释义 |
‖ odalisque|ˈəʊdəlɪsk| Also 7 -ische, 8–9 -isc, 9 -isk. [a. F. odalisque (1664 in Hatz.-Darm.), corrupt. Turk. ōdaliq, f. ōdah oda + -liq, -lik expressing function.] Hist. A female slave or concubine in an Eastern harem, esp. in the seraglio of the Sultan of Turkey. Also transf. and fig.
1681Blount Glossogr., Odalisque, a Slave. 1696tr. Du Mont's Voy. Levant xxi. 270 He had seen and spoken with one of Mahomet the Fourth's Odalisches. 1798W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) II. 170 A feast..In honour of fair Zoradone prepar'd, Where every odalisc the labour shar'd. 1798[see domestic slave s.v. domestic a. 7]. 1823Byron Juan vi. xxix, He went forth with the lovely Odalisques. 1834R. H. Barham Let. 26 June (1870) I. v. 239 My seraglio of twelve elderly odalisques certainly does, now and then, furnish me with a job in the way of composing differences which will occasionally arise even in their well-regulated minds. 1874A. O'Shaughnessy Music & Moonlight 28 An Odalisc, unseen, Splendidly couched on piled-up cushions green. 1903G. B. Shaw Let. 8 May (1972) II. 322 What you want is a repertory of plays which you can carry on your own shoulders, and in which you cannot come into competition with the young odalisques of the west end. a1915Joyce Giacomo Joyce (1968) 14 She leans back against the pillowed wall: odalisque-featured in the luxurious obscurity. 1926A. Bennett Lord Raingo i. v. 21 Withal she was no odalisque. She tried to improve herself, to make herself interesting to him. 1938Times 18 Feb. 19/1 Evening gowns include such opposite styles as the odalisque type, with a transparent dancing skirt in black over a gown in gold lamé. 1967Listener 16 Mar. 366/1 Is the creation of a cubist odalisque ‘of consequence’, and the devoutly humble production of an ikon not? |