| 释义 |
anaconda|ænəˈkɒndə|
Also -o.
[Occurs in Ray, in a List of Indian Serpents from the Leyden Museum, as ‘anacandaia of the Ceylonese, i.e. he that crushes the limbs of buffaloes and yoke beasts,’ but not now a native name in Sri Lanka, and not satisfactorily explained either in Cingalese or Tamil. (Cf. however Tamil āṇaik′k′onḍa ‘having killed an elephant,’ Col. Yule.)]
A name (a) originally applied (by English writers) to a ‘very large and terrible snake’ of Sri Lanka (? Python reticulatus, or P. molurus Gray); but (b) made by Daudin (? through erroneous identification, or mistake as to the source of a specimen) the specific name of a large South American Boa (Boa murina Linn., B. aquatica Neuwied., B. anacondo Daud., Eunectes murinus Wagler, Gray), called in Brazil sucuriù, or sucuriuba, to which it is now attached in the British Museum Catalogue, and London Zoological Gardens. (c) loosely applied to any large snake which crushes its prey.
(a) [1693Ray Synop. Method. 332 Serpens Indicus Bubalinus, Anacandaia Zeylonensibus, id est Bubalorum aliorumque jumentorum membra conterens.] 1768Scots Mag. Append. 673 Description of the Anaconda, a monstrous species of Serpent [a fictitious ‘Letter’ founded on Ray]. The Ceylonese seemed to know the creature well; they call it Anaconda. 1797Encycl. Brit., Anacondo, a name given in the isle of Ceylon to a very large and terrible snake which often devours the unfortunate traveller alive. 1808Lady's Monthly Mus. V. 121 An account of the Anocondo, a monstrous serpent in the East Indies, and of the manner of its seizing and managing its prey. 1810Encycl. Lond. IV. 61 s.v. Ceylon, The vast boa the Anacændaia of the Ceylonese is common here. 1849C. Pridham Ceylon II. 750 Pimbeva or anaconda is of the genus Python, and is known in English as the Rock Snake [P. molurus]. 1859Tennent Ceylon (ed. 2) I. 196 The great python [P. reticulatus Gray] the ‘boa’ as it is commonly designated by Europeans, the ‘anaconda’ of Eastern story, which is supposed to crush the bones of an elephant, and to swallow the tiger, is found..in the cinnamon gardens. 1859D. King in Jrnl. R.G.S. XXX. 181 The skins of anacondas offered at Bangkok come from the northern provinces.
(b)1836Penny Cycl. V. 27 This..according to Cuvier, is the Boa aquatica of Prince Maximilian and the Anaconda according to the same authority. Mr. Bennett observes..that the name of Anaconda, like that of Boa Constrictor, has been popularly applied to all the larger and more powerful snakes. He adds that the word appears to be of Ceylonese origin, and applies it to the Python Tigris. 1849J. Gray Brit. Mus. Cat. Snakes 102 The Anacondo, Eunectes murinus..Brazil..Tropical America.
(c)1826Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. vi. 113 The lurid glare of the anaconda's eye. 1849W. Irving Bonneville 304 Having..completely gorged himself, he would wrap himself up, and lie with the torpor of an anaconda. 1864Sala in Daily Tel. 23 Nov., The circle of the general's admirers was growing every moment more anaconda-like. 1879Daily News 13 June 2/2 A marvellous dress, which, aided by the supple form of the fair owner, conveyed the idea of an anaconda. |