| 释义 |
majesty|ˈmædʒɪstɪ|
Forms: 4–5 magestee, 4–6 mai-, maj-, mageste, (5 maiestee, magiste), 5–6 magestie, -y, 5–7 maiesty, majestie, (6 maiestye, majistye), 6–7 maiestie, (7 majiste), 6– majesty.
[a. F. majesté, ad. L. mājestāt-em, mājestās, f. *mājes-, ablaut-var. of *mājos- (mājus, mājōr-em greater: see major) + -tāt-: see -ty. Cf. Pr. mai-, majestat, It. magestà, maestà, Sp. majestad, Pg. magestade; also G. majestät, Du. majesteit.]
1. a. The dignity or greatness of a sovereign; sovereign power, sovereignty. Also concr. or semi-concr. The person or personality of a sovereign.
1375Barbour Bruce i. 431 [Edward I loquitur] Hys fadyr..wes agayne my maieste. c1400Destr. Troy 2632 A! nobill kyng & nomekowthe!.. Let mene to your maiesty þe mynde of my tale. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vii. (1885) 125 He [sc. the king] woll..bie also horses off grete price..and do other suche nobell and grete costes, as bisitith is roiall mageste. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. vi. 13 The subget fereth to offende the mageste of his souerayn lorde. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxliii. 362 By our ryall magesty and segnory, we commaunde you [etc.]. 1528Roy Rede me, etc. (Arb.) 29 Fye apon his maieste and renowne Clayminge on erthe to be in Christis stead. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 480 Why answer not the double Maiesties, This friendly treatie of our threatned Towne. 1606― Ant. & Cl. iii. iii. 2 Good Maiestie: Herod of Iury dare not looke vpon you. 1726–31Tindal Rapin's Hist. Eng. (1743) II. xvii. 126 She was a sovereign queen and would do nothing prejudicial to Royal Majesty. 1782Wolcot in J. J. Rogers Opie & Works (1878) 22 The King came in after, with a skip; (not a very proper pace I think for Majesty). 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 508 A man who was daily seen at the palace, and who was known to have free access to majesty. 1883Earl Rosebery Sp. at Edinb. 21 July, The buried paraphernalia of dead majesty.
b. spec. The greatness and glory of God. (The earliest use in Eng.)
a1300Sarmun lvi. in E. E. P. (1862) 7 Boþe god and man in mageste þe heiȝ king aboue vs alle. a1340Hampole Psalter xx. 5 He sall appere in mageste. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 1339 God that sit in magestee. 1390Gower Conf. I. 195 O hihe mageste, Which sest the point of every trowthe. 1470–85Malory Arthur xvii. xxi. 721 To see the blessid Trynyte..and the mageste of oure lord Ihesu Cryst. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 18 b, He yt wyll serche the secrete Maiestye of God by naturall reason. 1611Bible Heb. viii. 1. 1629 Milton Christ's Nativ. ii, That far-beaming blaze of Majesty. 1695Bp. Patrick Comm. Gen. iii. 8 The Voice of the Lord... The Sound of the Divine Majesty's approach. a1729S. Clarke Serm. lxxxiii. Wks. 1738 I. 517 The Supereminent Glory and Majesty of God. 1881Bible (R. V.) Luke ix. 43 And they were all astonished at the majesty [Gr. µεγαλειότητι, Tindale, etc. mighty power] of God. 1892Westcott Gospel of Life Pref. 22 The incomprehensible majesty of God and His infinite love.
c. transf. and fig.
1567Gude & Godlie B. (S. T. S.) 78 Christ come full humill and full low, Us to exalt in Maiestie. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. x. 382 To contemne the Maiestie, diminise the authoritie of the Kirk. 1663Charleton Chor. Gigant. 13 So great devotion and reverence toward the majesty of Truth. 1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. ii. vi. 106 It were contrary to the Majesty of the principal Part, to be moved by another whether it will or no. 1712Addison Spect. No. 327 ⁋14 The natural Majesty of Adam. 1863Woolner My Beautiful Lady 135 The worth and majesty of England's name.
d. Rom. Hist. Used to render the equivalent L. majestas in the sense: The sovereign power and dignity of the Roman people, esp. considered with reference to offences against it. (Cf. lese-majesty.)
1565Cooper Thesaurus, Actio maiestatis, an action for the breakyng of the honour and maiestie of any great or heade officer. 1581Savile Tacitus, Hist. i. lxxvii. (1591) 43 Crime of Majesty and treason. 1862Merivale Rom. Emp. xliv. (1865) V. 248 Under the empire the law of majesty was the legal protection thrown round the person of the chief of the state.
