| 释义 |
Hymen1|ˈhaɪmən|
[a. L. Hymen, a. Gr. Ὑµήν, in mythology the god of marriage; also in later Greek = ὑµέναιος a wedding hymn.]
1. In Greek and Roman mythology: The god of marriage, represented as a young man carrying a torch and veil. Hymen's band, etc., marriage, wedlock. Hymen's temple, Hymen's fane, etc., the church at which a marriage is solemnized.
1590Marlowe Edw. II, i. iv. 174 Would..That..at the marriage-day The cup of Hymen had been full of poison. 1600Shakes. A. Y. L. v. iv. 135 Here's eight that must take hands, To ioyne in Hymens bands. 1789E. Darwin Bot. Gard. 164 To Hymen's fane the bright procession moves. a1839Praed Poems (1864) II. 404 Oh! why should Hymen ever blight The roses Cupid wore? 1883M. E. Braddon Gold. Calf I. ix. 268 It was an awful business, this marriage, when she came to the very threshold of Hymen's temple.
2. Marriage; wedlock; wedding, nuptials. Now rare.
1608D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 109 a, The bond of an honorable and lawfull Hymen. 1624Massinger Renegado v. iii, To whose bounty Owe we our thanks for gracing thus our hymen? 1697Dryden æneid vii. 769 A bloody Hymen shall th' alliance join Betwixt the Trojan and Ausonian line. 1788Lady Hawke Julia de Gramont II. 203 On your propitious hymen may smiling peace..for ever wait! 1838Lytton Alice iii. viii, ‘These are the feelings for a prudent Hymen’, said Vargrave.
3. A wedding-hymn, hymeneal song. rare.
1613R. Cawdrey Table Alph. (ed. 3), Hymen, songs sung at marriages. 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xii. lxxvii, Heaven's winged shoals..Attune their higher notes, and hymens sing. 1807Robinson Archæol. Græca v. xi. 460 Many hymens sang.
4. attrib., as Hymen-bed, Hymen-wings.
1597–8Bp. Hall Sat. iv. i. 129 And give him hansell of his Hymen-bed. |