| 释义 |
▪ I. par, n.1|pɑː(r)|
[a. L. pār equal, (as n.) that which is equal, equality. Cf. It. pare, Sp., Pg. par, F. pair equal; It., Ger. pari, Pg. paro, par of exchange.]
1. a. Equality of value or standing; an equal footing, a level. Now chiefly in phr. on or upon a par.
1662Petty Taxes 26 A natural par between land and labour. 1672― Pol. Anat. (1691) 63 The most important [is] to make a Par and Equation between Lands and Labour, so as to express the Value of any thing by either alone. 1706Phillips s.v., To be at Par, i.e. to be equal. 1710Palmer Proverbs 255 Thus matters were brought to a par, and victory stood hovering o're the illustrious combatants. 1726Swift Gulliver i. iii, The rest of the great officers are much upon a par. 1741Monro Anat. (ed. 3) 16 The Renewal and Waste keeping pretty near par in adult middle Age. 1753A. Murphy Gray's-Inn Jrnl. No. 61 II. 53 It will..set the Ladies upon a Par with the Men. 1761–2Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) III. App. iii. 629 Industry..increased as fast as gold and silver, and kept commodities nearly at a par with money. 1802H. Martin Helen of Glenross II. 211 Lord Dorville is almost at par with you. 1832I. Taylor Saturday Even. 481 All are to beseem themselves as if all were on a par. 1850W. Irving Goldsmith xv. 181 Elevated almost to a par with his idol. 1873Burton Hist. Scot. V. lxiii. 404 Something near to par with what Scotland had to render in return. 1876Mozley Univ. Serm. v. 120 The rights of natural society are not to be put upon a par with the rude ideas of early ages.
†b. An equal numerical strength.
†c. A match, something that is equal or a match to another. Obs.
1708Swift Sacr. Test Wks. 1755 II. i. 130 So many of our [Irish] temporal peers live in England, that the bishops are generally pretty near a par of the [Irish] house. 1711P. H. View two last Parlts. 234 The Tryal of this worthless Tool was made a Par to that of Arch-Bishop Laud's.
2. Comm.
a. The recognized value of the currency of one country in terms of that of another; in full, par of exchange: see exchange n. 4.
1622Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 416 The diuersitie of the said Par of Exchanges of thirtie three shillings foure pence for the Low-countreys, and twentie foure shillings nine pence for Hamborough. 1691Locke Lower. Interest Wks. 1727 II. 72 The Par is a certain Number of Pieces of the Coin of one Country, containing in them an equal Quantity of Silver to that in another Number of Pieces of the Coin of another Country. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Par differs from the course of exchange, in this, that the Par of exchange shews what other nations should allow in exchange; which is certain and fixed, by the intrinsic values of the several species to be exchanged: but the course shews what they will allow in exchange. 1832McCulloch Commerc. Dict. (1852) 579 The thousand circumstances which are daily and hourly affecting the state of debt and credit, prevent the ordinary course of exchange from being almost ever precisely at par. 1838Penny Cycl. X. 108/2 Between two countries making use of the same metal a par may exist; but between two countries one of which makes use of gold and the other of silver an invariable par cannot exist. 1861,1868[see exchange n. 4]. 1861Goschen For. Exch. (1864) 6 If the exchanges were at par—that is to say if the indebtedness of the two countries were equal. 1882R. Bithell Counting-Ho. Dict. (1893), Mint Par of Exchange, the weight of pure gold or silver in a coin of one country, as compared with that in a coin of another.
b. Equality between the market value of stocks, shares, bonds, etc., and the nominal or face value. Chiefly in the expressions at par, at the face value; above par, at a price above the face value, at a premium; below par, at a discount. mint par: see mint n.1 6.
