释义 |
mightiness|ˈmaɪtɪnɪs| [f. mighty + -ness.] The state or condition of being mighty.
13..S. Augustin 1273 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 83 Þi mihtinesse we worschupeþ, lord, Boþe in dede and in word. c15111st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 30/2 Pope Iohn whose myghtynes & rychedome amounteth aboue all prynces of the world. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 274 b, Yf he so do, the myghtynesse of the newe wyne wyll breke the vessell. 1534More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. xxvii. (1553) V viij, To shewe y⊇ mightines of theyr malice. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1590) 318 b, A cunning mastiffe, who knowes the..strength of the Bul, fights low..answering mightines with nimblenes. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, Prol. 30 Thinke you see them Great..: Then, in a moment, see How soone this Mightinesse meets Misery. 1725Pope Postscr. to Odyss. (1840) 390 Language, which..rattles like some mightiness of meaning in the most indifferent subjects. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 37 The weak would have the mightiness of the law for their support. 1802Wordsw. Sonn., ‘Inland, within a hollow vale, I stood’, What power is there! What mightiness for evil and for good! 1838–42Arnold Hist. Rome III. xliv. 146 The mightiness of her energy. †b. As a title of dignity your mightiness.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 126 This Minion..braues your Mightinesse. c1590Greene Fr. Bacon xvi, In royalizing Henry's Albion With presence of your princely mightiness. 1622Fletcher & Mass. Prophetess iii. i, Does your Mightinesse..yet understand our faces? c. High Mightiness (also † High and Mightiness): a title of dignity; esp. in pl. = Du. hoogmogendheden, the title of the members of the States-General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Now only Hist. Also as an ironical title.
1668Temple Let. to De Witt Wks. 1731 II. 88 His Majesty and their High and Mightinesses have begun..this glorious..Design of a general Peace. 1700T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. iv. (1709) 43 Now for that Majestical Man and Woman there, stand off, there is no coming within a Hundred Yards of their High Mightinesses, they have revolted like the Dutch. 1707Lond. Gaz. No. 4389/2 Monsieur Lintelo, Envoy Extraordinary of the States General, delivered the King a Letter from their High Mightinesses. 1733Budgell Bee I. 71 A Letter directed to the States General, in which their High and Mightinesses are reproached. 1792M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 486 However important their High Mightinesses of Congress may appear abroad. 1825R. P. Ward Tremaine II. vii. 68 To lay my whip across his high mightyness's shoulders. 1883Black Shandon Bells xxx, Being particular about good dinners..is beneath their high mightinesses' notice. |