| 释义 |
▪ I. velvet, n.|ˈvɛlvɪt|
Forms: α. 4–7 veluet, 4, 6 -ett (5 feluett), 6 -ette; 4– velvet (5 felvet, velveut, -ved, velavet), 5–7 velvett (6 -vytt), 7 villvet, 8 velvit. β. 5–6 velwet (5 felwet, 6 -weth); 5 vele-, vellewet (fellewet, felewote); velouet, -owet. γ. 5 weluette, 5– 6 -wet(t, 6 wellweut, welvet, Sc. wellvet, welwete. δ. Sc. 5 veluate, 6 -uote, -uot(t; 6 weluot, -wot(e, wellwott, wolwat. ε. 6 vellett, -at (velat), Sc. -ot(e, 6–7 vellet.
[ad. med.L. velvetum (-ettum), also vel(l)uetum (-ettum), app. representing a Romanic type *villūtettum, dim. of *villūtum, whence med.L. vel(l)utum (velotum), It. velluto, OF. velut, -ute, Sp. and Pg. velludo, ultimately f. L. vill-us shaggy hair. Cf. vellute, velours, and velure.]
I.
1. a. A textile fabric of silk having a short, dense, and smooth piled surface; a kind or variety of this.
Also with defining terms as cotton, Genoa, raised, stamped velvet: see these words.
α1320Wardr. Acc. Edw. II, 22/14, 1 couerchief de veluett. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2027 His cote, wyth þe conysaunce of þe clere werkez, Ennurned vpon veluet vertuuus stonez. 1351Cal. Pat. Rolls 25 Edw. III, 137, j fanoun de murre velvet. a1400T. Chestre Launfal 950 Her sadell was semyly sett, The sambus wer grene felvet. c1441Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 208 Farewelle, damask and clothes of gold; Farewelle, velvet, and clothes in grayn. 1483in Somerset Med. Wills (1901) 245 To Allhalow Chirch of Aisheton my gown of blew feluett. 1538Starkey England i. iv. (1871) 130 Yf the nobyllys..be not appayraylyd in sylkys and veluettys, they thynke they lake much of theyr honowre. 1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. iv. 46 Tentes and pauilions placed in good ordre, of veluet and saten. 1601Holland Pliny I. 124 That our ladies and wiues when they go abroad in the street may..shine again in their silks and veluets. 1694Marten's Voy. Spitzbergen in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. II. 166 He is not as black as Velvet, as the Whale is, but like a Tench. 1735Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Descr. iii. 55 They wear all sorts of Silks, and particularly the fine Velvets of Turkey. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 376 A suite of seven rooms furnished with red damask and velvet. 1807–8W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 262 The lady in blue velvet, who so attentively peruses her book. 1815Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) I. 385 Embroidered satin, velvet, and Persian brocade are, of course, confined to the great. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 261/2 Mohair..is largely made into fabrics for ladies' wear, linings, tabinets, plushes, and velvets.
βa1400T. Chestre Launf. 235 Har manteles wer of grene felwet, Ybordured with gold. 1423Rolls of Parlt. IV. 255/1 Upon velowet, and Cloth of Gold. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 3 The noble Mayer clad in reed velewet. Ibid. 6 The tour arrayed withe velwettes softe. 1531Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 45, iij olde doblettes and Shredys of velwet. 1558in Noake Worcester Mon. (1866) 172 A coope of blewe felweth with oystars fethers.
γ1441–2Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 471, j vestimentum..de welwett. a1450Le Morte Arth. 2615 Hyr paraylle All of one hewe, Off a grene weluette. 1507Pilton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 52 A westement of grene wellwett. Ibid., A mantell of purpull wellweut. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 234 On hys bonet of blacke welvet a floure delyce of golde. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 174 Ane ryding pie of blak wellvet. Ibid. 368 Claith of gould, welwete, sataine and dameis.
δ1436Registr. Aberdon. (Maitland Cl.) II. 142 Vnus mantellus pro nostra domina borderatus cum ly veluate. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxvii. 12 Four men of renoun, In gounes of veluot. 1572Satir. Poems Reform. xxxiii. 254 His wyfe weiris weluot on hir Gowne and Coller. 1581Burne in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 136 That the altaris vas vont to be ornit with veluot.