2. Preceded by a possessive, your, his, her, the king's, the queen's; sometimes with a qualifying epithet, as (most) sacred, gracious, † royal. Used as an honorific title in speaking to or of a king, queen, emperor, or empress. In this use Your Majesty is a respectful substitute for the pronoun you, and His Majesty, Her Majesty (abbreviated H.M.) may be either prefixed to such designations as the King, the Queen, King Edward VII, etc., or substituted for them; so, in modern use, Their Majesties, when more then one royal person is meant. Also, with distinguishing epithet: His, Her Imperial Majesty (abbreviated H.I.M.), said of an emperor or empress; His Britannic Majesty (abbreviated H.B.M.), the King of Great Britain (and Ireland); His Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain; His Most Christian Majesty (Hist.), the King of France; in jocular language, His Satanic Majesty, the Devil, Satan; also his sable majesty (see sable a.).
This use, common to all the Rom. langs., and from them adopted into all the living Teut. langs., descends from the Latin of the later Roman empire (tua, vestra majestas). In England it occurs, in its Latin form, from the 12th c., though examples of the vernacular form are not met with before the 15th c. It was not until the 17th c. that your majesty entirely superseded the other customary forms of address to the sovereign. Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth were often addressed as ‘Your Grace’ and ‘Your Highness’, and the latter alternates with ‘Your Majesty’ in the dedication of the Bible of 1611 to James I.
The English syntax of this word (as of the other abstract nouns similarly employed as titles, e.g. highness, lordship, grace, excellency) is somewhat inconsistent. Although Your Majesty, like His, Her Majesty, requires the following verb to be in the 3rd person sing. to agree with the n., this principle of concord is not applied to the pronouns, as in Fr. and some other langs. The neuter pronouns it, its, which, cannot be used with reference to a foregoing (Your, His, Her) Majesty; either the titular phrase must be repeated, or the pronoun must be the same as if the simple form (‘you’, or ‘the king’, ‘the queen’) had been used instead of the periphrastic form.
[1171Addr. King's Clerks to Hen. II in Mat. Hist. T. Becket (1885) VII. 471 Noverit vestra Majestas, quod (etc.).] 1433Rolls of Parlt. IV. 444/2 Plese it to your Rial Mageste. 1536in Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. (1632) 1025 The Kings most roiall Magesty. 1585Whitgift in Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. vi. §24 To the Queens most excellent Majesty. May it please your Majesty to be advertised that notwithstanding the charge of late given by your Highness to the lower House of Parliament [etc.]. 1596Spenser State Irel. (Globe) 661/1 The great good which shall growe to her Majestie, should..readely drawe on her Highnes to the undertaking of the enterprise. 1624in Archæologia XLVIII. 211 Given by the King's Mati⊇..to one Bonner. 1660Blount (title) Boscobel or the History of His Sacred Majesties most miraculous preservation after the Battle of Worcester. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 143 One of his Majesties Judges. 1751Richardson Clarissa (ed. 4) IV. 126 To be sure, Jack, she means to do great despight to his Satanic Majesty in her hopes of reforming me. 1761Cruden Conc. Bib. Ded. to King, I doubt not but your Majesty will pardon my forbearing to enter upon your valuable personal accomplishments. c1777Burke Addr. to King Wks. IX. 183 Your Majesty was touched with a sense of so great a disaster. 1804M. Cutler in Life, Jrnls. & Corr. (1888) III. 171 This morning, paid the high homage of my respects to his Democratic Majesty, the President. 1881J. Grant Cameronians I. ii. 23 Before summoning his sable majesty. 1884G. Fleming (Julia Fletcher) Vestigia I. iv. 131 His Majesty, King Humbert, will hold a grand review of his troops. 1888Mapleson Mem. (ed. 2) I. 295 His Majesty the King of Hawaii. 1922Joyce Ulysses 325 The priests and bishops of Ireland doing up his room in Maynooth in his Satanic Majesty's racing colours.
†3. The external magnificence befitting a sovereign. Obs.
1481Caxton Godfrey xxxix. 77 Themperour satte in his mageste, and the barons aboute hym. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 266 Heav'ns all-ruling Sire..with the Majesty of darkness round Covers his Throne.
4. a. Kingly or queenly dignity of look, bearing, or appearance; impressive stateliness of aspect or demeanour.
