| 释义 |
‖ pronuba Rom. Antiq.|ˈprəʊnjuːbə|
[L. prōnuba a woman who attended a bride, f. *prōnubāre (found in prōnubāns) to arrange a marriage, f. pro-1 + stem of nūb-ĕre to marry.]
1. A woman presiding over or assisting in the ceremonies and arrangements of marriage.
1513Douglas æneis iv. iv. 78 Erth, the first modir, maid a takin of wo, And eik of wedlok the pronuba Juno. 1850J. Leitch tr. C. O. Müller's Anc. Art §429 (ed. 2) 618 The bride..is pushed forward by the pronuba to the husband who is armed with a lance. 1868Smith's Dict. Gr. & Rom. Antiq. (ed. 7) 252/2 At the end of the repast the bride was conducted by matrons who had not had more than one husband (pronubae), to the lectus genialis in the atrium.
2. [C. V. Riley 1872, in Nature 26 Sept. 444/1.] In full, pronuba moth. A small white North American moth of the genus formerly so called, now usually included in the genus Tegeticula, esp. the yucca moth, T. yuccasella, which pollinates yucca plants.
1872Nature 26 Sept. 444/1 The larva of Pronuba eats through the Yucca capsule in which it fed, enters the ground and hibernates there. 1905V. L. Kellogg Amer. Insects xvi. 577 (caption) Pronuba-moth depositing eggs in ovary of Yucca. 1929Robbins & Rickett Botany xxvi. 437 Without the Pronuba moth the Yucca would not produce seeds. 1946D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist ii. 24 The smoky little Pronuba moths..come to the blossoms, mate there, hover and hide and perform small extraordinary rites without which no Joshua tree would stand and brandish arms at heaven.
Hence ˈpronubal a. rare: see quot.; also proˈnubial a. rare [after connubial], presiding over or promoting marriage.
1877W. Jones Finger-ring 303 Pronubal or pledge rings passed between the contracting parties among the Romans. 1698Congreve Semele i. i, Thy aid, pronubial Juno, Athamas implores. |