ε1546–7in Feuillerat Revels Edw. VI (1914) 6 For making of one doble turff Cappe of vellett white & Grene chekyd. 1547Harl. MS. 1419 B. fol. 555 b, One placarde of Murrey vellat; another of crimson vellat. c1550Lyndesay Tragedie 21 [A man] In Rayment reid..Off vellot and of Saityng Crammosie. 1605London Prodigal i. i. 161 My ryding breeches, Vnckle, those that you thought had bene vellet. 1668Bp. Hacket in Surtees Misc. (1861) Introd. p. xiv, The most curious piece that I have seen of purple vellet.
b. A piece of this material. rare.
c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 636 By hir beddes heed sche made a mewe, And covered it with veluettes [v.r. velowetys] blewe. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xli, Ropes, palls, velvets, ostrich feathers, and other mortuary properties.
c. In various fig. or allusive uses.
a1592Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. G.'s Wks. (Grosart) XIV. 90 If he were a king of veluet, I will talke to him. 1607Merry Devil Edmonton iv. i. 37 Thou speakst as true as veluet. 1672T. Jordan Lond. Triumph. 4 My father, store of velvet wore; My grandsire, beggars' velvet! a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Velvet, a Tongue. Tip the Velvet, to Tongue a Woman. [Hence in later slang Dicts.]1814[see gentleman 5 c]. 1821P. Egan Real Life in London I. ix. 182 And when that they had sluiced their gobs With striving to excel wit, The lads began to hang their nobs, And tip their frows the velvet. 1823― Grose's Dict. Vulg. T. s.v. Velvet, To the little gentleman in velvet, i.e. the mole that threw up the hill that caused Crop (King William's horse) to stumble. 1882Pidgeon Engineer's Holiday (1883) 167 Whose hand of iron was never ungloved with velvet. 1898Westm. Gaz. 5 Jan. 3/2 Paul Mercer is born, not indeed in the purple, but in the velvet of vast wealth.
d. on velvet, in a position of ease or advantage; in an advantageous or prosperous condition.
Chiefly in sporting slang (see later quots.), but formerly in more general use.
1749J. Cleland Mem. Woman Pleasure II. 114 The deceiving him became so easy, that it was perfect playing upon velvet. 1769Burke Obs. Pres. St. Nat. Wks. II. 142 Not like our author, who is always on velvet, he is aware of some difficulties. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., To be upon velvet, to have the best of a bet or match. 1789T. Anburey Trav. II. 382 Therefore, only tell General Phillips ‘that on that day I fought upon velvet’. 1828Scott Jrnl. 23 Feb., We stand on velvet as to finance. 1845Disraeli Sybil (1863) 41 Before that we were on velvet; but the instant he appeared everything was changed. 1874Slang Dict. 334 Men who have succeeded in their speculations, especially on the turf, are said to stand on velvet. 1897Daily News 1 June 3/5 Is that what you call being ‘On velvet’ when you are sure to win something?—Yes.
e. A wearer of velvet.
1782H. Cowley Which is the Man iii. iii, We had all the law ladies from Lincoln's Inn, a dozen good velvets from Bishopsgate, with the wives and daughters of half the M.D.'s and LL.D.'s in town.
f. Gain, profit, winnings; to the velvet, to the good. slang.
1901S. E. White Westerners xxiii. 228 They's a good many ton of ore in four hundred foot of shaft.’.. ‘Let that go for now... We can call that ‘velvet’.’ 1908K. McGaffey Sorrows of Show Girl 240 Before the whistle blew for dinner I was several hundred to the velvet. 1912F. Irwin Fine Points Auction Bridge 56 Do your doubling early in the rubber (so as to pile up ‘velvet’ for yourself). 1940Wodehouse Eggs, Beans & Crumpets 138 It would be money for jam... Just so much velvet. 1942Amer. Speech XVII. 93/2, I have been taking in plenty of velvet these days working the Fair. 1951E. Paul Springtime in Paris ii. 38 A good French mechanic..would have to work two and one half days to earn 2,430 francs, which on account of taxes..would not be all velvet.
g. A velvet dress.
1851E. Ruskin Let. 6 Nov. in M. Lutyens Effie in Venice (1965) ii. 212, I had on my black velvet because it was mourning. 1944R. Lehmann Ballad & Source v. v. 222 We stood revealed in our long-sleeved velvets—Jess's sapphire blue, mine claret-coloured. 1963N. Streatfeild Vicarage Family ii. 16 Isobel's velvet was of a pale green with a very full skirt.
