| 释义 |
many, a. and n.|ˈmɛnɪ|
Forms: 1 maniᵹ, moniᵹ, mæniᵹ, maneᵹ-, moni-, 2–3 maniȝ, moniȝ, 2–5 moni, 3–4 mani, meni, 3–6 manye, mony (also 4–9 Sc.), 3–7 manie, (4 meyne, 4–5 mane, mone, 4–6 meny, -ie, 6 monye, menny, meany(e, -ie, meyney, meinie, 6–9 Sc. monie, 8 manny), 4– many. Comp. 5 manyer. Superl. (chiefly Sc.) 6 moni-, monyest, -ast, 6–7 manyest, 6–8 maniest.
[Common Teut.: OE. maniᵹ, mǫniᵹ corresponds to OFris. man(i)ch, monich, monech, OS. manag (MDu. menech, Du. menig), OHG. manag, menig (MHG. manec, maneg-, mod.G. manch), OSw. mangher (Sw. mången, Da. mange; the ON. word is marg-r, the etymological identity of which is uncertain; but ON. has mengi n., multitude, a derivative of the Com. Teut. adj.), Goth. manag-s:—OTeut. *manago-:—Indogermanic *monogho-, whence OSl. mŭnogŭ (Russian mnogiĭ); an ablaut variant exists in OIrish menicc abundant (mod.Irish minic, Gaelic minig frequent, Welsh mynych often).
OE. had a derivative n., męniᵹeo, męniᵹu multitude = OS. menigi (MDu. menige, menie), OHG. manegî, menegî (MHG. menege, mod.G. menge, ON. mengi, Goth. managei:—OTeut. *managîn- wk. fem., f. *manago- (see above). The OE. n., however, did not survive into ME., and the modern substantival use of many, though agreeing in sense with OE. męniᵹeo, was a new development which has not been found earlier than the 16th c.]
A. adj. The adjectival designation of great indefinite number.
1. Used distributively with a sing. (Formerly sometimes combined with a plural verb.)
†a. with n. in sing. without article. Obs.
many time adv. phr.: see time n.
Beowulf 838 Ða wæs..ymb ða ᵹifhealle guðrinc moniᵹ. c893K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §23 Þæt Estland is swyðe mycel, & þær bið swyðe maniᵹ burh. c1200Ormin 3076 Itt wass forr maniᵹ daᵹᵹ ær cwiddedd þurhh prophetess. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 16/512 Mani miracle þare feol a-day. a1300Cursor M. 2901 Mani man [Fairf. mony mon, Gött. Mani a man, Trin. Mony men], for ouer-wele, Þam-self can noþer faand ne feil. 1375Barbour Bruce i. 411 Thiddirwart went mony baroune. c1402Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. v, The floures, of many dyvers hewe. c1470Henry Wallace ii. 26 Til mony Scot thai did full gret suppris. 1583Babington Commandm. viii. (1590) 352 Countenance beares out many euill counseller, till [etc.].
b. with an or a prefixed to the n. Sometimes reduplicated for emphasis, many and many a, † many a many.
this many a (day, year): see this. many a time (and often): see time n.
c1205Lay. 5132 Al þa twa ferden of moni ane eærde. c1275XI Pains of Hell 244 in O.E. Misc. 154 Þar-inne is monyon hungri hund. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15442 Ost þey gadered of mania man. 1390Gower Conf. I. 5 Love, which doth many a wonder And many a wys man hath put under. c1450Merlin 56 Pendragon was ther deed, and many a-nother gode baron. c1475Sqr. lowe Degre 373 Many a page Have become men by mariage. 1595Shakes. John i. i. 183 A foot of Honor better than I was, But many a many foot of Land the worse. 1632Milton L'Allegro 95 To many a youth, and many a maid. 1692L'Estrange Fables xxxviii. 41 He's Beset with Enemies..the Meanest of which is not without Many and Many a Way to the Wreaking of a Malice. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. xi, This wall I was many a weary month in finishing. 1809Malkin Gil Blas vi. ii. ⁋3 Many a more unlikely thing has happened. 1853M. Arnold Scholar-Gipsy x, When..many a scythe in sunshine flames. 1889Browning Let. to Tennyson 5 Aug., In its hope that for many and many a year we may have your very self among us.
c. many one (in ME. written as one word, maniȝon, manion, manyon, etc.): serving instead of the absolute or elliptical use of the sing. adj. In poetical use, often placed after a plural n. Now only Sc. (mony ane).
c1250Gen. & Ex. 630 Of hem [sc. kine] ben tudered maniȝon. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (Andreas) 295 [Þai] mad kirkis mony ane. 1390Gower Conf. I. 56 Thus ful manyon Deceived were. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas (1558) 34 b, Bochas reherseth of wyves many one, Which..were ful contrarius. 1535Coverdale Ps. iii. 2 Many one there be that saye off my soule [etc.]. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 43 With meruellis greit and mony one. 1622S. Ward Life of Faith in Death (1627) 53 Many one hath acknowledged to my selfe the like. 1792Burns Country Lassie ii, It's ye hae wooers mony ane. a1814Sulieman ii. iii. in New Brit. Theatre II. 24 As many one can show. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. v, There's mony ane wad hae thought themselves affronted, if [etc].
d. many a(n) one: = ‘many a person’. Now chiefly colloq. † Also placed after a plural n.
