| 释义 |
▪ I. motherly, a.|ˈmʌðəlɪ|
[OE. módorlic: see mother n.1 and -ly1. Cf. MDu., Du. moederlijk, OHG. muoterlîh (MHG. mueterlich, mod.G. mütterlich).]
1. Of or pertaining to a mother. rare.
† motherly language: = ‘mother tongue’.
c1000ælfric Gram. v. (Z.) 15 Maternus, modorlic. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. viii. §5 In them who can owe no lesse then childlike obedience to her that hath more then motherly power. 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. *v, The secretes of Physicke in their maternall and motherlye language. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxi. 56 You from motherly lap the bright Girl can sever.
2. Befitting or characteristic of a mother.
a1240Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 285 Þu..seh al þis sorhe vpo þi deore wurðe sune was wiðinne martird iþi moderliche herte. c1422Lydg. Thebes 1. in Chaucer's Wks. (1561) 358/1 Bidding the quene, whan the childe wer borne, Without mercie, or moderly pitee That he be dedde. c1440Gesta Rom. lii. 232 (Harl. MS.) Certeinly Crist is oure fader, For he hathe to vs a fadirlye affeccion, and not a modirly. c1530Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Brit. (1814) 437 Syr, syth ye are lefte me in the stede of my moder, for Goddes sake man leue your faderly herte and take a moderly herte vnto you. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋9 Now the Church of Rome would seeme at the length to beare a motherly affection towards her children. 1671Milton P.R. ii. 64 Within her brest..Motherly cares and fears got head. 1712Addison Spect. No. 500 ⁋3 When I see the Motherly Airs of my little Daughters when playing with their Puppets. 1848Dickens Dombey v, Mrs. Chick interposed with some motherly words about going to sleep like a dear. 1874Burnand My time xiii. 112 She pressed her lips on my forehead with another loving motherly kiss. 1885–94R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Oct. xxii, Motherly pity, bend thy face and grant One beam of ruth to thy poor suppliant.
3. Resembling a mother; having the character, manner, or appearance befitting a mother.
1530Palsgr. 246/2 Motherly woman, matrone. 1576Baker Jewell of Health 162 b, Mydwives and other motherlye women. 1752J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 215 To cause to come twelve good and motherly Women, by whom the Prisoner's Plea of Pregnancy may be tried. 1787Burns Border Tour Wed. 10 May, Pr. Wks. 127 Mrs. Somerville an excellent, motherly, agreeable woman, and a fine family. 1815Jane Austen Emma iii, Mrs. Goddard was a plain, motherly kind of woman. 1825Carlyle Schiller iii. (1845) 197 The sky is so blue, and all is so calm, and motherly, and safe. 1876Swinburne Erechtheus 20 O holy and general mother of all men born, But mother most and motherliest of mine, Earth. 1882L. Stephen Swift i. 10 A brisk, wholesome, motherly body.
▪ II. motherly, adv.|ˈmʌðəlɪ|
[f. mother n.1 + -ly2.]
In a motherly manner.
1433Lydg. St. Edmund i. 726 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 389 Whan she hir sone gan kyssen and enbrace And in hir armys moderly hym streyne. 1554Bradford in Coverdale Lett. Martyrs (1564) 288 The mother..casteth the rodde into the fier, and colleth the childe, geueth it an apple, and dandleth it moste motherly. 1663Cowley Verses & Ess. x. Danger Procrast. (1669) 140 Those studies to which Nature had so Motherly inclined me. 1887G. Macdonald Home Again vii, The forehead his mother had been so motherly proud of. |