2. transf.
a. The soft downy skin which covers a deer's horn while in the growing stage.
c1410Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) ii, Hir hornes benn keuered with a softe heer, þat hunters call veluetz. 1576Turberv. Venerie 47 Then they discouer themselues, going vnto the trees to fray their heads, and to rub of the veluet. Ibid. 244 His heade when it commeth first out, hath a russet pyll upon it, the whiche is called Veluet. 1697Phil. Trans. XIX. 492 The Surface of the Horn, and the smooth Hairy Skin that covers them whilst they are growing (which is commonly call'd the Velvet). 1859Todd's Cycl. Anat. V. 518/1 In the early condition the horn is soft and yielding, and is protected only by a..delicate integument... From this circumstance the skin is here termed the ‘velvet’. 1892Pike Barren Ground N. Canada 43 It was a full-grown bull in prime condition, the velvet not yet shed, but the horns quite hard underneath.
b. In the phr. in velvet, said of the deer.
1880W. Gill River Golden Sand I. viii. 370 The deer are only hunted when in velvet, and from the horns in this state a medicine is made. 1884Jefferies Red Deer iv. 72 While this bark or skin remains on the horn the stag is said to be in velvet and is not hunted.
3. a. A surface, substance, etc., comparable to velvet in respect of softness or general appearance.
1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 41/2 The Potentiall Cauteryes nowe-adayes are indeede of velvet, and verye excellent. Ibid. 41 b/1 That is one of the best, which Mr. Paré calleth the Cauterye of Velvet. 1747Gray Death Fav. Cat 9 The velvet of her paws. 1781Cowper Ep. Prot. Lady 15 Where Nature has her mossy velvet spread. 1897‘O. Rhoscomyl’ White Rose Arno 267 Here is something to put velvet in the ale. 1904R. J. Farrer Garden Asia 240 Every peak is clad in the velvet of wood and copse.
b. ellipt. A velvet cork.
1830Edinb. Cycl. VII. i. 217/1 The finished corks are finally sorted by a boy into four kinds, superfine or velvets, fine, common, and coarse.
II. attrib. and Comb.
4. a. Attrib., in the sense ‘made of velvet’, as velvet bag, velvet band, velvet cap, velvet gown, etc., or ‘covered with velvet’, as velvet cushion, velvet furniture.
c1350Lybeaus Disc. 838 A velvwet mantyll gay..Sche caste abowte her swyre. 1480Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 149 A longe gowne of grene velvet upon velvet tisshue cloth of gold. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxxviii. 36 Many a semely knyght..in velvet gownes and cheynes of gold. 1542Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 159 One other jackett..with velvett bandes. 1612Pasquil's Night-cap (1877) 37, I thinke them in their hattes as good, As Gentle-women in their veluet⁓hood. 1621Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) II. 17 My wives Tawney vellet gown. c1645in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 5 The red velvet furniture. 1780Burke Œcon. Reform Wks. III. 321 Have their velvet bags, and their red boxes, been so full, that nothing more could possibly be crammed into them? 1796Wolcot (P. Pindar) Satire Wks. 1812 III. 408 Who with a velvet lash would flog a bear. 1828Lytton Pelham III. v, Beneath this was a faded velvet waistcoat. 1848Lady Lyttelton Corr. (1912) 388, I am sending some narrow velvet ribbon to trim it along the tucks.
b. Attrib., in the sense ‘smooth or soft like velvet, velvety’, as velvet down, velvet hand, velvet leaf, etc.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 105 Through the Veluet leaues the winde, All vnseene, can passage finde. 1598Chapman Hero & Leander v. 439 Come Night and lay thy veluet hand On glorious Dayes outfacing face. 1616J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. vi. 23 Which fertil zephirs velvet spirit bloweth. 1634Milton Comus 898 Thus I set my printless feet O're the Cowslips Velvet head. 1754Gray Progr. Poesy 27 O'er Idalia's velvet-green The rosy-crowned Loves are seen On Cytherea's day. 1775Sheridan Duenna ii. i, Then the roses on those cheeks are shaded with a sort of velvet down. a1805H. K. White Remains (1825) 365 Stretch'd supinely on the velvet turf. 1862Mrs. Norton Lady of La Garaye Prol. 108 The soft white owl with velvet wings. 1880Mrs. Forrester Roy & V. I. 2 A tuft of dark velvet pansies on one side.