1509Barclay Ship of Fools (1874) II. 297 Thy apparayle Aleyed gayly with perles many a one. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 144 b, The selfe same woordes maye bee well spoken of many an one. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark 88 This swete sauour..causeth many a one to desyer that they may be admitted. 1556Olde Antichrist 167 b, The cause of the greatest wickednesse that can be the undoing to many a one. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xii. 156 Many an one carried off his two or three goodly steeds. Mod. I know many a one who would be glad of the chance.
e. predicatively. Only with inversion, in the phrase many is (or was) the ―. Now dial.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 209 Mani was þat gode bodi þat aslawe was þere. c1300S. Nicholas 431 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 252 Meni is þe faire miracle þat of seint Nicholas is. 13..Coer de L. 4931 Manye was the hethene man, With Saladyn that come than. 1870E. S. Phelps Hedged In xviii. 269 An' mony's the time I've warned him o' the consequences.
2. With pl. n.
a. In ME. often coupled with fele a.
many times, many ways, (on) many wise, advb. phr.: see the ns. these or this many years (etc.): see this.
a900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. xiii. [xxiii.] (1890) 54 Ðæt he sende Agustinum & oðre moniᵹe munecas mid hine. c1175Lamb. Hom. 97 Ealle þas þing and moniȝe oðre deð þe haliȝa gast. a1225St. Marher. 1 Weren monie martirs..to deaðes misliche idon. c1305, etc. [see fele B. 1]. c1375Cursor M. 19515 (Fairf.) Miraclis dide he mani fele [earlier texts fele only]. 1386Rolls of Parlt. III. 225/1 To the..Lordes..compleynen..the folk of the Mercerye of London..of many wronges subtiles. a1400–50Alexander 1005 We hafe farne to þe fiȝt..mony fele wynter. c1425[see fele B. 1]. c1450Merlin 56 Merlin wente to his maister Blase..and tolde hym many thinges. 1513Douglas æneis vii. ii. 15 The birdis seir of mony diuers hewis. 1556Aurelio & Isab. N 5 A litell courte, where the kinge helde menney Lions. 1582Lyly Let. to Burleigh Wks. (ed. Bond) I. 28, I will not troble your honorable eares with so meinie idle wordes. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. iii. 9 To keepe those many many bodies safe. 1603Florio Montaigne i. ix. 17 The opposite of Truth hath many-many shapes. 1644Evelyn Diary 10 Nov., The famous statue of the Gladiator..so much follow'd by all the rare artists, as the many copies testifie. c1710Burnet Autobiog. in Suppl. to Hist. (1902) 474, I loved solitude..and so I avoided manny tentations. 1839Thirlwall Lett. (1881) I. 157 The translation which I made many years back. 1870Dickens E. Drood ii, We must drink many happy returns to her.
Proverbial phr.1631Capt. Smith Advts. un-exp. Planters 28 But we see many men many minds, and still new Lords, new lawes.
†b. Followed by a possessive or a superlative.
1606G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine xvi. 66 Among manie their honorable actions, this one thing especiall, is woorthy to be recorded. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 189 The Letters..Of many our contriuing Friends. 1607― Timon iii. vi. 11. 1646 H. Lawrence Comm. Angells 61 Many the best and most things were lost to them.
c. Placed after the n. (cf. 1 c, 1 d). poet. and arch.
c1220Bestiary 556 In ðe se senden selcuðes manie. 1526Tindale 1 Cor. viii. 5 As there be goddes many and lordes many. [So 1611.] 1871R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxii. 51 Many a wistful boy, and maidens many desire it.
d. predicatively. arch.
a1425Cursor M. (Trin.) 12577 Mony are his childehedes I of tolde Done ar he were tuelue yeer olde. 1508Dunbar Tua mariit Wemen 74 To..blaw my bewtie on breid, quhair bernis war mony. 1596Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 631/1 The inconveniences that therby doe arise are much more many. 1598Drayton Heroic. Ep. xiv. 57 And if thou know'st, they many were before, By time increasing, they must needs be more. 1611Bible Ps. xxxiv. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous. 1776Withering Brit. Plants (1796) I. 314 Seeds many, roundish. 1846Trench Mirac. Introd. (1862) 1 Where we have to do with aught which in many ways is significant, the names also will inevitably be many, since no one will exhaust all its meaning.
