| 释义 |
† inwit Obs.
Also 4–5 inwitt(e, -wyt(t(e, ynwitt, -wytt.
[f. in adv. 12 + wit n.
Formed in ME.; not related to OE. inwit, inwid deceit.]
1. Conscience; inward sense of right and wrong. Also clean inwit = ‘a clean heart’.
a1225Ancr. R. 2 Of schir heorte & cleane inwit [L. conscientia bona], & trewe bileaue. Ibid. 306 Ure owune conscience, þet is ure inwit. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 5428 Conscience þat es called Ynwitt, And þair awen syns..there ogayne the synful sal be. 1340Ayenb. 1 Þis boc is dan Michelis of Northgate, y-write an englis of his oȝene hand þet hatte: Ayenbyte of inwyt. Ibid. 202 Þe uerste stape is clene inwyt, þet is þe rote of þise trawe, uor wyþ-oute clene inwyt, no chastete ne lykeþ to god. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 421 Hus wif and hys inwit edwited hym of hus synne. [1605Camden Rem. (1636) 26 The certaine and inward knowledge of that which is in our minde, be it good or bad, which in the latine word we call conscience, they called Inwit.]
2. a. Reason, intellect, understanding; wisdom.
c1305St. Katherine 28 in E.E.P. (1862) 90 Biþench þe bet and turn þi þoȝt to som wysdom ic rede And whan þyn owene inwit þe saiþ þat no whar nis such a dede Almiȝtie god þu him holde þat such wonder can make. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16590 Hit was er a wel good þrowe, As mannes inwyt may þat wel knowe. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 65 Anaxagorus seide þat Inwitte of god is makere of alle þinges. 1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 68 Suche be so woo lyke as they had loste theyr inwytte. 1587Golding De Mornay xi. (1617) 160 Yet is there an In-wit in it which the Beast knoweth not of, which In-wit concocteth, disgesteth, and distributeth that which the Beast hath eaten.
b. pl. (See quot. 1380.)
[1362Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 17 A wys kniht wiþ alle Sire Inwit he hette And haþ fyue feire sones.] c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 117 Þese ben also þy fyve inwyttys; Wyl, Resoun, Mynd, Ymaginacioun, and Thogth. c1440Gesta Rom. i. viii. 18 (Harl. MS.) Þe Iuge, scil. Reson, owith to come don, when conscience mevith him to ȝeve dome bitwix þe v. Inwittis.
3. (Rendering L. animus.) Heart, soul, mind; cheer, courage.
1382Wyclif Deut. xxi. 14 If afterward she sittith not in thin inwit [1388 soule], thow shalt leeue hir free. ― 1 Sam. i. 10 Whanne Anna was in bitter inwit [1388 soule], she preiede the Lord, wepynge largeli. ― Acts xxvii. 22, I counceile ȝou for to be of good ynwitt [gloss or herte; 1388 coumfort].
¶4. Now used as a conscious archaism in senses 1 and 2 by some modern writers.
In Joyce's Ulysses adopted from Dan Michel's title Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340); so also in quots. 1967 and 1968. Cf. ayenbite.
1894F. S. Ellis Reynard the Fox 213 By what is truly but a bubble, Letting it master his inwit. 1922R. Bridges Coll. Ess. (1928) iii. 68 If..such good old English words as inwit and wanhope should be rehabilitated (and they have been pushing up their heads for thirty years), we should gain a great deal. 1922Joyce Ulysses 17 They wash and tub and scrub. Agenbite of inwit. Conscience. 1955E. Pound Classic Anthol. iii. 150 Designing in his heart felicity From inwit to his act moved ever so straight He got in sovereignty the whole Quadrate. Ibid. 174 There is no light in your conscience And your acts shed, therefore, no light In your inwit. 1967Punch 12 July 72/1 There's this dedicated, totally frenetic fumble under the skin of the times' underbelly..for the agenbite of inwit. 1968Listener 28 Mar. 411/3 Very probably Bond fans will be able to turn a blind eye to the bites and agenbites of new-Bond's inwit. |