| 释义 |
obtest, v.|əbˈtɛst|
[ad. L. obtestā-rī to call to witness, to protest by, f. ob on account of + testārī to bear witness, call upon as witness. Cf. OF. obtester (c 1350 in Godef.).]
1. trans. To call upon in the name or for the sake of something sacred, to charge solemnly, adjure; to beg earnestly, beseech, entreat, implore, supplicate (a person that{ddd}, or to do something).
a1548Hall Chron. (1809) 447 He earnestly obtested desyred and prayed him that he would..send some one. 1637Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 345, I beseech and obtest you in the Lord to make conscience of rash and passionate oaths. 1725Pope Odyss. xii. 436 Thus obtesting heav'n I mourn'd aloud. 1819Scott Leg. Montrose xviii, Several other Chiefs..conjured and obtested their Chieftain to leave them..to the leading of Ardenvohr and Auchenbreck. a1847Macvey Napier Sel. Corr. (1879) 68 To obtest you to secrecy by every form of conjuration.
†b. To beg earnestly for, beseech, entreat, implore (a thing). Obs. rare.
1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 6, I humblie obtest your friendlie countenance. 1697Dryden æneid xi. 151 Now suppliants..Obtest his clemency.
2. To call (the Deity, etc.) to witness; to appeal to in confirmation of a statement. rare.
1651Biggs New Disp. ⁋7, I may safely obtest the highest. 1761–2Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) IV. lix. 420 He obtested heaven and earth that his devoted attachment to the parliament had rendered him so odious in the army, that [etc.].
3. intr. or absol., or with dependent clause:
a. To make earnest supplication or entreaty;
b. To call heaven to witness, to protest.
1650Baxter Saints' R. iv. iii. (1662) 656 He in vain obtested with them, that they should take in good part, what was delivered with a good intention. 1665Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 697 She obtested, that being a Woman, and so both by Sex and Fortune, exempt from troubles, and as she her self believed, maintaining no false Opinion [etc.]. 1667Waterhouse Fire Lond. 173 Whose primitive Reformers..if they could be raised up now to hear them, would obtest against them. 1725Pope Odyss. xvii. 281 Eumæus heav'd His hands obtesting. 1826J. R. Best Four Yrs. France 87, I detest, or obtest, against all revolutions. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. vii. v, Deputies, putting forth head, obtest, conjure.
Hence obˈtesting ppl. a.
1597J. King On Jonas (1618) 19 Whom he had..chidden, with so fatherly a spirit, and such obtesting protestations. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. vii. v, Obtesting Deputies obtest vainly. |