3. ellipt. and absol. in plural sense:
a. Many individuals of the kind specified (often followed by of); also (as quasi-pronoun), many persons.
Beowulf 2091 He mec þær on innan unsynniᵹne dior dædfruma ᵹedon wolde maniᵹra sumne. c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) iii. 1 Moniᵹe cweðað to minum mode, þæt hit næbbe nane hæle æt his Gode. c1175Cott. Hom. 225 And were swiðe maneȝe on yfele awende. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11392 Manie flowe in to þe water & some toward þe see. c1400Destr. Troy 12264 Þai keppit hom in company with knightes enarmit, And Vlixes also with angardly mone. 1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 9 b, We be many of us cut off before we come to olde age. 1580Lupton Sivqila 120 Many with vs spends their goods, and leaues their lands scantly to such good vses. 1738Swift Pol. Conversat. 39, I see, one Fool makes many. 1794Nelson 8 July in Nicolas Disp. (1845) I. 429 They will from using as many again as is necessary be soon short of that article. 1845M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 22 He had but one voice amongst many. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 6 Many of his ideas..did not belong to him peculiarly.
¶b. with a for of. Obs.
c1400Mandeville (1839) xxvii. 278 There weren in that place many a dyverse thinges. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxv. 271 They..defoyled many a damoselles.
†c. in possessive form many's. Obs.
1598R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. iv. xiii. (1622) 110 Which was cause of manies ouerthrow. c1600Shakes. Sonn. xciii, In manies lookes the falce hearts history Is writ.
d. the many (= Gk. οἱ πολλοί): the great body of people; the multitude. Cf. the few.
1526Pilg. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 147 b, How y⊇ many for lacke of mortifyenge tasteth not of this feest. 1688Norris Theory Love ii. i. 76 An old Rule, that we may talk with the Many, but must think with the Few. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 75 The many are not capable of making this calculation. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 75 The folly and foolish self-opinion of the half-instructed many. 1842Tennyson Day-Dream, Arrival ii, The many fail: the one succeeds. 1879M. Arnold Mixed Ess., Democr. 39 It was the many who relished those arts [of ancient Athens].
†4. Phr. on (in) many: into many parts, many times, manifold. Obs.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiii. §1 God is anfeald & untodælendlic, þeah hine dysiᵹe men on mæniᵹ todælen. 1401Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 47 As the prophetes of Achab wer multiplied in many.
5. a. When qualified by as, how, so, too (q.v. for further treatment), the adj. has a weakened sense, expressing the notion of number in the abstract. With pl. n.; also ellipt. and absol. = ‘(as, etc.) many persons’.
c1000ælfric Interrog. Sigewulfi (Maclean 1883) 66 On hu maneᵹum wisum is Godes weorc? 1382Wyclif Luke xi. 8 He schal..ȝyue to hym, how manye [1388 as many as] he hath nedeful. a1400–50Alexander 124 As many Besandis on his bake as he bere miȝt. 1471Paston Lett. III. 5 Ye shall send me..asse mone of my men asse can com. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 25 So did he then consider..how many armed men..might be required. 1714Swift Pres. State Affairs Wks. 1755 II. i. 204, I have heard a physician pronounce..that he had cured so many patients of malignant fevers. 1807Crabbe Newspaper 219 As many words as make an even line; As many lines, as fill a row complete; As many rows as furnish up a sheet.
†b. In compar. and superl. manier, maniest (= more, most or very many). Frequent in Sc. Obs.
1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 214 Thou mayste vndyrstonde of manyer, othyr fewere. c1440Jacob's Well 111 Þe heremyte flytted his celle fyve myle ferthere fro þe welle, for to makyn þe manyere steppys, to haue þe more mede. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lviii. 2 Off benefice..Quha monyast hes makis maist requeist. 1548Turner Names of Herbes 56 The maniest that I have sene was in Kent. 1560in Dunlop Coll. Confess. Faith (1722) II. 639 The maniest Votes, without Respect of Persone, hath the first Place in the Eldarschip. 1583Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 576 With sax horsmen at the monyast. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. 119 Hee who could bring in maniest of them was counted the iollyest fellowe. 1676W. Row Contn. Blair's Autobiog. xii. (1848) 437 The Prelates are now busied to fill the places of outed ministers especially in the west where maniest were outed. 1728P. Walker Life Peden (ed. 3) Pref., This has had the maniest good Effects. 1794Hope's New Meth. Fencing Law x. 232–3 Whoever..shall..have beat maniest, shall be declared..to have gain'd the Prize.
c. as many as: used idiomatically for ‘all who’.