fig.1592Arden of Feversham i. i. 324 Why, what art thou now but a Veluet drudge, A cheating steward, and base minded pesant? 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 41 b/1 Receipte of the Velvet Cauterye. 1609Ev. Woman in Hum. i. i. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, I cannot soothe the World With velvet words and oyly flatteries. 1639Fuller Holy War Ep. Ded., History is a velvet study and recreation work. 1647N. Ward Simple Cobler (1843) 86, I have..taken a few finish stitches, which may..please a few Velvet eares. 1818Keats Endym. iv. 297 With as sweet a softness as might be Remember'd from its velvet summer song. 1878Browning Poets Croisic xciii, He..to such purpose intervenes That you get velvet-compliment, three-pile.
c. With names of colours, as velvet black, velvet-blue, velvet-brown, velvet-crimson, velvet-green, velvet-red.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 335 Of the suffitus of a torch, doe Painters make a velvet blacke. 1662Merrett tr. Neri's Art of Glass cii, This is a most fair Velvet Black. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. iv. xiii, Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam. 1809Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. ii. 496 Velvet-black Paradise Bird. 1811Ibid. VIII. i. 292 Velvet-crimson Humming-Bird. 1924‘J. Sutherland’ Circle of Stars iv. 26 She looked up sharply to see herself in the mirror, a rather pale face..and dusky velvet-brown eyes. Ibid. ix. 95 Overhead the sky is deep velvet-blue all a-fire with stars. 1952A. G. L. Hellyer Sanders' Encycl. Gardening (ed. 22) 31 Sanderianus, large, velvet-green with copper-red veins. 1976Flintshire Leader 10 Dec. 27/1 (Advt.), New Fords for immediate delivery... Granada 2000GL, Velvet Red.
5. Parasynthetic and instrumental, as velvet-bearded, velvet-caped, velvet-coated, velvet-draped, velvet-eared, velvet-eyed, etc.
1611L. Barry Ram Alley iii. i, These *Veluet bearded boyes will still be doing, say what we old men can.
1593Marlowe Edw. II, ii. i. 754 A *Veluet cap'de cloake, fac'st before with Serge.
1881O. Wilde Poems 74 After yon *velvet-coated deer the virgin maid will ride. 1926M. Leinster Dew on Leaf ii. vi. 227 Your pretty face can charm of itself,..as a pale rose standing still lures the velvet-coated bee.
1888M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. i, The gentleman was standing with his back to the *velvet-draped mantel-piece.
1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 540 The hoary white [wheat], by some called the *velvet-eared, is by far the most valuable.
1702Petiver Gazophyl. i. §10 The *Velvet-eyed Virginia Snap-Beetle.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxi, The *velvet-footed butler brought them their wine.
1691[? J. Bancroft] Edw. III with Fall Mortimer ii. ii, These Peuking *velvethearted Wary Knaves that pretend to Scruples.
1876‘Ouida’ Winter City vi, She let him sit by her in little sheltered *velvet-hung nooks.
1855Thackeray Newcomes xxxv, The broad-hatted,..*velvet-jacketed, jovial colony of the artists.
1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxxvii, There were the locket and earrings in the little *velvet-lined boxes.
1796Burke Lett. to Noble Lord Wks. (1907) VI. 71 The demure, insidious,..*velvet-pawed, green-eyed philosophers.
1854Greenwood Haps & Mishaps 17 The *velvet-sheathed dagger of Queen Elizabeth.
1891C. James Rom. Rigmarole 103 The two miles home were like walking in *velvet-soled shoes.
1870Pouchet's Universe 109 Certain *velvet-winged Phalenæ.
6. Objective, with agent-nouns, as velvet-dresser, velvet-maker, velvet-weaver, etc.; also velvet merchant.
1530Palsgr. 284/2 Velvetmaker, ueloustier. 1653Urquhart Rabelais i. lvi. 247 Velvet-weavers, Tapestrie-makers and Upholsterers. 1677Miége Fr. Dict. i, Veloutier,..a Velvet-maker. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. i. v. §9 (1876) 51 This change..only transfers Employment from velvet-makers to bricklayers. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Velvet-dresser, a cleaner and dyer of velvet. Ibid., Velvet-manufacturer, a weaver of velvet. 1860Ruskin Unto this Last iv. §76 note, He pays, probably, an intermediate ship-owner, velvet merchant, and shopman.
