| 释义 |
matterless, a.|ˈmætəlɪs|
[f. matter n.1 + -less.]
1. Having no matter; not embodied in matter; immaterial. Now rare.
1548Geste Pr. Masse B v, The broken bread..is material & not mattierles. 1602J. Davies (Heref.) Mirum in modum (Grosart) 20/1 Who being immateriall, cannot change, (For that's immutable thats matterlesse). a1849H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) I. 56 He cannot live upon matterless forms. 1890J. H. Stirling Gifford Lect. xv. 304 A matterless form would vanish.
†2. Without materials. Obs. rare—1.
14..Pilgr. Sowle, No more men maye glosen withouten text than bylde materles.
†3. Devoid of ‘matter’, sense, or meaning. Obs.
1612T. Taylor Comm. Titus To Rdr., With multiplication of matterless words. a1637B. Jonson Hor.: Art P. 460 All fine noise Of verse meere-matter-lesse. 1767Mrs. S. Pennington Lett. III. 37 Some dissipation is necessary for you, and therefore, my matterless lines may have their use.
4. Immaterial, of no concern or importance. Chiefly dial.
a1650May Old Couple ii. (1658) 10 'Tis matterless in goodness who excels: He that hath coyn, hath all perfections else. 1875Manley & Corringham Gloss. s.v., It's matterless which waay you tak' th' watter. 1889Archaeol. Aeliana (N.S.) XIII. 280 It being matterless whether a saint is incorruptible or, as in the case of Bede, corrupted.
b. Applied to persons: Of no consequence; incompetent, shiftless, helpless. dial.
1794Hutchinson Hist. Cumbld. I. 225 note, Mr. Robinson..a simple matterless body. 1876Whitby Gloss. |