Very common in the Bible translations beginning with Tindale, by whom it was app. introduced as a literal rendering of ὅσοι. (One earlier instance occurs in the second Wyclif version in Acts xiii. 48, where the Vulgate has the literalism quotquot instead of quicumque. The use in Luke xi. 8 is not to the point, because there ὅσοι, quotquot, as many as, have their literal sense.) Now obs. or arch.
1526Tindale Rom. ii. 12 And as many as haue synned vnder the lawe shalbe iudged by the lawe. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 289 So in thee..shall be restor'd As many as are restor'd.
d. as many: the same number of.
c1400[see as adv. A. 5]. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. viii, He found means to cut me [when shaving] in three places, in as many strokes. 1801W. Dupré Neolog. Fr. Dict. 131 [The hectolitre] contains an hundred and five pintes, equal to as many english quarts. Mod. He made twenty blunders in about as many lines.
e. one too many: used predicatively of something not wanted or (also attributively) of something that is repeated to excess.
1590Shakes. Com. Err. iii. i. 35 When one is one too many, goe get thee from the dore. 1592― Rom. & Jul. i. i. 135 Being one too many by my weary selfe. 1748Richardson Clarissa II. v. 26 He believes he has in me one sister too many for his interest. 1849Lytton Caxtons xii. vi. (heading), The confession of a youth who, in the Old World, finds himself one too many. 1865G. J. Whyte-Melville Cerise (1866) I. xv. 232 The Marquise was..left planted as one too many. 1941H. L. Mencken Newspaper Days (1942) xii. 193 The poor old man..nursing a hangover from a Bar Association banquet, had thrown in one too many quick ones, and so got himself plastered. 1956A. Wilson Anglo-Saxon Attitudes i. ii. 43 Some people have made one imaginative leap too many and show little sign of being able to return to the realm of reason.
f. too many for: more than a match for. (Properly predicated of pl. subject, but in more or less jocular use said of a single person or thing.)
1692R. L'Estrange Fables xxxv. 35 They come to Vie Power and Expence with Those that are too High and too many for them. 1708Deplor. State New Eng. 16 in Sewall's Diary (1879) II. 114* Your Governour..has been too many for you. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 319 We were too many for them, for we run out our guns..and..they retired. 1787‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen (1809) 29 Should your horse prove, what is properly termed too many for you, and make off. 1863J. C. Jeaffreson Sir Everard's Dau. 113 You can't rob me—I am too many for you!.. You're a clever one— but you're no match for me. 1872Hardwick Trad. Lanc. 189 On one occasion, however, the fiends were nearly ‘too many’ for the eternal toiler.
6. Comb.
a. parasynthetic (unlimited in number), as many-acred, many-angled, many-antlered, many-belled, many-blossomed, many-branched, many-celled, many-centuried, many-chambered, many-cobwebbed, many-coloured, many-cornered, many-corridored, many-coultered, many-eared, many-eyed, many-faceted, many-fingered, many-flowered, many-folded, many-forked, many-formed, many-fountained, many-gifted, many-handed, many-hearted, many-horned, many-hued, many-knotted, many-languaged, many-layered, many-leaved, many-lived, many-lobed, many-minded, many-mooded, many-mouthed, many-nationed, many-parted, many-peopled, many-pillared, many-pleated, many-pointed, many-rowed, many-seated (hence many-seatedness), many-seeded, many-spangled, many-splendoured, many-steepled, many-stringed, many-syllabled, many-tailed, many-tinted, many-toned, many-tongued, many-towered, many-tribed, many-tubed, many-twined, many-valved, many-voiced, many-volumed, many-weathered, many-windowed, many-wintered, many-yeared adjs. Also many-dimensional adj.
1812G. Colman Two Parsons xxvii, A *many-acred..ass, the squire.
1640C. Harvey Communion Table iv, Square, oval, *many-angled, long, or round. 1892W. B. Yeats Countess Kathleen iii. 57 Heaven's many-angled star reversed. 1930Blunden Poems 48 Bronze noonlight domes the dim blue gloom Where *many-antlered oaks immure A hush.
1850Thackeray Pendennis xlii, The doors are *many belled.
1840Mrs. Norton Dream, etc. 238 The *many-blossom'd spring.
1861Bentley Man. Bot. 424 *Many-celled spore-cases.
1848J. R. Lowell Columbus in Poems 2nd Ser. 11 *Many-centuried shade Of some writhed oak. 1931Blunden To Themis 53 Beneath the accustomed dome Of this chance-planted, many-centuried tree.
1868E. P. Wright Ocean World iv. 83 They [Foraminifera] are generally *many-chambered.
1859Tennyson Geraint & Enid 362 The dusky-rafterd *many-cobweb'd Hall.
1747Johnson Drury Lane Prol. 3 Each change of *many-colour'd life he drew. 1821Shelley Adonais lii, Like a dome of many-coloured glass.
1859Tennyson Vivien in Idylls 132 The myriad-room'd And *many-corridor'd complexities Of Arthur's palace.
