| 释义 |
Maltese, a. and n. sing. and pl.|mɒlˈtiːz, -ɔː-|
Also 9 sing. Maltee (vulgar), 7 pl. Malteses.
[f. Malta + -ese. Cf. It. maltese.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of or pertaining to Malta and its inhabitants. b. Pertaining to the Knights of Malta.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 491/1 At the first landing of the Maltese knights. Ibid. 401/2 The attempt..proved unsuccessful through the base avarice of the Maltese forces. 1837G. C. Lewis Lett. 3 Apr. (1870) 77 The vulgar adjective from Malta, used by sailors and others in the island is Maltee. 1839Penny Cycl. XIV. 350/1 The Maltese people at length obtained the fulfilment of their wishes. 1869Rogers Hist. Gleanings I. 97 The legend of the Maltese money ran—non æs sed fides.
2. Special collocations: Maltese cat, a fancy variety of the domestic cat (see quot. 1902); Maltese cross, (a) see cross n. 18; also, see quots. 1884 and 1890; (b) Philately, name given to the postmark used on British postage stamps from their introduction in 1840 until 1844; (c) Cinemat. = Geneva mechanism; Maltese dog, = sense B. 4; Maltese guipure, lace (see quots.); Maltese mushroom, the fungus Cynomorium coccineum (formerly Fungus melitensis), found in the islands of Malta and Gozo; Maltese orange, stone, vulture (see quots.); Maltese terrier = sense B. 4.
1857in N. & Q. 2nd Ser. IV. 247 A New York merchant recently sent for a cargo of *Maltese cats from that celebrated island. 1902‘Dick Whittington’ Cat Manual ii. 32 There is a strain of short-haired blue cats known as Maltese cats, which used to be extremely popular in America.
1877W. Jones Finger-ring 373 A *Maltese cross in red on a black ground. 1881Philbrick & Westoby Postage & Telegr. Stamps Gt. Brit. 291 Several obliterating marks are found: 1. The Maltese cross, or croix patée, as then in use. 1884F. J. Britten Watch and Clockm. 247 The wheel of the going barrel stop work..is called indifferently a star wheel or a Maltese cross. 1890Billings Nat. Med. Dict., Maltese cross, square compress cut out at the corners in form of a Maltese cross. 1909J. G. Hendy Hist. Postmarks Brit. Isles 1840–76 9 The Maltese Cross or croix patée obliterator—the latter is really the correct term to apply to it from a heraldic point of view—varied a good deal in shape in different places. 1917C. N. Bennett Guide to Kinematogr. ix. 127 Modern Maltese cross movements are descendants of the ‘Geneva stop’ by which overwinding of watches is prevented. 1934J. B. Seymour Stamps Gt. Brit.: Line-Engraved Issues 1840–53 9 The design generally used for obliterating the British stamps from 1840 to 1844 has been called, incorrectly, a Croix Patée or Maltese Cross; it is neither one nor the other. But it is so well known as the Maltese Cross that it is deemed advisable to call it so for the purpose of this work. Ibid. 102 The stamps from the first forty plates [sc. of the one penny red imperforate] are usually obliterated with the Maltese Cross. 1949P. C. Litchfield Guide Lines to Penny Black 16 Stamps with the red Maltese Cross are more likely to have come from one of the early plates. 1953Maltese cross [see Geneva2 b]. 1963Gt. Brit.: Specialised Stamp Catal.: Queen Victoria (Stanley Gibbons Ltd.) 23 The Maltese Cross is a valuable plating aid for collectors of the Penny Red imperf. Its presence on a stamp is strong evidence that that stamp is from a plate put to press before 1845.
1796Nemnich Polyglotten-Lex. v, The hairy *Maltese dog. Canis Melitaeus. The small Maltese dog..Canis brevipilis. 1864Chambers's Encycl. VI. 287/1 Maltese Dog, a small kind of spaniel, with roundish muzzle, and long, silky, generally white hair. 1913V. Shaw Encycl. Kennel 130 Many people persist in calling the delicate little Maltese dog a terrier, whereas he is nothing of the kind, but a fragile member of the toy family.
1902Mrs. Palliser's Hist. Lace 392 At this time [1851] was introduced the *Maltese guipures,..a variety grafted on the old Maltese.
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 340 The manufacture of *Maltese Lace is not confined to Malta. 1900Mrs. F. N. Jackson Hand-made Lace 180 Maltese Lace. A bobbin-made lace, which has been made in Malta ever since the commencement of the sixteenth century. 1902Mrs. Palliser's Hist. Lace 87 note, There is no corroboration of Mrs. Palliser's statement above that lace was ever made in Malta; if so, it would have been of the Genoese geometrical kind, of which Lady Hamilton Chichester adapted the designs and evolved what is now known as Maltese lace.
1816–20T. Green Univ. Herbal I. 320/1 It is commonly said that the *Maltese red oranges are budded on the pomegranate. 1884Encycl. Brit. XVII. 812/1 ‘Maltese’ or ‘Blood’ oranges, much grown in southern Italy, are distinguished by the deep-red tint of the pulp.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Maltese stone, a soft stone quarried in Malta, used for carving, and for making large jars, &c.
1880H. Dalziel Brit. Dogs III. viii. 430 Whether the dog we now call a *Maltese terrier be a descendant more or less pure from the breed Strabo wrote of, it is now impossible to say. 1954M. K. Wilson tr. Lorenz's Man meets Dog iv. 42 They [sc. two large dogs] nearly pulled a Maltese terrier in half.
1781Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. 15 *Maltese Vulture... This bird inhabits many parts of Europe, chiefly the island of Malta. 1843Penny Cycl. XXVI. 472/1 Neophron percnopterus... This is the..Maltese Vulture of Latham.
B. n.
1. a. A native or an inhabitant of Malta. b. A Knight of Malta.
1615G. Sandys Trav. 227 With him a Maltese, whose father was an English man. Ibid. 234 The Malteses are little lesse tawnie then the Moores. 1624Massinger Renegado ii. v, Your fellow Pirats Sir, the bold Malteze Whom with your lookes you thinke to quell. 1651Howell Venice 195 The Malteses [the Knights of Malta] having made prize of them, arriv'd afterwards in Candy. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 492/2 The Maltese still continued to behave with their usual valour against the Turks. 1838J. L. Stephens Trav. Greece, etc. 41/1 An old Maltese, who spoke French and Italian.
2. The language of the natives of Malta, a corrupt Arabic.
1828Foreign Q. Rev. III. 321 The affinity between the Maltese and the languages of the neighbouring continent. 1839Penny Cycl. XIV. 346/1 The mother-tongue of the people, the Maltese, has continued in use.
3. Short for Maltese lace.
1900Mrs. F. N. Jackson Hand-made Lace 180 In Ceylon the natives work a kind of Maltese. 1902Mrs. Palliser's Hist. Lace 88 Much Maltese is made in the orphanage in..Gozo.
4. A very small, long-coated, white dog of the breed so called, formerly known as Maltese dogs or Maltese terriers (sense A. 2).
1867Mrs. F. Lehmann Let. 22 Jan. in Geo. Eliot Lett. (1956) IV. 336 The Lewes's were enchanted with Chang. They say he is a real Maltese. 1950A. C. Smith Dogs since 1900 318 The Maltese. This, one of the oldest of the toy breeds in Europe, at one time had ‘Terrier’ added to its name. 1972Country Life 10 Feb. (Suppl.) 21/1 ‘Floriana Maltese’..good straight white coats, with black points.
Hence † Malˈtesian n., a Maltese.
1656Blount Glossogr., Maltesian, an Inhabitant of the Island Malta. |