| 释义 |
marriageable, a. (n.)|ˈmærɪdʒəb(ə)l|
Also 6–7 mariageable.
[f. marriage + -able.]
1. Of persons: Fit for marriage, of an age to marry.
c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 174 If you would tarry until they should be marriageable, you should be old women ere you married. 1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis iv. iv. 252 There were no neighbour-princes which were marriageable. 1712Addison Spect. No. 311 ⁋1, I am the Father of a young Heiress, whom I begin to look upon as Marriageable. 1841Lytton Nt. & Morn. i. i, He boasted two very pretty marriageable daughters. 1885J. Payn Talk of Town II. 56 Your united ages scarcely make up that of a marriageable man.
b. transf. Of plants, esp. the vine: Fit to be joined to other plants.
1663Cowley Verses & Ess., ‘Happy the Man’ 9 Sometimes the beaut'ous Marriageable Vine He to the lusty Bridegroom Elm does joyn. 1667Milton P.L. v. 217. 1824 Blackw. Mag. XVI. 2 The ruby clusters of Bacchus himself, glowing amidst the foliage of some tall marriageable elm.
c. Of age († formerly also of qualities, etc.): Befitting marriage or the married state.
1597T. Payne Royal Exch. 43 Wch mariageable tearmes..teacheth..husbands and wyves to be so lyncked in love as to lyve and love togethers most affectionatly. 1643Milton Divorce i. xii, It is most sure that some..are destitute of all other mariageable gifts. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 246 Twelve years old, which the Spaniards count marriageable. 1889Jessopp Coming of Friars v. 228 A..damsel..very near the marriageable age.
2. n. A marriageable person.
1826Moore Mem. (1854) V. 49 Dined at Mrs. Branigan's: a children's party in the evening, with the intermixture of two or three rather pretty young marriageables.
Hence ˈmarriageableness (rare—0); marriageaˈbility.
1687Miege Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, Marriageableness, âge d'être marié. 1727in Bailey vol. II. 1895 in Funk's Stand. Dict. 1910Encycl. Relig. & Ethics III. 345/2 The karöḥ (lit. ‘seclusion’), or declaration of marriageability of girls, is celebrated with great solemnity. 1944G. B. Shaw Everybody's Pol. What's What? viii. 61 Equality of income and complete touchability and marriageability exist at present at different levels in the trades, the professions, the ranks, and the classes. 1974Sci. Amer. Sept. 113/1 According to Oriental astrology, girls born that year may murder their husbands, which tends to reduce their marriageability. |