| 释义 |
letterless, a.|ˈlɛtəlɪs|
[f. letter n.1 + -less.]
Devoid of letters.
1. Unacquainted with letters or literature; illiterate. Also absol.
a1618Sylvester Quadrains of Pibrac xcvii, 'Tis to be more than Sylla Letter-lesse. 1653Waterhouse Apol. Learning 125 A meer daring letterless Commander can..promise himself no more successe in his Enterprise then [etc.]. 1756Law Lett. Import. Subj. 24 They help the ignorant and letterless to..a knowledge of God. 1860Q. Rev. CVIII. 225 Silbury Hill..the attempt of a letterless race to perpetuate the memory of some event. 1880P. Greg Errant II. v. 59 Bookless captain and letterless subaltern. 1884Century Mag. XXVIII. 157 There was an illiterate generation, and a letterless race to be educated.
2. Having no letters or correspondence.
1837Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 62 Unfortunate beings so letterless as to be able to pay them [sc. visits]. 1884Bp. Thorold Yoke Christ 105 A London Sunday..is absolutely letterless. 1886Mrs. A. Hunt That other Person II. 49 She wrote to him each day, and bemoaned her letterless condition.
3. Having no letters inscribed or appended.
1881Education Feb., The title..was only retained by those who would have been absolutely letterless but for this domestic honour. 1886Macleod Clyde District Dumbartonsh. i. 6 This ancient letterless slab. |