| 释义 |
▪ I. apprentice, n. and a.|əˈprɛntɪs|
Forms: 4–5 aprentys, apprentys, 6 apprentise, 5– apprentice.
[a. OF. aprentis, nom. of aprentif, f. aprendre to learn (see apprehend), 3rd sing. aprent, by form-assoc. with words in -tis, -tif:—L. -tīvus, -tīvum: see -ive. (Mod.F. takes apprentis as pl. with sing. apprenti.) Cf. appentice. The aphetic prentice appears in Eng. as early as the full word, and was for several centuries the more usual form.]
A. n.
1. A learner of a craft; one who is bound by legal agreement to serve an employer in the exercise of some handicraft, art, trade, or profession, for a certain number of years, with a view to learn its details and duties, in which the employer is reciprocally bound to instruct him.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 190 Apparayleden him as a prentis. Ibid. iii. 218 Alle kunne craftes men · craueþ Meede for heore prentys [1393 for here aprentys]. 1551T. Wilson Logic 26 To make servaunts and apprentices free. 1660R. Coke Power & Subj. 5 His duller child he binds an apprentice to some trade. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters iii. 299 A fact known to the apprentices of apothecaries. 1863M. Howitt F. Bremer's Greece I. i. 11 Poor boys, of good families, will often take service as apprentices.
†2. A barrister-at-law of less than 16 years' standing. Obs. exc. Hist.
c1375Wyclif Wks. 1869 I. 382 Boþe aprentis and avocatis. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 226 Prechoures & prestes & prentyces of lawe. 1628Coke On Litt. 303 a, In ancient time the Serieants and Apprentices of Law did draw their owne pleadings. 1768Blackstone Comm. I. 23 Barristers (first stiled apprentices)..who answered to our bachelors. 1863Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. ii. iii. 373 In the time of Edward IV apprentices were a class distinct from the serjeants.
3. By extension: One who is only learning the rudiments; an unskilled novice, a tyro.
1489Caxton Faytes of Armes i. xvi. 47 Noo prentiz..in puttyng his oost in fayre ordenance. 1639Fuller Holy War iv. xxvii. (1840) 228 As yet they were apprentices to piracy. 1863Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. xv. 377 A mere apprentice in treason.
B. adj. or attrib. [in quot. 1400, a. OFr. aprentis adj. ‘ignorant, qui a besoin d'apprendre,’ Godef.; in later quots., attrib. use of the Eng. n.; cf. a master builder, a master mind.]
c1400Rom. Rose 687 These briddis, that nought unkunnyng Were of her craft, & apprentys [v.r. a prentise]. 1666Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 72 She was not a 'prentice girl, to ask leave every time she goes abroad. 1794Burns Wks. III. 284 Her prentice han' she tried on man, An' then she made the lasses, O. 1831Brewster Newton (1855) II. xvi. 105 He tried his apprentice hand on an inferior institution.
▪ II. apprentice, v.|əˈprɛntɪs|
Also in 7 -ize.
[f. prec. n.]
To bind as an apprentice; to indenture.
1631T. Powell Tom All Trades 144 To be apprentized betimes. 1769Burke Pres. St. Nat. Wks. II. 109 When they are apprenticed, this provision will cease. 1882Blades Caxton 5 In 1438 Caxton was apprenticed to Robert Large. |