1531Elyot Gov. ii. ii, The fountaine of all excellent maners is Maiestie, which..is proprelie a beautie or comelynesse in his countenance, langage and gesture apt to his dignite, and accomodate to time, place, and company. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. 58 A weake bodye, wherin there is no maiestye. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1161 With a faire countenance, and a majestie full of mildnesse. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 232, I descrie.. One of the heav'nly Host, and by his Gate..some great Potentate..such Majestie Invests him coming. 1710Steele Tatler No. 115 ⁋1 [Nicolini] commanded the Attention of the Audience with the Majesty of his Appearance. 1836Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 34 His looks were majesty, and his tongue justice. 1848Dickens Dombey xxx, Edith was there in all her majesty of brow and figure.
b. transf. Of natural objects, buildings, etc.
1555Eden Decades To Rdr. (Arb.) 50 The contemplation of goddes workes & maiestie of nature. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Maiestas, the maiestie and goodly sight of a place. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 281 A shrine, of golde and of great Maiestie. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 607 The Moon Rising in clouded Majestie. 1822Byron Heaven & Earth i. iii, Your rugged majesty of rocks And toppling trees. 1830J. G. Strutt Sylva Brit. 6 The funereal majesty of the cedar or the yew. 1879Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (ed. 6) 159 At the foot of Skiddaw, which stands forth in all its majesty.
c. sarcastically.
1588Greene Pandosto (1607) 21 The goodman seeing his wife in her maiestie, with her mace in her hand, thought it was time to bowe for fear of blowes.
5. Impressive stateliness of character, expression, or action.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. 114 Those per arsin & thesin, which of all other Canons carie both most difficultie, and most maiestie. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §2 Hence it is that Moses with so much Majesty and Authority begins the History of the Creation, with, In the beginning [etc.]. 1709Felton Classics (1718) 16 The Romans have left no Tragedies behind them, that may compare with the Majesty of the Grecian Stage. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 131 Imposing only by the majesty of plain dealing. 1871H. Macmillan True Vine vi. (1872) 260 Every thing in nature partakes of the majesty of measured progressiveness and slowness.
6. A canopy over a hearse. Obs. exc. Hist.
1483Funeral of Edw. IV in Lett. Rich. III (Rolls) I. 7 A blacke magestie, clothe of sarsenet drawen with vj coursers traped with blacke velvet. 15..MS. Cott. Tib. E viij. in Strutt Mann. & Customs (1776) III. 162 If he be an earle he must have a majeste and valence fringed. 1546in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. ii. App. A. 6 [A] stately herse of nine principals with double stories and a costly Majesty. 1849Rock Ch. of Fathers II. vii. 498 This tester-like covering [of the hearse] was known as the ‘majesty’. 1850Gloss. Terms Archit. I. 250.
7. Religious Art. (See quots.)
Cf. med.L. majestas (see Du Cange), OF. maysté, ‘image de la Vierge’ (Godefroy), It. maestà.
1485Caxton Paris & Vienne (Roxb. Libr. 1868) 27 A lytel chamber whyche..was an oratory, where as was the mageste [F. la maiesté] of our Lord Ihesu Cryst vpon a lytel aulter. 1847Eastlake Mater. Hist. Oil Painting I. 171 note, The only existing document relating to Cimabue shows that he was employed in 1301..on a mosaic ‘Majesty’ in the tribune of the Duomo at Pisa. Ibid. 480 The central picture..generally represented a ‘Majesty’, or enthroned Madonna. 1850Neale East. Ch. Introd. I. 238 The dome [of St. Sophia at Constantinople] was covered with mosaic of glass: the summit, as usual, representing a Majesty. 1854Fairholt Dict. Terms Art, Majesty,..a representation of the Saviour seated in glory on a throne, and giving his benediction, encompassed with the nimbus called Vesica Piscis, and surrounded by cherubim and the four evangelistic symbols, with the α and Ω. 1872Gloss. Eccl. Terms (ed. Shipley), Majesty, a picture of God the Father enthroned as a pope, with a tiara on His head, and with the other persons of the Blessed Trinity portrayed or symbolized. 1883J. G. Waller in Archæologia XLIX. 200 ‘The Majesty’, a term of ancient use, is given to the figure of Our Lord seated within an aureole, holding up the right hand in act of benediction, in the other a book or orb.
8. Her. (See quot.)
1828–40Berry Encycl. Her. I, Majesty, this term is applied to the eagle when crowned, and holding a sceptre. It is then blazoned an eagle in her Majesty.
9. attrib.: † majesty scutcheon, (app.) an escutcheon bearing the royal arms.
1722Lond. Gaz. No. 6084/2 A Chair of State..with a Majesty Scutcheon over it.
Hence † majestyship nonce-wd. = majesty 2.
1594Lodge & Greene Looking Glasse (1598) E 3 b, Nay and please your maiesti-ship for proofe he was my childe, search the parish booke. |