1665Dryden Indian Emp. ii. i, Those *many cornered minds, Where women's crooked fancy turns and winds.
1731Tull Horse-Hoeing Husb. xx. 299 The *many-coulter'd Plows.
1905W. James in Mind XIV. 196 Satisfaction is a *many-dimensional term that can be realized in various ways. 1933A. N. Whitehead Adventures of Ideas xi. 242 And space is many-dimensional. a1963C. S. Lewis Poems (1964) 102 The many-dimensional timeless rays.
1749Fielding Tom Jones viii. ix, That many-eyed, many-tongued, many-mouthed, *many-eared Monster of Virgil. 1766Complete Farmer s.v. Seed 6 S 1/2 Each plant of the many eared wheat.
1655Moufet & Bennet Health's Impr. 3 *Many-eide Osiris. 1889A. R. Wallace Darwinism (1890) 15 The potato..so well adapted to spread by means of its many-eyed tubers.
1909Daily Chron. 7 Sept. 4/4 A *many-faceted diamond. 1947Mind LVI. 291 The many-faceted problem of perception soon came to dominate the epistemological scene.
1909E. Pound Personae 36 All tremulous beneath the *many-fingered breath. 1935W. Empson Poems 19 Crossing and doubling, many-fingered, hounded.
1789J. Pilkington View Derbysh. I. 386 Erica multiflora, *Many-flowered Heath.
1590Spenser F.Q. ii. iii. 1 His..*many-folded shield he bound about his wrest. 1819Shelley Julian & Maddalo 76 Where the swift sun yet paused in his descent Among the many-folded hills.
1697C. Leslie Snake in Grass (ed. 2) 66 A *many-forked and involved Infallibility.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxii. iii, While of sad night the *many-formed queene Decreas'd shall grow.
1832Tennyson Œnone Poems (1833) 53 O mother Ida, *manyfountained Ida.
1868J. H. Newman Verses Var. Occas. 108 The *many-gifted man.
1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV clii, This *Many-handed bodie moe hands lost Then [etc.]. 1852Kingsley Andromeda 58 Twyformed, many-handed, terrible, shapeless.
1882in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 33/1 (s. Dev.), He was always *many-hearted [= ‘soft-hearted’]. 1904W. de la Mare Henry Brocken 193 Yonder fine many-hearted poplar.
1842J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 290 The *many-horned sheep.
1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. lvii, The Turk, the Greek, the Albanian and the Moor, Here mingled in their *many hued array.
1842Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 63 The *many-knotted waterflags.
1655Fuller Hist. Camb. 123 The *many Languaged-Bible.
1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 33 A much stronger *many-layered epidermis.
1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iii. Law 42 The *many-leaved locks Of thriving Charvel.
1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. III. xlviii, The poor ship with its *many-lived anguish.
1830Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 180 A plaited *many-lobed corolla.
1895Funk's Stand. Dict., *Many-minded, showing changes of mind; changeable in opinion; fickle; versatile. 1932W. B. Yeats Words for Music 37 Even Cicero And many-minded Homer were Mad as the mist and snow.
192019th Cent. Aug. 272 To know him [sc. Stephen Phillips] was to realise how *many-mooded and complex a man he was. 1935C. Day Lewis Time to Dance 50 You shall recall one open as the day, Many-mooded as the light above English hills.
1749*Many-mouthed [see many-eared]. 1917D. H. Lawrence Look! We have come Through! 18 The spouse all full of increase Moiled over with the rearing of her many-mouthed young.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 326 *Many-nam'd poyson, minister of Death.
c1611Chapman Iliad ii. 497 These *many nation'd men.
1830Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 176 Solitary flowers,..and *many-parted calyx.
1828Landor Imag. Conv., Xenoph. & Cyrus III. 366 He waves his paternal blessing over the *many-peopled world.
1740Dyer Ruins of Rome 10 The *many-pillar'd Portal.
1927D. H. Lawrence M. in Mex. 81 The *many-pleated, noiseless mountains of Mexico.
1835–6Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 472 The teeth [of Seals], sharp and *many-pointed.
1875Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. 176 The *many-rowed flower-heads of the sunflower.
1808Bentham Sc. Reform 36 The *many-seated has given place to single seated judicature.
1830― Corr. Wks. 1843 XI. 40 *Many-seatedness.
1776–96Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 246 Lonicera..*many-seeded.
1742Blair Grave 135 Where hast thou hid thy *many-spangled head?
a1907F. Thompson Kingdom of God in Sel. Poems (1908) 131 'Tis ye, 'tis your estrangèd faces, That miss the *many-splendoured thing. 1962Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 25 Nov. 29 (title) The many-splendoured fisherman. 1971Nat. Geographic Oct. 548/1 The Ocean Terminal and nearby Harbour Centre in Kowloon offer a dazzling promenade past 150 or more stores selling jewelry, watches, ginger jars, television sets.., pearls, and other many-splendored items.
