| 释义 |
▪ I. nation, n.1|ˈneɪʃən|
Forms: 4 naciun(e, -cioun, 4–6 nacion, (4 -one), -cyon, (5 -one), 6 natyon, Sc. natioun, naceoun, 4– nation.
[a. F. nation, † nacion, etc., ad. L. natiōn-em breed, stock, race, nation, f. nāt-, ppl. stem of nascī to be born. Cf. Sp. nacion, It. nazione.]
I.
1. a. An extensive aggregate of persons, so closely associated with each other by common descent, language, or history, as to form a distinct race or people, usually organized as a separate political state and occupying a definite territory.
In early examples the racial idea is usually stronger than the political; in recent use the notion of political unity and independence is more prominent.
a1300Cursor M. 241 Of Ingland the nacion Es Inglis man þar in commun. Ibid. 8225 All naciun and lede aght vr lauerd for to drede. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 393 Þo gospels of Crist written in Englische, to moost lernyng of our nacioun. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 183 Allas! un-to the Barbre nacioun I moste anon. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. iii. (1885) 115 The said kynge is compellid to make his armeys..of straungers, as Scottes, Spaynardes,..and of oþer nacions. 1494Fabyan Chron. clxxxviii. 190 With a great hoost of Danys, and other straunge nacyons. 1538Starkey England i. iv. 106 To defend thys custume long vsyd in our reame and natyon. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 49 He hates our sacred Nation. 1625N. Carpenter Geog. Del. ii. iii. (1635) 53 Wee shall obserue..a multitude of miserable and wretched nations. 1682G. Vernon Life Heylin 74 In almost all Nations Christened, the sam Law has continued to this very time. 1753Foote Eng. in Paris Epil., Wks. 1799 I. 31 Not a Buck, nor a Blood, through the whole English nation, But his roughness she'll soften. 1793Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 159 Every thing we have done is in the style of hostility to France, as a nation. 1852Tennyson Ode Wellington 4 Let us bury the Great Duke To the noise of the mourning of a mighty nation. 1872Freeman Gen. Sk. Europ. Hist. xvii. §1 (1874) 349 In Switzerland four languages are spoken; yet the Swiss certainly make one nation. 1878Seeley Stein II. 20 When the state fell to pieces, the nation held together.
Comb.1817–8Cobbett Resid. U.S. (1822) 333 What should they run rambling about a nation-making for? 1878Gladstone Prim. Homer vi. 77 His..was..a nation-making office. 1888W. D. Lighthall Yng. Seigneur 10 The people are the true nation-makers.
transf.1658Sir T. Browne Hydriot. v. 71 What time the persons of these Ossuaries entred the famous Nations of the dead. 1708Pope Ode St. Cecilia 52 Love, strong as Death, the Poet led To the pale nations of the dead. 1725― Odyss. x. 627 To all the phantom nations of the dead.
b. A number of persons belonging to a particular nation; representatives of any nation.
1572J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 23 Whiche heauenly signe so seene on bothe Nations, they of the Frenche [etc.]. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 190 It being express in his orders not to permit any nation..to come on shore and stay there. 1818Shelley Eugan. Hills 261 Once remotest nations came To adore that sacred flame.
c. In the mediæval universities, a body of students belonging to a particular district, country, or group of countries, who formed a more or less independent community; still retained in the universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen, in connexion with the election of the Rector.
See Rashdall Univ. Mid. Ages (1895) I. 157, II. 367, etc.
[c1411St. Andrews Univ. Statute (MS.), Item..statutum fuit ut omnino essent quatuor nationes. 1453in Munim. Univ. Glasg. (Maitland) I. 6 Rectores.., decanos, procuratores nacionum, regentes, magistros et scolares. 1482Statutes ibid. II. 6 Divisio Suppositorum per quatuor Naciones. 1593in Fasti Acad. Aberd. (1889) I. 57 [Rector] eligatur per omnes Academiæ Suppositos divisos in quatuor Nationes. ]
1664in Fasti Acad. Aberd. (1898) II. 11 The colledge being fullie conveened and divided in four nationes..did..nominat..procurators for electing of ane Rector. 1723Ibid. 14 [The Principal, etc.] did..cause the whole students of the College divide themselves into the four Nations of Mar, Buchan, Murray, and Angus. 1735St. Andrews Univ. Records (MS.), The Alban Nation met on Munday the 24th March. 1806Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 92 [In St. Andrews] masters and students are divided, according to the place of their birth, into four nations. 1859Scottish Univ. Comm., Glasgow Ord. 3 Parl. Papers (1863) XVI. 386 That in the Election of Rector.., the matriculated students shall vote, as at present, in four nations.