1726Swift Gulliver i. vi, The exchequer bills would not circulate under nine per cent. below par. 1744Tindal Rapin's Hist. Eng. III. Contin. 336/1 The credit of the Exchequer notes being thus secured, they daily rose nearer to par. 1755H. Walpole Let. to J. Chute 20 Oct., Lottery tickets rise: subsidiary treaties under par—I don't say, no price. 1802Edin. Rev. I. 104 A stock bearing one half per cent. would not find many purchasers at par. 1848W. Armstrong Stocks 5 The par value of any stock is that proportion of the capital stock which it represents [etc.]. 1892Barn. Smith & Hudson Arithm. for Schools 304 When the price of {pstlg}100 stock is {pstlg}100 in money, the stock is said to be at par. 1952Economist 27 Dec. 904 No par value shares were not endorsed by the Cohen Committee when it studied the company law nearly ten years ago, and Sir John Barlow's private Bill, which sought to make no par value shares permissible, went virtually unsupported by the City and by the Government. Ibid., The n.p.v. share is distrusted on the Left,..simply because it tells the truth about an equity share in a way that the share with a nominal or unrealistic par value never could. 1960Nanassy & Selden Business Dict. 142 No par value, refers to stock issued with no par value printed on the face. Each share represents a fractional part of the total value of the business. 1964Financial Times 25 Feb. 5/2 The shares will have a par value of Kr. 100 each. 1973D. Westheimer Going Public i. 18 There's not a high degree of relationship between par value and what a share of stock will bring on the market.
c. attrib. par value = value at par. Also no par, having no face value.
1861Goschen For. Exch. 6 Thus those who have the bills to sell are able to obtain more than the actual par value for them. Ibid. 48 The limits within which the exchanges may vary..are on the one extreme, the par value, plus the cost of transmission of bullion; on the other extreme the par value, minus this identical sum.
3. a. An average or normal amount, quality, degree, or condition. on a par, on an average.
1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 5 Nov. an. 1775, From five bushels of malt, I find, are brewed, on a par, forty-four gallons of strong, and eighty of small. 1796W. Marshall W. England I. 12 Taking the par of years, we may fairly place West Devonshire ten days or a fortnight behind the Midland District. 1805Forsyth Beauties Scot. (1806) IV. 255 The nominal farms..contain on a par about..ninety acres within the head dike, and about 250 acres of moor or hill lands. 1812Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 382 A very small sacrifice of this sort would bring good clover and rye grass to the par of old turf. 1863Fitzroy Weather Bk. 15 note, Its [the barometer's] average height being 29·95 inches at the mean sea level in England on the London parallel of latitude; which height may be called ‘par’ for that level.
attrib. Ibid. 323 The barometer had risen..but not to its normal or par height.
b. above par or below (under) par, above or below the average, normal, or usual amount, degree, condition, or quality. So up to par.
1767Sterne Tr. Shandy IX. xxiv, For the livre or two above par for your supper and bed. 1776H. Newdigate Let. in A. E. Newdigate-Newdegate Cheverels (1898) i. 11 As to my Spirits they are rather above than below par. 1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 5 Nov. an. 1775, The last brewing..costs but 5d. a gallon, but it is below par. 1782F. Burney Cecilia ii. i, Soon find out if they are above par. 1790M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 461 Some of them [speeches in the House] far below par. c1793–4Jane Austen Lady Susan (1925) 111 Sir James is certainly under par. 1809Malkin Gil Blas vii. iv. ⁋6 A little below par with respect to your own works in general. 1826Anne Royall Sketches 270 The females appeared to be rather under par, as did some of the other sex. 1880Geo. Eliot Let. 1 Aug. (1956) VII. 308 These conditions found him a little below par from long protracted anxiety and excitement... But..he has been getting strong again. 1886Baring-Gould Court Royal xlviii, I think he caught a chill, and being below par he succumbed. 1899H. Spencer in Westm. Gaz. 20 May 4/3 Thanks for your inquiry. I am about up to par, and not without hope of rising above it presently. 1934G. B. Shaw Too True to be Good i. 31 There is nothing constitutionally wrong. A little below par: that is all. 1940Wodehouse Quick Service x. 104 Mrs. Chavender's Pekinese..had woken up that morning a little below par, and Sally was driving her and it to the veterinary surgeon in Lewes. 1958A. Huxley Brave New World Revisited (1959) viii. 99 Whenever anyone felt depressed or below par, he would swallow a tablet or two of a chemical compound called Soma.
4. Golf. The number of strokes which a first-class player should normally require for a hole or course, calculated from the length of the holes with two putts for each green, and in some cases taking account of difficulties and obstacles in the course. Also fig., par for the course (see quot. 19611).