1797Coleridge Lime-Tree Bower 22 The *many-steepled tract magnificent Of hilly fields.
1852H. Rogers Ecl. Faith (1853) 37 A *many-stringed lyre.
1635Heywood Hierarch. vi. 355 Words *Many-syllabl'd, of obscure sence.
1766Sharp in Phil. Trans. LVII. 85 The *many-tailed bandage.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. v, A *many-tinted, radiant Aurora.
1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. Tambourgi vii, Let her bring from her chamber her *many-toned lyre.
1749*Many-tongued [see many-eared]. 1881Henty Cornet of Horse xvii. (1888) 179 That many-tongued body the allied army.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iii. Colonies 77 And Ninevè..Above them [might] raise her *many-towred Crest. 1832Tennyson Lady of Shalott i, To many-tower'd Camelot.
1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 581 The *many-tribed weeds of the field.
1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt i, The *many-tubed honeysuckle.
1909E. Pound Personae 35 What should avail me the *many-twined bracelets?
1851Richardson's Geol. viii. (1855) 259 The Balanidæ have a complicated, *many-valved shell.
1816Shelley Alastor 669 A bright stream Once fed with *many-voiced waves.
1857J. R. Lowell Orig. Didactic Poetry in Atlantic Monthly Nov. 112 *Many-volumed thunder. 1927W. B. Yeats Senate Speeches (1961) 138 This many-volumed ancient history.
1794Southey Sonn., Even. Rainbow, The day, Changeful and *many-weather'd.
1832J. P. Kennedy Swallow B. (1860) 16 A plain, *many-windowed edifice of brick.
1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 68 The *many-winter'd crow.
a1618Sylvester Job Triumph. 771 So, Wisdome shall be to the *many-year'd.
b. (i) poet. with pres. pples. (and occas. pa. pples.) in quasi-advb. sense = ‘in many ways, many times, much’, as many-beaming, many-bleating, many-blossoming, many-meaning, many-mingled, many-mingling, many-sounding, many-turning, many-twinkling, many-wandering, many-winding adjs.
1818Shelley Homer's Hymn to Moon 6 Where'er she spreads her *many-beaming wings.
1728–46Thomson Spring 834 Around him feeds his *many-bleating flock.
1864Tennyson Boadicea 43 *Many-blossoming Paradises.
1825Coleridge Aids Refl. (1848) I. 24 That *many-meaning and too commonly misapplied expression.
1811W. R. Spencer Poems, The *many-mingled cries. 1821Shelley Epipsych. 358 Their many-mingled influence.
1861D. Greenwell Poems 129 Run in one the *many-mingling hues.
1745Warton Pleas. Melanch. 198 The *many-sounding organ peals on high.
1728–46Thomson Spring 157 The *many-twinkling leaves Of aspen tall. 1827Keble Chr. Y. 2nd Sund. after Trin., The many-twinkling smile of Ocean.
1820Shelley Let. to Maria Gisb. 262 Clouds..Piloted by the *many-wandering blast.
1812Byron Ch. Har. i. xx, Then slowly climb the *many-winding way.
(ii) attrib. phrases consisting of many with a n. in sense ‘having, consisting of, many of the things named’, as many-course, many-electron, many-interest, many-particle, many-volume, many-word.
1955D. Chapman Home & Social Status xi. 172 The many-course dinner with wines.
1929Trans. Faraday Soc. XXV. 672 We use this system of energy levels for the many-electron problem just as was done in atoms. 1970G. K. Woodgate Elem. Atomic Struct. i. 5 In many-electron atoms the electrostatic interaction with the nucleus is summed over all the electrons.
1955M. Gluckman Custom & Conflict in Afr. v. 135 They [sc. rituals] are inappropriate in the family, our single many-interest group.
1955W. Pauli Niels Bohr 135 The states formed in the reaction are states of a many-particle system.
1941Mind L. 141 That these naïve beliefs [sc. about ambiguity] are false is easy to realise in this age of many-volume dictionaries.
1924R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind v. 329 Transference from a one-word to a many-word sentence is carried out. 1940A. H. Gardiner Theory of Proper Names ix. 29 In some of my many-word names (e.g. Edgar Allan Poe) the coherence of the parts is much slighter than in others. 1973A. Quinton Nature of Things v. 127 Many-word sentences have to be used to guard against the misunderstandings.
c. Special combinations: many-berry, a name for the American hackberry (Cent. Dict.); many-body, pertaining to or involving three or more bodies or particles; applied spec. to the problem of predicting their positions and motions at any future time given their present values and the way the bodies interact; † many-feet (-foot), (a) = polype; (b) a general name for earwigs, woodlice, etc.; many–many a. (see quots.); many–one a., applied to a correspondence or relation such that two or more members of one set are associated with or related to each member of a second set; hence many–oneness; many-root(s, the plant Ruellia tuberosa, native to Mexico and the West Indies; † Many Saints' Day ? nonce-wd., a name for Pentecost; many-seed, a Barbados plant of the genus Jussiæa; many-valued a. [cf. G. mehrwertig] Philos., ‘possessing three or more truth-values in place of the customary two of truth and falsehood’ (Webster 1961); many-worded a., of a term or description involving the use of several words.