†d. A country, kingdom. Obs. rare.
1663Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 88 Courts of Merchants to be erected in some few of the considerablest ports of the nation. 1668Walton Angler i. xvii. (ed. 2) 226 There be divers kinds of Cadis or Case-worms, that are to be found in this Nation in several distinct Counties.
2. the nations.
a. In and after Biblical use: The heathen nations, the Gentiles.
a1340Hampole Psalter xvii. 53 Þarfore i sall shrife til þe in nacyons lord. 1382Wyclif Deut. iv. 27 Ȝe shulen dwelle fewe in the naciouns. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. v, Isider sayeþ þat anima, þe soule, haþ þe name by settynge of nationis. 1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 81 S. Paule..was..omnisufficiently furnished to be a Doctour of the Nations. 1611Bible Deut. iv. 27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations. 1656Manasseh ben Israel Vind. Jud. iii. §12 The holy Prophets made Prayers and Supplications for all Men, as well for the Nations as the Israelites.
b. The peoples of the earth; the population of the earth collectively.
1667Milton P.L. i. 598 As when the Sun..In dim Eclips disastrous twilight sheds On half the Nations. 1742Pope Dunc. iv. 626 O sing, and hush the Nations with thy Song! 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 397 Egypt has attained a degree of power..which renders her the centre of the Nations. 1820Shelley Liberty x, The trance In which, as in a tomb, the nations lay. 1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 124 There rain'd a ghastly dew From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue.
c. law of nations: see law n.1 4 c.
†3. Without article: Nationality. In phr. of English, etc. nation; of nation or by nation. Obs.
1375Barbour Bruce i. 193 Schyrreffys and bailȝheys..He maid off Inglis nation. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xiv. (Luke) 2 Sancte lucas as of nacion cyrus [= Syrian] was. 1500–20Dunbar Poems viii. 29 And namelie we of Scottis natioun,..Forȝett we nevir into our orisoun To pray for him. 1579Fenton Guicciard. v. (1618) 186 Brandano Constable of the Florentines, of nation a Lucquoys. 1641Earl of Monmouth tr. Biondi's Civil Wars iv. 53 Though he were a Fleming by Nation, yet was hee not separated from the interest of France.
4. a. the nation, the whole people of a country, freq. in contrast to some smaller or narrower body within it.
1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 370 The Nation holds it no sinne, to tarre them to Controuersie. 1661Dryden On Coronation 35 Loud shouts the nation's happiness proclaim. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 546 Then unbelieving priests reform'd the nation. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 509 Wishes for the Nation. c1812Jane Austen Mansf. Park (1851) 60 You are speaking of London, I am speaking of the nation at large. 1858Bright Sp. B'ham in Times 30 Oct. 9/5 The nation in every country dwells in the cottage. 1892Gladstone in Daily News 12 July 3/7 Now..the nation votes and the nation rules.
b. two nations: phr. used of two groups within a given nation divided from each other by marked social inequality; hence one nation, a nation which is not divided by social inequalities.
1845Disraeli (title) Sybil, or The two nations. Ibid. I. ii. v. 149 Two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are..ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and feelings..; who are formed by different breeding, are fed by different food,..and are not governed by the same laws... The Rich and the Poor. 1892Youth's Compan. 8 Sept. 446/1 (heading) Salute to the Flag... I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. 1971Guardian 19 Nov. 12/2 There are two nations now within schools... Social inequality is growing. 1973Times 15 Oct. 17/6 The Disraelian doctrine of ‘One Nation’ has..been in the past little more than an ideal or a pretence. 1974Times 16 Oct. 14/6 God bless the squire and his relations; full speed astern to the Two Nations.
II.
5. †a. A family, kindred. Obs. rare.
c1386Chaucer Wife's T. 212 Allas! that any of my nacioun Sholde ever so foule disparaged be! 1508Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 411 Homage to Edward Langschankis maid thy kyn, In Dunbar thai ressauit him, the false nacione.
†b. The native population of a town or city.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxx. 284 Mo than sixscore, all yong men of the nacyon of y⊇ towne. Ibid. ccliv. 377 They of the nacion of the towne were taken to mercy.
†c. An Irish clan. Obs.
