| 释义 |
ˈnight-raven Now only poet.
[OE. næht-, nihthræfn, -hrefn, -hremn, etc. = MDu. nachtraven, -rave (Du. -raaf), MLG. nachtraven, OHG. nachtraban, -(h)ram (MHG. nahtraben, -rabe, G. nachtrabe), ON. nátthrafn (Norw. nattramn, Da. natte-, natravn): see night n. and raven n.]
A nocturnal bird, variously identified as a night-owl, night-heron, or nightjar, or imagined as a distinct species. (Cf. night-crow.)
In early use found only as a rendering of L. noctua or nycticorax.
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) N 145 Noctua, naeht hraefn. c825Vesp. Psalter ci. 7 ᵹeworden ic eam swe swe næht⁓hrefn [L. nocticorax] in husincle. c1000Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) ci. 5 Ic ᵹenemned eam niht-hrefne ᵹelic. a1300E.E. Psalter ci. 7 Made am i als nighte-rauen in housefes [that] esse. a1400–50Alexander 4531 A ratland niȝt ravyn is him to rent ȝolden. 1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 94 (Cath. Angl.), The Nightrauen or Crowe is of the same maner of life that the Owle is. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. June 23 Here no night-ravenes lodge, more black then pitche. 1632Milton L'Allegro 7 Where brooding darknes spreads his jealous wings, And the night-Raven sings. 1678Ray Willughby's Ornith. 279 The lesser Ash-coloured Heron, or Night Raven. 1755tr. Pontoppidan's Nat. Hist. Norway ii. 91 We have the Night Raven also here. 1808Shelley St. Irvyne i. 4 Along the wild mountains night-ravens were yelling.
transf.1673Kirkman Unlucky Citizen 168 What good could I expect from my Father, who had such a Night-Raven as my Stepdame was? |