1847W. Darlington Amer. Weeds & Useful Pl. (1860) 294 Hack-berry. *Many-berry.
1927Fisher & Hartree tr. Born's Mech. Atom iv. 248 The analytical difficulties of the *many-body problem. 1962W. B. Thompson Introd. Plasma Physics i. 2 The microscopic dynamics of a plasma must be understood as a study in many-body physics. 1964L. Wilets Theories Nucl. Fission iv. 56 The first quantitative attempt to apply many-body techniques to finite nuclei was performed by Brueckner, Lockett, and Rotenberg... The results of the infinite many-body problem were used to obtain the K-matrix as a function of density.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 87 Th' inky Cuttles, and the *Many-feet. Ibid. 238 The..Many-foot, that fain A dainty feast of Oyster-flesh would gain. 1601Holland Pliny I. 351 Some sea-fishes,..haue eight legs: namely, Manyfeet, Pourcuttles, Cuttles. 1658Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1045 The Scolopendræ, and Juli, and Cheeselips..are called Many-feet. 1706Phillips, Ozæna, a sort of the Fish Pourcontrel or Many⁓feet.
1922W. E. Johnson Logic II. vii. 156 Here the denominating correlation is not one–one but *many–many, and yet the names and the things happen to be numerically equal. 1933Mind XLII. 53 In this third use of ‘term’ the total situation located by ‘Tom fears Francois’ is not two-termed but many-termed, and the total situation located by ‘England fears France’ many–many–termed. 1965Language XLI. 44 Transformational relations are one–one, but expansion relations are many–many.
1910Whitehead & Russell Principia Math. I. ii. 438 Thus *many–one relations are the converses of one–many relations. Ibid. 575 The transition from series generated by one–one or many–one relations of consecutive terms to series generated by transitive relations of before and after. 1936Jrnl. Philos. 17 Dec. 706 The relation of tokens to their type..is consistently many–one: a type can have many tokens, but a token only one type. But the relation of type to word is many–many. A word can be represented by many types; but so can a type represent many words. 1955A. N. Prior Formal Logic 279 A ‘many–one’ relation, Cls→1, is an R such that if x is an R of any given thing then it is not an R of anything else...The null relation is many–one for the same sort of reason as it is one–many. 1959E. M. Patterson Topology (ed. 2) iv. 82 A homomorphism between a group G1 and a group G2 is a many–one transformation. 1971Language XLVII. 8 This overwhelming predominance of many–one mapping over one–many, as we move from semantics to phonetics, can then be seen as further evidence of language's directionality.
1966S. Beer Decision & Control xvii. 441 The effect of that Act..was to provide a richer mapping, to reduce the *many–oneness of the homomorphic transformation.
1750G. Hughes Barbados 210 The *Many-Roots. This Plant derives its Name from the great number of its Roots. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Many-root, a name for the Ruellia tuberosa.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. Ded., Those three thousand gained (on *Many-Saints-day) by Saint Peter, at Jerusalem.
1750G. Hughes Barbados 212 *Many-Seed. I have given this Plant a name from its many Seeds. 1848Schomburgk Hist. Barbados 618.
1934Philos. of Sci. I. 118 A *many-valued system of logic is a code of inference which endows propositions with truth values intermediate between true and false. 1936Mind XLV. 273 His probability logic is a many-valued logic. 1963R. Dickerson in H. W. Baade Jurimetrics 63 The potential usefulness of many-valued logic for building mathematical models helpful in dealing with problems of vagueness. 1965Philosophy XL. 172 Languages based on a many-valued logic are artificial constructs. 1969N. Rescher (title) Many-valued logic.
a1832Bentham Chrestomathia App. 9. §2 in Works (1834) VIII. 188/1 In the *many-worded appellative, part of speech, the word part is instructive. 1843Mill Logic I. i. ii. 30 A mixed term belongs to the class of what have been called many-worded names. 1901A. Sidgwick Use of Words in Reasoning v. 143 Description..is more often than not many-worded. 1957G. Ryle in M. Black Importance of Lang. (1962) 151, I am still not quite sure why..every possible grammatical subject of a sentence, one-worded or many-worded, stands to something.