7. a. Special Combs.: velvet-brush (see quot.); † velvet-cap, one who wears a cap of velvet; a physician or student; velvet carpet, a cut-pile carpet similar to Wilton; velvet-cloth (see quots.); † velvet-coat, ? a young fop; velvet copper-ore, cyanotrichite; velvet-cork (see quot. and cf. 3 b); velvet glove, an appearance of suavity and gentleness of manner, esp. one that masks determination or inflexibility (cf. iron hand s.v. iron a. 3 c); also attrib. (with hyphen); † velvet-guard, a trimming of velvet; a wearer of such trimmings; † velvet-jacket, an attendant or retainer wearing a jacket of velvet; velvet-loom, a loom for weaving velvet; velvet-painting (see quot. 1849–50); velvet-paper (see quot.); velvet-pile attrib., having a pile like that of velvet; also absol., a carpet or cloth of this kind; velvet-plain poet., a card-table; velvet sauce = velouté; velvet tip (see sense 2; in quot. used allusively); velvet tree, wire drawer, work (see quots.).
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Velvet-brush, a brush used by ladies to remove dust, &c. from garments made of velvet.
16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. ii. i. 554 It is requisite that the French Phisitions be learned and carefull, your English *veluet cap is malignant and enuious. 1630Randolph Aristippus 12 Euery Prenctice can ieere at their braue Cassockes, and laugh the Veluet Caps out of countenance.
1860Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. II. iv. iii. 188 Good society has its claret and its *velvet carpets. 1908L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xxix. 325 ‘Velvet carpet,’ sighed Anne luxuriously, ‘and silk curtains!’ 1979A. S. Garstein How-To Handbk. Carpets ii. 15 At first velvet carpets were woven of solid colors in pile heights ranging from closely woven low pile to longer ‘plush’ fabrics.
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlew. 511/1 *Velvet cloth, a plain cloth with a gloss, employed in Ecclesiastical Embroidery. Ibid., Velvet cloths,..beautifully soft and warm descriptions of cloth, suitable for ladies' jackets.
1549Latimer 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI, E j, Heare menes suetes your selfe I require you in goddes behalfe & put it not to the hearing of these *veluette cotes, these vp skippes.
1850Ansted Elem. Geol., Min., etc. §504 *Velvet copper ore is probably also a silicate [of copper]. 1855Orr's Circ. Sci., Geol., etc. 542 (Sulphates) Lettsomite, Velvet Copper Ore.
1883Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Velvet cork, the best kind of cork bark, which is of a reddish colour.
1850, etc. *Velvet glove [see iron a. 3 c]. 1946W. S. Maugham Then & Now xxii. 125 The velvet glove was off and the mailed fist was bared. 1969S. Hyland Top Bloody Secret ii. 202 Concentrated velvet-glove charm. 1973‘M. Innes’ Appleby's Answer iv. 41 Blackmail..of the very most genteel and velvet-glove sort.
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 261 Sweare me, Kate,..A good mouth-filling Oath: and leaue in sooth, And such protest of Pepper Ginger-bread, To *Veluet-Guards, and Sunday-Citizens. 1610Histriomastix iii. i. E j, Out on these veluet gards, and black lac'd sleeues, These simpring fashions simply followed.
1600Heywood 1 Edw. IV, Wks. 1874 I. 17 Spoken like a man, and true *veluet-iacket, And we will enter, or strike by the way.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2699/1 *Velvet-loom, a pile-fabric loom.
1809Charges against H.R.H. Duke of York 386/1 Did he ever instruct you in *velvet-painting? 1813Examiner 10 May 298/1 A little skill in velvet painting. 1849–50Weale Dict. Terms, Velvet painting is the art of colouring on velvet with transparent liquid and other ready diluted colours.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2699/1 *Velvet-paper, wall-paper printed with glue and dusted with shearings of cloth or flock.
1851Catal. Gt. Exhib. ii. 564/1 *Velvet-pile carpeting. Ibid., Patent velvet-pile and Brussels carpets. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 4006, Pilots, Cheviots, velvet piles.
