| 释义 |
▪ I. † vague, n.1 Obs.
Also 6 vage.
[Of obscure origin.]
A prank or trick. Only in pl.
Freq. in the second quarter of the 16th c., esp. in the phrase to play one's vagues, with which to take one's vagues appears to be synonymous.
(a)1523St. Papers Hen. VIII, VI. 200 Thei thought that Columpna had..takyn so his vages against the said Cardinall de Medyces..that the said Columpna dorst never have trustyd..hymself aftir in the desperat handes of the Cardinall. 1528Roy Rede me (Arb.) 120 Yf they playe thus their vages, They shall not escape the plages Which to theym of Rome happened. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 252 b, The Scottes had some leysure to play their vagues and folowe their accustomed manier. c1557Abp. Parker Ps. civ, There playth his vages Leviathan.
(b)1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 80 b, She despyseth all outwarde vages & vanytees, & is content to fulfyll all yt her lady commaundeth. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 1968 Because of theyr neglygence and of theyr wanton vagys, I vysyte them and stryke them with many sore plagys.
▪ II. vague, a., adv., and n.2|veɪg|
Also 7 vage.
[a. F. vague (13th c.) or ad. L. vag-us wandering, inconstant, uncertain, etc. (hence also It., Sp., Pg. vago).]
1. Of statements, etc.: Couched in general or indefinite terms; not definitely or precisely expressed; deficient in details or particulars.
1548Vicary Anat. (1888) 15 Likewise a Chirurgion must take heede that he deceiue no man with his vague promises. a1661Fuller Worthies, Durham i. (1662) 298 With subtilty not light, slight, vage as air, But such as Truth doth crown. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 76 ⁋8 Men often extenuate their own guilt, only by vague and general charges upon others. 1784Cowper Task ii. 521 Their answers, vague, And all at random. 1844Thirlwall Greece VIII. 179 He remained inflexible, covering his refusal with the vague pretext, ‘that circumstances were not in his power’. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 400 He wanted..to have, not vague professions of good will, but distinct invitations and promises of support. 1884Law Times Rep. XLIX. 773/2 The statement of claim is so vague that we had to go into detail, so as to make the case clear.
2. Of words, language, etc.: Not precise or exact in meaning.
1690Locke Hum. Und. To Rdr., Vague and insignificant forms of speech, and abuse of language, have so long passed for mysteries of science. 1744Harris Three Treat. Wks. (1841) 2 So it was..with a thousand words beside, all no less common, and equally familiar; and yet all of them equally vague and undetermined. a1781R. Watson Philip III (1793) I. iii. 306 It was conceived in vague and general terms. 1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. Pref. p. xi, Its descriptive language was..arbitrary, vague and ambiguous. 1813J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 502 By an indiscriminate use of vague terms. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 152 These vague phrases were not likely to quiet the perturbed mind of the minister. 1870Farrar Fam. Speech iii. (1873) 87 But the name Chaldee is so vague and misleading that I have purposely excluded it. 1900E. Holmes What is Poetry? 79 Vague words, then, stir emotion; exact terms repress it.
fig.1813Shelley Q. Mab viii. 23 Like the vague sighings of a wind at even, That wakes the wavelets of the slumbering sea, And dies on the creation of its breath.
3. a. Of ideas, knowledge, etc.: Lacking in definiteness or precision: indefinite, indistinct.
a1704Locke (J.), These vague ideas, signified by the terms, whatsoever and thing. 1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty 7 So vague is taste, when it has no solid principles for its foundation. 1792M. Wollstonecraft Rights Wom. v. 186 Though prudence of this sort be termed a virtue, morality becomes vague when any part is supposed to rest on falsehood. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 172 The metes and bounds of property would be vague and indeterminate. 1845Budd Dis. Liver 2 To the vague and unsatisfactory state of our knowledge respecting them. a1881A. Barratt Phys. Metempiric (1883) 156 Beyond this we only get a vague analogy.
(b) Used in superl. with ellipsis of idea, notion; cf. faint n. 5 d.
1968N. Marsh Clutch of Constables viii. 201 ‘Have you seen this particular photograph, Mr Pollock?’.. ‘Haven't the vaguest.’ 1981D. Uhnak False Witness (1982) xi. 94 ‘Any particular place your customers go on Tuesday nights?’ ‘I haven't the vaguest.’
b. Similarly of feelings or sensations.