B. quasi-n. and n.
1. quasi-n. On the analogy of a few (see few 2), a has from the 16th c. been prefixed to many when followed by a pl. n. or used absol. in plural sense. In such collocations many formally admits of being interpreted as a n., meaning ‘a great number’. This interpretation is somewhat strained when a many is immediately followed by a pl. n., because the ellipsis of of, which must be assumed, is abnormal; but in the other cases it presents no difficulty, and it would often be impossible to determine whether in the consciousness of the speaker the word is an adj. used absol. in pl., or a genuine n. Confusion with meinie, of which there are many traces in the 16th c., seems to have contributed to cause the word in this use to be apprehended as a n. Often with prefixed adj. as in a † considerable, good, great, † pretty, † jolly many; also † no small many.
a. with pl. n. (or people) immediately following.
In this use a many hardly differs in sense from many, and is now somewhat rare in literary use, though a good many, a great many, are common colloquially.
1590Marlowe Edw. II, iv. ii, Though a many friends Are made a way. 1614Day Festivals xi. (1615) 300 There are in this Israel, the Sacred Scriptures of God, a many, many Widowes. a1643J. Shute Judgem. & Mercy (1645) 180 Hee were a mad man that to Secure himselfe from the Fire, would pile a many Billets betweene him and the flame. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. (1662) 97 A many such miracles. 1690Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 126 And great many men were at work upon the fortifications. 1776Trial of Nundocomar 23/2 A great many people have seen him besides. 1807Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 768 The rates are high; we have a-many poor. 1813Sk. Character (ed. 2) I. 205 It is a good many years since I have seen him. 1832Tennyson Miller's Dau. 219 They have not shed a many tears, Dear eyes. 1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. xlviii. 122 They use a vast many beads. 1884Manch. Exam. 17 May 4/8 There are a great many schools..of technicology scattered over the Continent.
b. Const. of; now only followed by a definite n. or pronoun. (Some early quots. may belong to meinie.)
1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxiv. 64 Beneth in the courte he sawe a great many of asses. 1530Palsgr. 721/1 s.v. Slyde, A menye of brokes [vng tas de ruisseaux]. 1560Whitehorne Arte Warre 60 Caius Sulpitius..set a greate many of Sackes vpon Mules. 1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xii. iii. (1886) 176 If Incubus could beget Merlins among us, we should have a jollie manie of cold prophets. 1652Gaule Magastrom. 352 He..had invited a many of his kindred and friends. 1656Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. ii. xxiv. (1674) 173 An infinite many of men. 1711Addison Spect. No. 37 ⁋1, I had an Opportunity of turning over a great many of her Books. 1716B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1865) I. 127 He pick'd up a considerable many of their Women and Children. 1840P. Parley's Ann. 183 A many of them played the truant on purpose to see the soldiers go through their manœuvres. 1852Thackeray Esmond i. iii, This was chiefly of the Catholic gentry, of whom there were a pretty many in the country.
c. ellipt. and absol. (Quots. 1556 and 1564 may belong to meinie.)
[1556Olde Antichrist 6 To the undoing of a great meanye. 1564Becon Display. Popish Mass Wks. iii. 47 b, Ye praye for Philippe and Chenye, mo than a good meany.] 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vii. 79 Const. And yet my Sky shall not want [sc. stars]. Dolph. That may be, for you beare a many superfluously. 1604Hieron Wks. I. 507 These and the like are the thoughts and speeches of no small many. 1611B. Jonson Catiline To Rdr., The commendation of good things may fall within a many, their approbation but in a few. 1788T. Taylor Proclus' Comm. (1792) I. Diss. p. xcv, Plato is ignorantly accused by a many, for affirming that [etc.]. 1875Higginson Hist. U.S. viii. 64 A good many died of hardship and fatigue. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. III. cii. 438 But even in the East a good many may come from straitened homes.
†2. n. App. by confusion with meinie, used for: Company, host, flock; (one's) retinue or following. Obs.
1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 1609/2 We are..murthered downe like a manie of sheep. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. May 23 Before them yode a lusty Tabrere, That to the many a Horne pype playd. 1586Warner Alb. Eng. i. v. (1589) 14 Those cruell Lions..which haue deuoured those Heards I had, and with my Manie's blood Imbrud their fierce deuouring chappes. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. xi. 3 And forth he far'd with all his many bad. 1609C. Butler Fem. Mon. v. (1623) L ij, The manie begins to march along; thronging one another for haste. 1700Dryden Pal. & Arcite iii. 545 The chiefs divide And wheeling east and west before their many ride.
3. Philos. A multitude, plurality. Opposed to one.
a1619M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. x. §4 (1622) 309 All Ones, and all Manyes, all wholes, all parts. 1788T. Taylor Proclus' Comm. (1792) I. Diss. p. xxiv, One idea, throughout all manys, wrapt up in one. 1864Bowen Logic i. 4 The Understanding has been called the unifying faculty, by which the many is reduced to unity. |