1780Cowper Progr. Error 169 Oh the dear pleasures of the *velvet plain, The painted tablets, dealt and dealt again.
1893T. F. Garrett Encycl. Pract. Cookery II. 398/2 *Velvet sauce (Velouté). 1952E. White Good Eng. Food iv. i. 171 Aspic Cream. Take ½ pint of liquid aspic jelly and mix it with 1/4 pint of velvet sauce.., 1/4 pint thick cream and four sheets of gelatine.
1638Ford Fancies iii. iii, What, what, what, what! nothing but *velvet tips; you are of the first head yet.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2699/1 *Velvet-tree (Puddling), the point where the draft from the neck of the furnace is turned upward into the stack.
1883Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Velvet wire drawer, a manufacturer of the metal wire used in velvet making.
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlew. 511/1 *Velvet work..is..largely used in Church Embroideries as a background for altar cloths and hangings.
b. In names of animals (birds, insects, etc.), as velvet ant, (a) a spider-ant (Cent. Dict. 1891); (b) a parasitic wasp of the family Mutillidæ, having a velvety appearance; velvet crab, a species of swimming crab (Portunus puber); velvet-duck, a species of scoter (Œdemia fusca); velvet fairy (see quot.); velvet fiddler crab, = velvet crab; velvet fish (see quot.); † velvet runner, the water-rail; velvet scoter, = velvet duck; velvet sponge (see quots.).
1748M. Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina App. 13 The *Velvet Ant... The whole body and head resembled crimson velvet. 1842T. W. Harris Insects Injurious to Vegetation 14 Stinging velvet-ants..are predaceous in their habits. 1932E. Step Bees, Wasps, Ants Brit. Isles 57 The Velvet-ants are not Ants: the name is only a courtesy title given when..the wingless female..was a more familiar object than the winged male. 1968T. Wolfe Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test xxi. 305 He can feel..every verruga fly, velvet ant, murine fleas and crabs. 1975Sci. Amer. Dec. 115/1 The natural enemies of Bembix include mutillid wasps (sometimes called velvet ants).
1681Grew Musæum i. v. iv. 120 The Claw of the Punger, or the *Velvet-Crab, called Pagurus. 1850Miss Pratt Comm. Things Sea-side v. 288 Some of the most beautiful of our British crabs are those termed Velvet-crabs, on account of the velvety down with which the shell is covered. 1862Ansted Channel Islands ii. ix. 232 The spider crab, and swimming or velvet crab, are also eaten.
1678Ray Willughby's Ornith. 363 The feathers of the whole body are so soft and delicate as nothing more, so that it might be not undeservedly called the *Velvet-Duck. 1768Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 493 Velvet Duck;..the plumage is of a fine black, and of the soft and delicate appearance of velvet. 1840P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 175, I made a capital shot at 6 black velvet ducks. 1870Gillmore tr. Figuier's Reptiles & Birds 235 The Velvet Duck (Anas fusca)..is the largest of the Scoters.
1881Lyell Fancy Pigeons 86 The black Nürnberg swallow has most of these grease quills, and from its beautiful green lustre is called the ‘*velvet fairy’.
1882Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 199 The *Velvet Fiddler Crab (Portunus puber) has..its entire carapace densely covered with hairs.
1898Morris Austral Eng. 489/1 *Velvet-fish, [the] name given in Tasmania to the fish Holoxenus cutaneus.
1678Ray Willughby's Ornith. 315 The *Velvet Runner. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Velvet-Runner, a Water-Fowl, whose Feathers are black and smooth as Velvet.
1843Yarrell Brit. Birds III. 215 Oidemia fusca, *Velvet Scoter.
1882Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 318 The ‘wool’ Sponge, which appears to be one or perhaps two species of the Hippospongia, H. gossypina, and H. meandriformis, the ‘*velvet’ Sponge. 1883W. S. Kent in Fisheries Bahamas 47 The so-called Velvet, Abacco-velvet, or Boat-sponge (S. equina, var. meandriniformis), differing from the Sheep's-wool in the absence of the fleece-like tufts upon its outer surface.
c. In names of plants, as velvet-bean, an annual climbing-plant (Macuna utilis) bearing velvety pods; velvet-bur, a tropical plant of the vervain family; velvet-dock, common mullein; velvet-ear(ed) wheat, = velvet wheat; † velvet-flower (see quots.); velvet flower-de-luce, -grass, -moss (see quots.); velvet rose, a variety of rose with velvety petals; velvet-seed, a small evergreen West Indian tree; velvet wheat, a variety of white wheat with downy ears.