1584in O'Flaherty West Connaught (1846) 390 He is, by her Majesties apointment, capten and chief both of his countrey and nacion.
d. A North American Indian people.
1650Archives of Maryland (1883) I. 260 The Ports adjoyning are very much pestered with great Concourse of Indians of several nations. 1709J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 199 Two Nations of Indians here in Carolina were at war together. 1722D. Coxe Descr. Carolana iv. 49 Near the Bottom of the Bay..is the fair River of the Miamihas (so call'd because upon it lives Part of a Nation bearing the same Name). 1740in South Carolina Hist. Soc. Coll. (1887) IV. 83, I desire also that you will send me..the Indian presents, with power to distribute them, for much Depends on the Nations. 1763in C. Gist Jrnls. (1893) 196 Negocieatory maters with a number of Indian nations. 1775in Collect. Mass. Hist. Soc. 3rd Ser. V. 75 The sachems and warriors of the Six Nations. 1836W. Irving Astoria III. 24 There were white men residing with some of their nation. 1867Parkman Jesuits N. Amer. xxxii. (1879) 426 That portion [of the Hurons] called the Tobacco Nation.
†6.
a. A particular class, kind, or race of persons. Also man's nation, human kind. Obs.
1382Wyclif Phil. ii. 15 In the myddel of a schrewid nacioun and weyward. 1390Gower Conf. II. 50 Among the gentil nacion Love is an occupacion. Ibid. I. 55 Out of mannes nacion Fro kynde thei be so miswent, That to the liknesse of Serpent Thei were bore. 1535Coverdale 1 Pet. ii. 9 But ye are..that kyngly presthode, that holy nacion. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 137 The worst of all, as Questionistes, and all the barbarous nation of scholemen. 1605B. Jonson Sejanus i. ii, You are a subtile nation, you physicians! 1670–98R. Lassels Voy. Italy I. 14 Civil education..makes even schoolboyes (an insolent Nation any where else) most respectfull to one another. a1734North Exam. Pref. (1740) 11 These are what the Compilers, a most useful Nation, hunt after.
†b. So of animals. Obs.
1590Spenser F. Q. ii. xii. 36 All the nation of unfortunate And fatall birds about them flocked were. 1594― Astrophel 98 There his welwoven toyles..He laid the brutish nation to enwrap. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 806 The scaly Nations of the Sea profound. 1733Pope Ess. Man iii. 99 The nations of the field and wood. 1781Cowper Hope 353 The screaming nations, hovering in mid air.
†7. Astrol. Nativity; nature. Obs. rare—1.
1375Barbour Bruce iv. 719 Gif thai men, that will study In the craft of astrology, Knaw all mennis nacioune.
8. A great number, a host of persons or things.
1762Sterne Tr. Shandy V. xxi, The French had..a nation of hedges and copses..to cover them. 1765Ibid. VII. xxi, What a nation of herbs he had procured.
9. attrib. and Comb. (see also sense 1 a ad fin.), as nation-building, the creation of a new nation, spec. a newly independent nation; hence nation-builder; nation-state, a sovereign state the members of which are also united by those ties such as language, common descent, etc., which constitute a nation; nation-wide a., as wide as a nation; extending over, reaching, or affecting the whole nation; also as adv.
1907Collier's 12 Jan. 7/2 Next week's issue will be our annual Automobile Number, and, in addition to general news and illustrations concerning the modern vehicle, it will give some lucid arguments for the automobile as a nation-builder. 1920N. M. Butler Is Amer. Worth Saving? xvi. 285 (heading) Alexander Hamilton, nation-builder. 1933P. S. Cleary (title) Australia's debt to Irish nation-builders. 1967Freedomways VII. 167 These are the new lessons in old African history that are giving many present-day African nation builders a new consciousness of past achievements.
1913N. M. Butler in Educational Rev. (N.Y.) Apr. 405 These six men are..the moving forces of the constructive nation-building of the American people. Ibid. 406 The most prominent in the galaxy of our nation-building heroes. 1928Daily Tel. 4 Sept. 10/4 For such an enterprise of nation-building peace..is the essential condition. 1931Economist 7 Mar. 486/1 One of the urgent needs of India is that the Provinces should have funds available for so-called ‘nation building’ services. 1971Sunday Nation (Nairobi) 11 Apr. 3/2 The Ambassador advised the students to study hard and return home after graduating to play their part in nation-building. 1973Express (Trinidad & Tobago) 7 Apr. 12/4 Unless we are prepared to..rid ourselves of our petty differences and general smallmindedness, we are not ready for nation building.
