| 释义 |
▪ I. monosyllable, n. and a.|mɒnəʊˈsɪləb(ə)l|
Also 6 monosillable, 6–7 monasyllable, -sillable, 7 monesyllable, -sillible.
[ad. late L. monosyllabus (see monosyllabon) after syllable.]
A. n. A word of one syllable.
1533More Debell. Salem Wks. 956/1 He forgeatteth thys lyttle shorte woorde, thys monasyllable, Such, which he rehearsed first. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. v[i]. (Arb.) 90 For this purpose serue the monosillables of our English Saxons excellently well. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 324 The French men call it ‘furchette’; which word our farriers.. do make it a monosyllable, and pronounce it the ‘frush’. 1620Donne Serm. lxxiv. (1640) 753 This one little particle, this monasyllable, So. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 339 Their language is most part of monosyllables. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler (1843) 86 Some are raking in old musty Charnel books, for old mouldy monesyllables. 1680Morden Geog. Rect., China (1685) 418 They have above 60,000 Letters but not above 300 Words, which are, for the most part, all Monasillables. 1692Dryden Cleomenes ii. i. 14 By Heav'n, I'll change it [my name] into Jove or Mars! Or any other civil Monosyllable, That will not tire my Hand. 1711J. Greenwood Eng. Gram. 181 Almost all the Original Words of our Language are Monosyllables. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 88 ⁋4 It is pronounced by Dryden, that a line of monosyllables is almost always harsh. 1906J. Oman Probl. Faith & Freedom iii. 101 To perpetrate ten monosyllables in succession was a high offence.
b. Phrase, in monosyllables, † in monosyllable.
1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 233 Erasmus compareth the English toong to a Dog's barking that soundeth nothing els but Baw waw waw in Monosillable. 1888C. Morris Aryan Race viii. 190 Philologists are generally satisfied that man first spoke in monosyllables, each of which conveyed some generalized information.
c. Often used to indicate some emphatic word (esp. yes or no), which is sometimes intentionally left unnamed. to speak (answer, etc.) in monosyllables: to speak with intentional curtness; to answer little but ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
1608Dekker Lanth. & Candle-Lt. i. A, She dealt in nothing but in Monosyllables, (as if to haue spoken words of greater length would haue crackt her Voice). 1679Dryden Tr. & Cr. ii. iii, Achil. I can brook no comparisons. Ajax. Nor I. Achil. Well, Ajax. Ajax. Well, Achilles. Thers. So, now they quarrel in monosyllables. 1824Miss Mitford Village Ser i. 20 A low soft voice, sweet even in its monosyllables. 1833L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 165 Her reply was conveyed in a monosyllable. 1865Trollope Belton Est. v, ‘No’. She pronounced the monosyllable alone. 1885‘E. Garrett’ At Any Cost vi. 104 He..remembered her only as a gaunt, black-eyed girl, who answered in monosyllables. 1903Longm. Mag. Sept. 291 Juliet leant back in her corner responding by an occasional monosyllable.
B. adj.
1. = monosyllabic a. 1. Now rare.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. vi[i]. (Arb.) 92 Words monosillable which be for the more part our naturall Saxon English. 1640Torriano Ital. Tutor title-p., A display of the monasillable particles of the Language, by way of Alphabet. 1656Blount Glossogr., Monasyllable, that hath but one syllable. 1658Phillips Pref., Pronouns, and Monosyllable Verbs, as Mine, Thine, This, What, Love, Give. 1676Marvell Mr. Smirke 43 The Gentleman's name..is the Monosyllable voice with which Cats do usually address themselves to us. c1790Cowper Wks. (1837) XV. 320 [He] would think the line improved by a monosyllable epithet, which would make it run more smoothly.
2. = monosyllabic a. 2. rare.
1697Dryden æneid Ded. (e) 4 b, It seldom happens but a Monosyllable Line turns Verse to Prose. 1706Pope Let. to Walsh 22 Oct., Monosyllable-lines, unless artfully managed, are stiff or languishing; but may be beautiful to express Melancholy. 1821Byron Juan v. liii, Others in monosyllable talk chatted.
▪ II. monoˈsyllable, v. rare.
[f. monosyllable n.]
trans. To reduce to a monosyllable.
a1647Cleveland Smectymnuus 46 Like to nine Taylors, who if rightly spell'd, Into one man are monosyllabled. |