1898Gardener's Mag. 3 Sept. 569/2 The accounts..respecting the agricultural value of the Florida *velvet bean must be received with caution.
1866Treas. Bot. 1207/2 *Velvet-bur, Priva echinata.
1863Prior Plant-n., *Velvet-Dock, from its soft leaves, Verbascum Thapsus.
1837Brit. Husb. (L.U.K.) II. 138 We have..the ‘golden-ear’, the ‘*velvet-ear’, the ‘egg-shell’, and ‘hedge-wheat’.
1862Morton Farmer's Cal. 547 Among white wheats..the *Velvet-eared, a short-strawed sort, is of remarkable quality and productiveness.
1548Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 11 The other kynde [of Amaranthus] is called here in Englande of some purple *veluet floure, of other flouramore. Ibid. 80 Viola flammea,..in englishe veluet floure or french Marigoulde. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 96 Veluet flowers, or french Marigolds. 1578Lyte Dodoens i. xviii. 168 These pleasant..floures are called..in English floure Gentill, Floramor, and Purple veluet floure. [Hence in Gerarde and Cotgr.] 1863Prior Plant-n., Velvet-flower, from its crimson velvety tassels, Amaranthus caudatus.
1597Gerarde Herbal 94 Iris Tuberosa. *Veluet flower de-luce.
1856A. Gray Man. Bot. (1860) 573 Holcus lanatus, *Velvet-Grass.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Velvet-moss, a name for the Gyrophora murina, a lichen used in dyeing, obtained in the Dovrefeldt mountains of Norway.
1597Gerarde Herbal 1085 Rosa Holosericea, the *veluet Rose... The flowers..of a deepe and blacke red colour, resembling red crimson veluet, whereupon some haue called it the Veluet Rose. 1786Abercrombie Gard. Assist., Arr. 33/1 Velvet rose (single). 1893G. D. Leslie Lett. Marco i. 5 A rose that is almost obsolete,..called the velvet rose.
1866Treas. Bot. 1207/2 *Velvet-seed, Guettarda elliptica.
1771A. Young Farmer's Tour East Eng. II. 485 Mr. Arbuthnot gathered six ears of this wheat,..and carrying it to market, the farmers remarked that they knew it, but had lost the sort, and called it *velvit wheat. 1856Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 1131/1 Some Scotch wheats have become greatly mixed with velvet wheat.
Add:[7.] [a.] velvet revolution [tr. Czech sametová revoluce], a non-violent political revolution, esp. one in which a totalitarian regime is replaced; spec. the sequence of events in Czechoslovakia which led to the ending of communist rule in late 1989.
[1989Guardian 29 Nov. 23 (heading) The gentle revolution.] 1989N.Y. Times 9 Dec. i. 9/1 This was a special way of declaring their faith in what has come to be called the *velvet revolution, for its gentle, nonviolent quality. 1990Independent 17 June (Sunday Rev.) 20/1 Now that ‘velvet’ revolutions are all the rage, Citizens never shirks from examining the bloodlust of 1789.
▸ velvet divorce n.after velvet revolution n. at Additions the non-violent split, in 1992, of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
1992Financial Times 8 June 15 (heading) Czechs and Slovaks reconsider the federation. Following weekend elections, the two peoples may be heading for a ‘*velvet divorce’. 2005Australian (Nexis) 22 June 12 The Czech Republic—home of the Velvet Revolution and a subsequent velvet divorce from Slovakia—is also one of the most successful and resilient of the former Eastern bloc nations.
▪ II. ˈvelvet, v. rare.
[f. prec.]
1. intr. To imitate velvet in painting.
1612Peacham Gentl. Exerc. 83 Take your verditure,..it is the faintest and palest greene that is, but it is good to veluet vpon blacke in any manner of drapery.
2. trans. ‘To make like velvet; to cover with velvet’ (W.) Also fig.
1864in Webster. 1959R. Graves Coll. Poems 96 We velveted our love with fantasy Down a long vista-row of Christmas trees. |