1797S. & Ht. Lee Cant. T. I. 106 [He was] trembling with a new and vague apprehension. 1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 256 Their movements not only give a vague alarm, but..will even indicate to the knowing trapper the very quarter whence danger threatens. 1845Budd Dis. Liver 387 The patient's illness begins with general disorder;..vague pains in the belly, and sometimes with vomiting. 1868Geo. Eliot F. Holt 15 The vague but strong feeling that her son was a stranger to her. 1885E. Clodd Myths i. §6. 111 Man's sense of vague wonder in the presence of powers whose force he cannot measure.
4.
†a. vague acid (see quots.). Obs.
1741Shaw tr. Boerhaave's Chem. (ed. 2) I. 112 Of the Vague Acid. The vague volatile liquid acid, found perhaps every where in mines. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Vague Acid, a term much used by the modern chemists, and signifying a certain volatile fluid salt or acid, supposed to be found every where in mines, and in combination with different other substances, to form many of the ordinary compound fossils. 1764Phil. Trans. LIV. 45 A Belemnite, whose laminæ were in a manner dissected and laid open by the vague acid,..which every where pervades the earth, destroying some bodies, and forming others.
b. Bot. (See quot.)
1842A. Gray Struct. Bot. viii. (1880) 313 Vague, when the radicle bears no evident or uniform relation of the kind to the pericarp.
5. Lacking physical definiteness of form or outline; indistinctly seen or perceived; formless, obscure, shadowy.
1822B. W. Proctor Flood of Thessaly i. 3 Chaos, touched with light and form, Lost its vague being. 1849M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sci. 433 These are in every state of condensation, from a vague film hardly to be discerned to such as have actually arrived at a solid nucleus of stars. 1879Huxley Hume iv. 96 We travel through countries where every feature of the scenery is vague.
6. a. Of persons, the mind, etc.: Unable to think with clearness or precision; indefinite or inexact in thought or statement.
1806–20Wordsw. River Duddon xxvi, Random cares and truant joys, That shield from mischief and preserve from stains Vague minds, while men are growing out of boys. 1827Carlyle Misc. (1840) I. 17 Richter has..an imagination vague, sombre, splendid, or appalling. 1847Helps Friends in C. i. viii. 142 The sharp practice of the world drives some logic into the most vague of men: women are not so schooled.
b. poet. Of the eyes: Devoid of expression. rare.
1820Keats St. Agnes viii, She danc'd along with vague, regardless eyes.
7.
†a. ? Vagrant, vagabond. Obs. rare.
a1627Sir J. Hayward Edw. VI (1630) 63 The Lord Gray encouraged his men to set sharpely upon the vague villaines, good neither to liue peaceably nor to fight.
b. Of the Egyptian month or year: Beginning at varying seasons; moveable, shifting.
a1656Ussher Ann. (1658) 762 The beginnings of these years being taken from the first of the vage or moveable moneth Thoth of the Egyptians. 1860R. S. Poole in Smith's Dict. Bible I. 506/1 (Egypt), The Vague Year contained 365 days without any additional fraction, and therefore passed through all the seasons in about 1500 years. 1876Encycl. Brit. IV. 665 This [Egyptian] year is called vague, by reason of its commencing sometimes at one season of the year, and sometimes at another.
8. a. As adv. Vaguely; indistinctly.
1864Longfellow Wind over Chimney ix, The night-wind drear Clamours louder, wilder, vaguer.
b. In combs., as vague-hovering, vague-looking, vague-menacing, vague-sailing, vague-shining, etc.
1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics (1860) I. 238 In this wild Universe of ours, storming-in, vague-menacing, it is enough if you shall find..existence. 1871J. Hay Pike County Ball. (1880) 90 Vague-hovering o'er her form..A warmer and a dearer charm. Ibid. 95 Vague-sailing, where the feathery clouds Fleck white the tranquil skies. 1879Dowden Southey vii. 196 Will-o'-the-wisp, vague-shining theories that beguile night wanderers. 1904W. H. Hudson Green Mansions vi. 82 How different she seemed now; the brilliant face grown so pallid and vague-looking! 1948Wyndham Lewis Let. 25 Oct. (1963) 469 This super-dream..is I imagine too vague-looking to be practical.
