| 释义 |
vigilant, a. and n.|ˈvɪdʒɪlənt|
Also 6 -aunt, 7 -ent.
[a. F. vigilant (= Sp., Pg., It. vigilante), or ad. L. vigilant-, vigilans, pres. pple. of vigilāre to keep awake, f. vigil awake.]
A. adj.
1. Wakeful and watchful; keeping steadily on the alert; attentively or closely observant.
c1480Henryson Fables, Paddock & Mouse xxiv, Be vigilant, thairfoir, and ay reddie, For mannis lyfe is brukill, and ay mortall. 1538Tonstall Serm. Palm Sund. (1823) 97 Saint Paule sayth..Gyue you to prayer, beinge vigilant in it. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 120 Would to God you were as diligent in avancing his glory, as they are vigilante and circumspect in handlyng of their matters. 1611Bible 1 Pet. v. 8 Be sober, be vigilant. 1640Quarles Enchirid. iv. xcix, Be very vigilent over thy Childe in the April of his understanding. 1660in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 561, I am forced to be vigilant least I should be by him insnared. 1709Steele Tatler No. 65 ⁋4 You are so little vigilant, as to let the Dogs run from their Kennels to this Place. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xviii. (1787) II. 109 The vigilant citizens improved the opportunity of the night. 1821Byron Mar. Fal. iii. ii, Disperse then to your posts: be firm and vigilant. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 274 A vigilant observer of all those minute circumstances which throw light on the dispositions of men. 1855Prescott Philip II, ii. iii. I. 171 He evaded the vigilance of the custom-house officers and the more vigilant spies of the Inquisition.
absol.1848Wharton Law Lex. 691/1 Laws come to the assistance of the vigilant, not to the sleepy.
†b. Const. of. Obs. rare.
1654–66Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 166 Blacius is so vigilant of his Daughter, that your Rival can derive no advantage by his freedom. 1739Swift Let. to Ld. Arran Wks. 1841 II. 819/2 Your lordship's present agent being extremely vigilant of all your lordship's interests, has lately renewed the claim of the Ormond family to those tithes.
c. Her. Of animals: (see quots.).
c1828Berry Encycl. Her. I. Gloss., Vigilant. This term is applicable to the cat, when borne in a position as if upon the watch for prey. 1863Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. (ed. 2) 57 The Lion..may be Vigilant or Vorant—watching for his prey, or devouring it.
d. vigilant men, members of a vigilance committee (see vigilance 3). U.S.
1824Missouri Intelligencer 12 Feb. (Thornton), We hate what are called vigilant men; they are a set of suspicious, mean spirited mortals, that dislike fun.
2. Of attention, etc.: Characterized by vigilance.
1531Elyot Governour i. xiii. (1880) I. 131 To the augmentation of understandyng..is required to be moche redyng and vigilaunt studie in euery science. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 145 He tooke order with one Clere..that he shoulde have a vigilant eie to his arrivall. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxxiii. §1 That vigilant and erect attention of mind, which in prayer is verie necessarie. 1642J. Taylor (Water P.) Life Walker the Ironmonger A ij b, In which businesse there was used such vigilant care, that they were both taken that very day. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 12 ⁋2 A long week, I lived with my cousin, before the most vigilant inquiry could procure us the least hopes of a place. 1784Cowper Task iii. 340 She has lost Much of her vigilant instinctive dread, Not needful here. 1836W. Irving Astoria III. 64 They kept a vigilant eye..upon every height where a scout might be posted. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 400 It was impossible for him to exercise a vigilant personal supervision over the officers of the police.
†3. Wakeful; sleepless. Obs. rare.
1620Venner Via Recta vii. 131 It is a drinke very profitable..for students, for them that are too vigilant. 1632Lithgow Trav. x. 439 Least the vehemency of chirking frogs vexe the wish'd-for Repose,..and cast him in a vigilant perplexity.
B. n.
1. A guardian or keeper. rare.
1822Repository No. 80. 110 Persian women of rank..hardly move but on horseback, and escorted always by trains of eunuchs and other trusty vigilants.
2. One who is wakeful or watchful.
1822T. G. Wainewright Ess. & Crit. (1880) 267 Nina no doubt shrank within her shadowy bower..from the hazy vision of these vigilants.
Hence † ˈvigilantness, vigilance. Obs. rare.
a1598Rollock Passion xi. (1616) 97 Pilate had a great vigilantnesse in his conscience. 1727Bailey (vol. II), Vigilantness, Watchfulness. |