðæs ᵹeares ymbryn þwyres. c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 594 Certes were it gold Or in a poke nobles all vntold, Thou sholdest have. a1400Octouian 821 He tok the floryns all vntold. 14..Tundale's Vis. 64 He went..To a mon to ascon his pay For thre horsis that he had sold For the whych the pennys wer untold. c1600Shakes. Sonn. cxxxvi, Among a number one is reckon'd none. Then in the number let me passe vntold.
†b. Not enumerated or reckoned up; unspecified. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 18549 Þaa Iuus sau Þis ilk man do signes sere—Þe blind to se, þe dumb at here,..And oþer takens fele vn-teld. c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 7447 Wha couth þan telle..Alle þe syns..And leve nane untald, gret ne smale, Þe whilk a man has here fallen in. c1425Cursor M. 23139 (Trin.), In pride & tricchery..And in vntolde synnes fele. a1450Le Morte Arth. 3239 Forthe went they..To syr mordred and hys lordis,..And an C knyghtis all vn-tolde. 1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. i, Fair trees..Are cut to maintain head-tires—much untold—All thrives but chastity, she lies a cold.
2. Uncounted, unreckoned, because of amount or numbers; immense, vast.
untold gold (= any amount of gold), prob. originally in sense 1 a (= not carefully or exactly counted).
a1400–50Alexander 2677 Þare fand he tresour vntald. c1440Gesta Rom. viii. 22 Þe kyngdom of hevene, in þe which is tresour vntold. 1672W. Walker Parœm. 24 You may trust him in the dark; with untold gold. 1754Connoisseur No. 18 ⁋3 He..boasts that you may safely trust him with untold gold. 1782Cowper Alex. Selkirk 25 Religion! what treasure untold Resides in that heavenly word! 1849Grote Greece ii. liv. VI. 605 The untold number of these barbarians was reported as overwhelming. 1853J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) I. i. ii. 83 All the untold riches of his treasury.
b. With plural ns.: In large numbers; numberless, countless.
a1500Peblis to the Play 46 The bagpyp blew, and thai out threw out of the townis vntald. 1659W. Chamberlayne Pharon. i. iii. 4 A fruitful pasture..Where in untold droves did feed His bellowing herds. 1819Shelley Mask of Anarchy lxxii, Ye who suffer woes untold. 1868Helps Realmah viii. I. 280 Untold ages have passed since the day when [etc.]. 1874Geikie Gt. Ice Age xxvii. 376 The genial climate..lasted for untold centuries.
c. With abstract ns. Unmeasured, unlimited.
In early ME. unitald fultum occurs (Cott. Hom. 233).
1781Cowper Table-t. 330 Incomparable gem! thy worth untold. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 60 His mouth was agitated..with untold sorrow. 1868Morris Earthly Par. i. 147 He seemed to see the ancient sage Shrivelled yet more with untold age. 1875T. W. Higginson Hist. U.S. xxi. 212 It had also cost the Americans untold suffering.
3. Not related or recounted.
c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋1010 Lat no blotte be bihynde, lat no synne been vntoold as fer as thow hast remembraunce. c1400Destr. Troy 563 The truthe of the tale [is] vntold to your ere. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 12 Whanne a man is shreue, he shulde leue no thinge vntolde. 1533More Debell. Salem Wks. 1009/1, I haue..proued afore that he must mene so: or elles must haue left his tale vntold. 1565Stapleton tr. Staphylus' Apol. 175 b, Rather then to suffer a..heresy vncomptrolled, or the truthe vntolde. 1623Middleton & Rowley Sp. Gipsy i. v, The cause..shall be to all the world untold. a1645Milton Arcades 41 Where ye may more neer behold What shallow-searching Fame hath left untold. 1700Dryden Pref. to Fables ⁋13 Such tales shall be left untold by me. 1796F. Burney Camilla x. xiii, A reciprocal confidence that left nothing untold, not an action unrelated. 1827Mrs. Hemans Last Constantine xxv, In their mien..Things by the brave untold may fearfully be read! 1875J. P. Hopps Princ. Relig. xvii. 53 Until a thought or a disclosure is comprehended, it is as though it were untold—it is not revealed.
4. Not informed (of a fact).
1590Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 38 For the old man well knew he, though vntold, In..magicke to haue wondrous might. |