9. a. absol. as n., esp. the vague, the vague aspect or consideration of things. in the vague, in a vague or indefinite state or condition, uncertain; without entering into details or particulars, in general.
1851Carlyle Sterling i. xii, John Mill..spoke of him..as a gifted amiable being,..in danger of dissipating himself into the vague. 1856Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 280 My plans are still in the vague; I feel no haste to ‘see my way’. 1881Masson De Quincey 196 The meaning is all but lost in a mere vague of music. 1882Bain J. S. Mill i. 13 All this is completely in the vague. 1894Month Oct. 207 We must take them rather in the vague.
b. The vague or uncertain future. rare.
1865Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 260 Dr. B. is postponed into the vague.
c. The vague or undefined expanse of something.
1870Lowell Study Wind. 90 The great Genoese did not draw that first star-guided furrow across the vague of waters. 1875Ruskin Lect. Art vi. 169 The shadows lost or disregarded in the vague of space.
▪ III. ‖ vague, n.3|vɑːg|
[Fr., lit. ‘wave’.]
A movement, trend, vogue. Cf. nouvelle vague.
1962John o' London's 19 Apr. 371/3 Here is one requisite which must be regarded as essential in any new vague. It must not, whatever else it is, be vague. 1970R. Lowell Notebk. 219 The vague, the vogue, what do they tell the critic? 1974Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Dec. 1439/4 He has beautifully caught the old Hungarian vague of British cinema under Alexander Korda... The Hungarian vague also swept on to the Denham studio floor such interesting flotsam as Gabriel Pascal.
▪ IV. vague, v.1 Chiefly Sc. Now rare or Obs.|veɪg|
Forms: α. 6–7, vage. β. Sc. 6–7, 9 vaig, 7 uaige. γ. 7– vague.
[ad. L. vagārī to wander: cf. F. vaguer, Pg. vagar, It. vagare.]
intr. To wander; to range, roam; to ramble idly or as a vagrant.
αc1425Wyntoun Cron. v. x. (Royal MS.) 3394 Fra land to land..he wes vagand [v.r. wauerande]. 1548Compl. Scotl. xiii. (1872) 111 Quhen metellus hed vagit vp and doune there ane lang tyme. 1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love 2 Euill disposed persons vage and wander abroad at midnight.
β1587Sc. Acts, Jas. VI, c. 119 ⁋12 Thay sall remane within this realme..and sall not vaig thairfra. 1647Aberd. Rec. in Aberd. Jrnl. N. & Q. (1908) I. 16/1 That all persones..heir the word of God, and not vaig nor goe to the old toun. c1657Sir W. Mure Ps. cix. 10 Still vaige, and sharke, and beg about, Their bounds lay'd waist, they may. 1802Leyden Compl. Scotl. Gloss. 379 To vaig is in common use, as well as stravaig.
γ1600Holland Livy xxiii. xlii. 503 To..suppresse these robbers that vague about our country. Ibid. xxxi. xxi. 785 They vagued to and fro in scattering wise up and downe the countrey a foraging. c1620Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 121 Thou idle boy thus vagueing here and there. 1678Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. ii. xxvi. §iv. (1699) 266 If they were necessitated to vague up and down at all Courts, upon all occasions. 1766Nichol Poems 2 Thus through the country I went vaguing. 1786in Old Ch. Life Scotl. (1885) 320 The profanation of this holy day by idly vaguing together. 1874L. Troubridge Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 88 We vagued about until tea-time.
†b. In fig. use. Obs.
1567Drant Horace, Ep. B j, Should I goe wryte at Randonne tho, and vage abroade, and raue? 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 289 [He] louset a brydle to thame to vaig in quhat lust or leicherie lyket thame best. a1614J. Melvill Diary (Wodrow Soc.) 445 The King sould be judge if a Minister vag from his text. 1641R. B. K. Par. Liturgy w. Mass-bk., etc. 39 In these conceats all of them agree to vage.
▪ V. vague, v.2 rare.|veɪg|
[f. vague a.]
intr. To act or write vaguely; to be vague or indefinite.
1880Cornh. Mag. Dec. 649, I have vagued away in a sort of circle round my diaries still heaped on the floor, and Josephine standing between me and the lamp. 1894Mrs. C. Praed Christina Chard I. 123 I've vagued all my life—that's been my curse. Ibid. 128 You are to fulfil yourself. You are to ‘vague’ no more. |