1918J. A. R. Marriott European Commonwealth ii. 18 The ultimate genesis of the world conflict of to-day is sought..in..the existing European polity..based upon the recognition of the rights of a large number of Nation-States, entirely independent and nominally coequal. 1935Huxley & Haddon We Europeans i. 11 The nation-state is a modern conception and product, the result of certain peculiar social and economic circumstances. Ibid. vi. 187 With the sixteenth century, nation-states of the modern type began to appear. 1945H. Kohn Idea of Nationalism i. 19 Nationalism demands the nation-state; the creation of the nation-state strengthens nationalism. 1950Theimer & Campbell Encycl. World Politics 301/2 Absolutism paved the way for the modern nation-state marked by sovereignty and the repudiation of any superior authority. 1959Encounter July 75/1 Egypt is turning into a modern nation-state. 1971Black Scholar June 29/1 As the cultural revolution and students become more politically sophisticated, the question of an independent black nation-state will become a popular demand. 1973Listener 10 May 616/1 The nation state requires the idea of an entity along with other entities that are equal.
1915Munsey's Mag. May 708/2 The nation-wide primary is coming. 1925E. S. Jones Christ of Indian Road iii. 72 A year ago began a struggle in South India that has had nation-wide consequences. 1928Daily Express 27 Apr. 1 In deciding to publish this most moving..narrative the ‘Daily Express’ embarks on a venture which will command nation-wide attention. 1958Economist 1 Nov. 413/1 The one real issue of nation-wide importance which this campaign has produced concerns the trade unions. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 15 Mar. 72/1 Perhaps F.M.C. could have done more if it hadn't started off on so wide a scale—nation⁓wide in fact. 1972Daily Tel. 21 Jan. 1/7 Mr. Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Prime Minister, is to make a nationwide broadcast today. 1975Lamp (Exxon Corporation) Winter 3/2 Now being telecast nationwide..each of these television messages pays tribute to an outstanding man or woman.
▪ II. nation, adv., a., and n.2 dial. and U.S.|ˈneɪʃən|
Also 'nation, naation.
[A euphemistic abbreviation of damnation. Cf. tarnation.]
A. adv. Very, extremely, etc.
1771Trial of Atticus 26 He is a nation bawdy creature to talk. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Nation,..a vulgar term used in Kent, Sussex, and the adjacent countries, for very..; a nation long way. 1799R. Warner Walk. West. Counties (1800) 105 My guide..had informed me I was to expect ‘a nation strange road’. 1824in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1825) 478 They takes 'nation good care to be set down at the turnpike. 1825Brockett N.C. Gloss. [and in many later dial. glossaries]. 1859Dickens T. Two Cities i. ii, ‘I hope there ain't, but I can't make so nation sure of that’, said the guard. 1873J. Spilling Molly Miggs, etc. (1903) 69, I can't tell no one how naation riled I felt. 1884‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xix. 186 Looky here, Bilgewater,..I'm nation sorry for you, but you ain't the only person that's had troubles like that.
B. adj. Very large, very great, etc.
1765in Bartlett Dict. Amer. (1877) (ed. 4) 419, I believe, my friend, you're very right, They'll get a nation profit by it. 1828Craven Gloss. s.v., There wor a nation seet o folk at kirk. 1836Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 303 Niagara fall; what a nation sight of machinery that would carry. 1877Banks Glory vii, I might not have been in such a nation hurry to jump from my cart. 1962A. Jobson Window in Suffolk vi. 100 What a nation fule he wur tew be shure.
C. n. In imprecations. Also Comb.
1775Yankee Doodle in O. E. Winslow Amer. Broadside Verse (1930) 141/1 A swamping gun..makes a noise like father's gun, Only a nation louder. 1842G. P. R. Pulman Rustic Sk. 31 Your [horse] is naation seyzid tall. 1880News & Press (Cimarron, New Mexico) 23 Dec. 1/7 ‘Well, I've got the g.b.’ ‘The geebee, Thomas! What in the nation is that?’ ‘I've got the grand bounce.’ 1881T. Hardy Laodicean vi. iv, O nation!..if I were a man. 1884‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xiii. 113 Why, how in the nation did they ever git into such a scrape? 1886Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk. s.v. Nation-seize, Nation-seize thee! where's a bin bidin about to? 1918J. C. Lincoln Shavings 213 Now how in the nation did I get it Wood? |