| 释义 |
‖ vis-à-vis, n., prep., and adv.|ˌvɪzɑːˈviː, -æ-, ˈviːz-|
Also 8 viz-a-viz, 8–9 vis-a-vis.
[F. vis-à-vis face to face, f. vis:—L. vīsum, acc. of vīsus sight, face: see vis n.1]
A. n.
1. A light carriage for two persons sitting face-to-face. Obs. exc. Hist.
1753H. Walpole Let. to G. Montague 17 July, He was walking slowly..with..two pages, three footmen and a vis-à-vis following him. 1768J. Byron Narr. Patagonia (ed. 2) 230 The common vehicle here is a calash, or kind of vis-à-vis, drawn by one mule only. 1781W. Hayley Triumphs of Temper ii. 98 Her quick eyes sparkle with surprise to see The glories of a golden viz-a-viz. 1831Sir J. Sinclair Corr. II. 357 It is necessary to purchase a very strong carriage... A vis-a-vis is the best shape, made so that it can be converted into a bed. 1844Act 7 & 8 Vict. c. 91. Sched., Every horse..drawing any coach..chaise, phaeton, vis-a-vis, calash, curricle.
plur.1775F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 13 Not being much in town, the new vis-à-vis were not familiar to him. 1787in Sixth Rep. Dep. Kpr. Publ. Rec. ii. 177 A new method of hanging Coaches, Vis à Viss, and other Bodies. 1802Sporting Mag. XX. 41 The number of coaches..vis-à-vis..and nondescripts. 1834in J. Tomlinson Doncaster (1887) 265 Mrs. Belcher for Chaises and visivis [sic].
2. a. One or other of two persons or things facing, or situated opposite to, each other.
c1757Let. in J. H. Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1843) I. 158 We are reduced to Miss Wylde, who has a most charming vis-à-vis, Mr. Ward, who sings like a nightingale. 1766G. Williams Ibid. II. 56 My vis-à-vis thinks you have done wrong to let even the music-meeting go off unattended. 1840Hood Up Rhine 113 There you are, at an Innkeeper's ordinary, with all kinds of low company, and a common soldier for your vis-a-vis. 1865W. G. Palgrave Arabia II. 204 Menamah, though larger in extent than Moharrek, has a less showy appearance: it is a centre of commerce, as its vis-à-vis is of government. 1893Martin in Barrows Parl. Relig. II. 1142 Does it make no difference to us, whether we have for our vis-a-vis on the other shore of the ocean a Christian or a pagan power?
b. esp. in dancing. Also as pl.
1808Miss Berry Jrnls. & Corr. II. 371 It seems perfectly indifferent to them [the peasant men and women dancing] who is their vis-à-vis. 1834Marryat P. Simple (1863) 231 Miss Eurydice had but a sorry partner, but she undertook to instruct me. O'Brien was our vis-à-vis with Miss Euterpe. 1841Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. v, Lady Jane Preston..asked me to dance with her. We had my Lord Tiptoff and Lady Fanny Rakes for our vis-à-vis. 1877M. M. Grant Sun-Maid xiv, Partners were scrambling for vis-à-vis and places.
c. A counterpart, an opposite number.
1900J. K. Jerome Three Men on Bummel xii. 273 The Vosges peasant has not the unromantic air of contented prosperity that spoils his vis-a-vis across the Rhine. 1975Publishers Weekly 21 July 67/1 Middleton's admiration..[for the U.S. armed services] extends to their vis-à-vis, the Russian military.
3. A meeting face to face; an encounter.
1867Baker Nile Trib. ii. 41 This being my first vis-à-vis with a hippo, I was not certain whether I could claim the victory. 1871‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshm. 345 Every minute brought him nearer the dreaded vis-à-vis with an omniscient M.A.
B.
1. prep. Over against, in comparison with, in relation to; also lit., facing, face to face with.
1755H. Walpole Let. to R. Bentley 16 Nov., What a figure would they..make vis-à-vis his manly vivacity and dashing eloquence. 1759Chesterfield Lett. (1792) IV. 161, I allow his army will be what you say; but what will that be vis-à-vis French, Austrians, Imperialists, Swedes, and Russians, who must amount to double that number? 1847E. Brontë Wuthering Heights i, His master dived down to him, leaving me vis-à-vis the ruffianly bitch. 1907Westm. Gaz. 24 July 10/1 He is responsible vis-à-vis the Government for their efficiency.
2. a. adv. Opposite, so as to face (another or each other).
1807Byron Let. in Moore Life (1830) I. 111 Even the hero of my Cornelian (who is now sitting vis-à-vis, reading a volume of my Poetics) passed me in Trinity walks. 1816Gentl. Mag. LXXXVI. i. 6 The captivating air and fascinating manners of a French lady, who sat vis-a-vis. 1871Nesbitt Catal. Slade Coll. Glass 75 A pair of doves are poised vis-a-vis.
b. Const. to or with.
1814Scott Wav. lxi, Waverley..found himself in the desired vehicle, vis-à-vis to Mrs. Nosebag. 1841Mrs. Mozley Lost Brooch II. xx. 142 Only too well pleased to find myself once again vis a vis to Constance Duff. 1870Disraeli Lothair xxi, Lothair was there vis-à-vis with Miss Arundel.
Hence vis-à-vis v.; vis-à-visness.
1839Lever H. Lorrequer vi, The hissing kettle on the hob was vis à vis'd by a gridiron with three newly-taken trout. 1887E. Gurney Tertium Quid I. 371, I doubt whether it would involve anything like the sense of vis-à-vis-ness or parallelism, suggested to me now by such a phrase as ‘posited myself in space’. |