| 释义 |
midsummer|ˈmɪdsʌmə(r)|
Forms: see mid a. and summer n.; also, 3–5 missomer, 4 mesomur, misomere, myssomer(e, mysomer.
[OE. midsumor; see mid a. and summer; cf. ON. miðsumar (Sw. midsommar, Da. midsommer), MDu. midsomer, middesomer, middensomer (Du. midzomer), mod.G. mittsommer. In OE. also as two words, with inflexion of the adj.]
1. a. The middle of summer; the period of the summer solstice, about June 21st.
a900tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xii. (1890) 425 Swa sunnan upgong bið æt middum sumere. c1055Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 311 Þæt ys on lyden solstitium & on englisc midsumor. a1123O.E. Chron. an. 1101 Þa to midde sumeran ferde se cyng ut to Pefenesæ. c1290Beket 1693 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 155 A-ȝein Midsomer it bi-ful. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10546 Suþþe he nom iwis Winchestre aboute missomer. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 313 Every person..shalle pay, euery yere, ffor hys ffeste, at Myssomere, xijd. 1412Catterick Ch. Contract (Raine 1834) 11 Be mysomer next. 1473J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 6 At myssomere, the Duke of Clarence passede the see to Caleis. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 153 His wyfe..after aboute Midsomer, ended her life there. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 102 Gorgeous as the Sunne at Mid-summer. 1625N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. x. (1635) 223 Their longest day at Midsummer is 24 houres. 1714Gay Sheph. Week iv. 27 At Eve last Midsummer no Sleep I sought. 1840J. Buel Farmer's Comp. 44 The crops may then mature before they are injured by the intense heats of our mid-summers.
fig.c1450Godstow Reg. 18 Bryng us mydsomer of heuenly blys, I pray ȝow, martyrs both, Paule and Iohn.
†b. Phr. to have but a mile to midsummer: to be somewhat mad. (Cf. midsummer madness.)
c1465Eng. Chron. (Camden 1856) 92 Tho bestys that thys wroughte to mydsomer have but a myle.
2. = Midsummer Day, June 24th.
1530Palsgr. 245/1 Mydsomer, la sainct Jehan. 16..Robin Hood & Pr. Arragon xix. in Child Ballads III. 148/2 ‘On Midsummer next’, the damsel said, ‘Which is June the twenty-four’.
3. attrib. and Comb., as midsummer-beauty, midsummer fair, midsummer-night, midsummer-pomp, midsummer-quarter, midsummer-rose, midsummer-sunbeam, midsummer term, † midsummer-tide, midsummer-time; † midsummer ale, a festive gathering held at midsummer; midsummer chafer U.S., a beetle, Rhizotrogus solstitialis (Cent. Dict. 1890); midsummer daisy, Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum (Prior Plant-n. 1879); Midsummer Day, the 24th of June, one of the recognized ‘quarterdays’ in England; midsummer eve, † even, the evening before Midsummer Day; midsummer games, festivities held at midsummer; midsummer growth, a second start into growth after ceasing (Jackson Bot. Terms 1900); midsummer madness, the height of madness (cf. midsummer moon); midsummer men, Sedum Telephium, a plant used by girls on midsummer eve to divine whether their lovers are true; † midsummer moon, ? the lunar month in which Midsummer Day comes; sometimes alluded to as a time when lunacy is supposed to be prevalent; † midsummer sights, rural dramatic performances at midsummer; midsummer silver, the silver-weed, Potentilla anserina.
1633Marmion Antiquary iv. (1641) I 3, And now next *Midsummer ale, I may serve for a fool.
1867‘Ouida’ C. Castlemaine (1879) 5 The country was in its glad green *midsummer beauty.
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 90 Wið lifre sar ᵹenim on *midde sumeres dæᵹ þa ylcan wyrte. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10266 Alle þe bissopes..Þat ar missomer day in to this londe come. 1359in Eng. Gilds (1870) 97 On mesomur day. c1425St. Mary of Oignies ii. x. in Anglia VIII. 177/45 Fro þe annuncyacyone of oure lady vnto myssomer-daye. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 29 The mydsomer day followynge was his sonne crownyd Henry the viijth at Westmyster. 1710Addison Tatler No. 221 ⁋2 Upon Midsummer-Day last, as he was walking with me in the Fields.
1426–7Rec. St. Mary at Hill 66 On *mydsomer eve a dawber and his man..xiiij d. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 128 On Midsummer eve, when it is well known all kinds of ghosts, goblins, and fairies, become visible and walk abroad. 1904Edin. Rev. Jan. 53 The elderbush is cut on Midsummer Eve.
1352Wynnere & Wastoure 166 in Parl. Three Ages (Roxb. Club) 95 One *Missomer euen. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 16 On mydsomer evyn [1433] the duke with hys wyffe came to London.
c1566Scogin's Jests (Hazl.) 145 On a time about *Midsummer faire, he..went to Barnwell.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. 6 b, The Fathers..busied them selues rather with Pageantes and *Midsommer games, then with the Vineyard.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 61 Why this is verie *Midsommer madnesse. 1914C. Mackenzie Sinister St. II. iii. v. 594 The freshmen..celebrated the beauty of the season with a good deal of midsummer madness. 1921Galsworthy To Let ii. ix. 200 Come, be reasonable, Fleur! It's midsummer madness! 1922Joyce Ulysses 482 This is midsummer madness, some ghastly joke again. 1970M. Peters in Midsummer Variations 203 Midsummer madness they all said That summer day when we were wed.
1755Connoisseur No. 56 ⁋5, I likewise stuck up two *Midsummer Men, one for myself, and one for him. Now if his had died away, we should never have come together. 1877W. Jones Finger-ring 169 It was an olden superstition that the bending of the leaves to the right or to the left of the orpine plants, or Midsummer men, as they were called..would never fail to tell whether a lover was true or false.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §124 Wede them clene in *myd⁓somer mone. 1589Marprel. Epit. (1843) 14 Whether it be midsommer Moone with him or no. 1690Dryden Amphitryon iv. i, What's this? midsummer-moon! Is all the world gone a-madding?
a1350Birth Jesus 641 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 93 Þe schorteste niȝt þat was þo, was *missomerniȝt. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. i. 102 If it had not been for a hot Midsomer-night.
1866M. Arnold Thyrsis vii, Soon will the high *Midsummer pomps come on.
1553–4in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 99 Wyllyam lobbe for kepynge of the clocke for *mydsomer quarter xx d.
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 22 All start in chaunge like a *mydsomer rose.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. 16 The husbandes..spent their time rather in Maygames and *Mid⁓sommer sightes, then with tylling the ground, or planting of Vines.
a1697Aubrey Nat. Hist. Surrey (1718) III. 62 In this place [Lingfield, Surrey] the Inhabitants are very fond of Ghirlands, or Garlands, made of *Midsummer Silver, a little Herb, which continues all the Year of a bright Ash Colour, and have crowded the Church and their own Houses with them. 1809Manning & Bray Hist. Surrey II. 340 No such custom now prevails (1808), nor do old people remember it. The Midsummer Silver is common here.
1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede xii, Warmed by the *midsummer sunbeams.
1538Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. (1905) VI. 430 Item, Charles Geddes, in compleit payment of xl merkis for his fe of the *mydsomer terme last bipast.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 224 Fro *Midsomertide to þe Apostle S. Thomas.
1375Barbour Bruce x. 823 Gif at *Mydsummer tyme ane ȝeir To cum, it war nocht with bata[i]ll Reskewit, than [etc.]. 1601Holland Pliny I. 45 The riuer Nouanus at euery midsummertime swelles and runs ouer the bankes. |