| 释义 |
matrimonial, a. and n.|mætrɪˈməʊnɪəl|
[a. F. matrimonial (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.) ad. late L. mātrimōniāl-is of or pertaining to matrimony, f. mātrimōnium: see matrimony and -al1.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of or pertaining to matrimony.
c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1049 The seconde love is called matrimoniall. c1610Women Saints 67 King Ecgfride promised him greate summes..if he could persuade the Queene to vse matrimoniall companie with him. 1675–9Mulgrave Ess. Satire 185 He lugged about the matrimonial load. 1768Blackstone Comm. III. 72 Matrimonial causes..are another..branch of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction. 1780Cowper Table-t. 74 With close fidelity and love unfeigned, To keep the matrimonial bond unstained. 1829Lytton Devereux i. i, He had an exceeding distaste to the matrimonial state. 1884‘Rita’ My Ld. Conceit vii. ii, The matrimonial knot is not an easy one to slip out of.
b. fig.
a1568Coverdale Bk. Death xxxix. (1579) 182 To open vnto the Lorde, to let him in, and with him to passe foorth into his royal and matrimoniall palace of the euerlastyng ioyfull kingdome. 1576Newton Lemnie's Complex. i. ix. 75 b, To keepe..an equal poyze of matrymoniall consent and agreemente together betweene them [sc. mind and body].
2. Derived from marriage.
1577–87Holinshed Chron., Hist. Scot. 365/1 The Dolphin of France..did vehementlie request that the crowne (which they terme matrimoniall) should be giuen vnto him. 1622Bacon Hen. VII 4 If he [Henry VII] relied vpon that Title [his marriage with Elizabeth of York], he could..but..haue rather a Matrimoniall then a Regall power.
3. a. Calculated to promote matrimony; inclining towards marriage.
1730Swift Death & Daphne, His matrimonial spirit fled. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xi. iv, She had matrimonial charms in great abundance.
b. matrimonial agency, matrimonial bureau = marriage bureau (see marriage 8); matrimonial agent, one who works in a matrimonial agency.
c1888C. E. Morland Matrimonial Agency (1902) 3, I have always expressed myself shocked at the indelicacy of marriages arranged by Matrimonial Agencies. Ibid. 4 A letter of introduction from a certain matrimonial agent. 1890W. Booth In Darkest Eng. ii. vi. 233 A matrimonial bureau... In London at the present moment how many hundreds..of young men and young women..are practically without any opportunity of making the acquaintance of each other! 1895[see co-ed a.]. 1908A. Bennett Buried Alive ii. 51 I've been thinking for years of getting married again... And what is there except a matrimonial agency? 1917N. Douglas South Wind ii. 18 He..resembles a broken-down matrimonial agent. 1925E. H. Young William xxxvi. 308, I hope the matrimonial bureau will be a great success. 1966K. White Lett. from Gourgounel 40 He approaches Matrimonial Bureaux to try and find a wife. 1967C. Watson Lonelyheart 4122 iii. 33 A matrimonial bureau. Well, what else could be meant by ‘Handclasp House. Are you weary of the solitary path?’ Ibid. v. 46 He has the traditional English middle-class attitude to matrimonial agencies. Terribly infra dig.
†B. n. A marriage. Obs.
c1475Partenay 952 With great ioy made thys matrimonial.
Hence (nonce-wds.) matriˈmonialism, the doctrine of the excellence of matrimony. matriˈmonialist, one empowered to celebrate marriages.
1811Shelley in Dowden Life (1887) I. 174, I will hear your arguments for matrimonialism, by which I am now almost convinced. 1834Fraser's Mag. IX. 385 Some of those..gentlemen who are hoping..to exalt their sons and cousins..into a sort of official dignity, as licensed matrimonialists. |