1898Westm. Gaz. 30 Mar. 9/2 Comparison between the par value of the different championship courses and the winning scores in the last championship meetings over them. 1900Ibid. 9 Mar. 3/2 The professionals went round in the par of the green—74. 1924J. Braid Golf Guide 164 Par Play, perfect golf without flukes. Thus, if a green can be reached in two strokes, the hole is a Par four; two putts being allowed on each green. 1947Partisan Rev. XIV. 363 Nancy had married and moved to San Francisco and had had three children immediately. ‘Par for the course,’ said Seymour to Jasper. 1957Encycl. Brit. X. 507/1 Distance is the chief factor in determining the par for a hole. Following are the divisions: all distances up to 250 yd., par 3; 251 to 445, par 4; 446 to 600, par 5; more than 600, par 6. 1961Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1213/2 Par for the course, that's (just) about, that's pretty normal; that's what, after all, you can expect. Canadian c.p.: since ca. 1946. Ex golf. 1961M. Beadle These Ruins are Inhabited (1963) x. 137 While waiting..I caught a fragment of another subscriber's telephone conversation. This is also par for the course in making an Oxford phone call. 1973A. MacVicar Painted Doll Affair viii. 96 Let's see if you can still keep shooting all these pars and birdies. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia VIII. 250/2 Par is essentially a U.S. term that came into use in the early 1900s as a base for computing handicaps under the system devised by L. Calkins of Plainfield, New Jersey. 1975A. Bergman Hollywood & Le Vine (1976) ix. 129 I'm not sure about his sex life... But that's par for the course out here, you don't even give it a second thought. 1976Scotsman 15 Dec. 19/8 A perfect approach gave him another birdie at the thirteenth and with pars at the other inward holes he set a target which was not successfully challenged all day. 1977Times 23 Mar. 16/8 Mail readers..will, it is true, be getting their news a day later than you who take The Times, but that is about par for the course.
▪ II. ‖ par, n.2 Anat.
[L. pār equal (see prec.); also, a pair.]
A pair, in L. names of the pairs of cranial nerves; chiefly in par vagum, lit. ‘wandering pair’, the two pneumogastric nerves.
1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Par Vagum, a Pair of Nerves arising below the Auditory ones. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., Par Vagum, or the eighth Pair, is a very notable conjugation of nerves, of the medulla oblongata; thus called from their wide, vague distribution. 1893Syd. Soc. Lex. s.v., Par vagum nervorum, the two pneumogastric nerves.
▪ III. par, n.3 dial.|pɑː(r)|
[Related to par v.1, ME. parren (13th c.), and thus possibly going back to a ME. *parre, and even to an OE. *pearre, radical form of pearruc, parrock, q.v.]
An enclosure for beasts; also in comb., as par-yard: see quots.
1819Rainbird Agric. (1849) 297 (Eng. Dial. Dict.). a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Par, an inclosed place for domestic animals, for calves, perhaps, in particular. Ibid, Par-yard, the farm-yard, which is itself well separated and inclosed, and contains pars for the many and various animals which inhabit it. 1863Morton Cycl. Agric., Par (Suff., Norf.), an enclosed place for domestic animals.
▪ IV. par, n.4 colloq.|pɑː(r)|
A printer's, reporter's, and journalistic abbreviation of paragraph.
1844E. L. Blanchard Diary 27 Sept. in Scott & Howard Life E. L. Blanchard (1891) I. 36 Wrote some little pars for Alderton about ‘screw Penholder’. 1854Geo. Eliot Let. 17 May (1954) II. 155, I intend to have the first sentence or par[agraph] in every § of the appendix in italics. 1879Black Macleod of D. xviii. 155 Occasionally a reporter..will drop into the theatre on his way to the office, and ‘do a par.’, as they call it. 1891E. Nesbit in Longm. Mag. Oct. 605 A picker-up of unconsidered pars, a reporter. 1891Publ. Opin. 27 Mar. 404/1 Knowing something of the way these pars are worked in the Continental Press. 1928D. L. Sayers Unpleasantness at Bellona Club i. 9, I am ready to sacrifice my nearest and dearest in order to curry favour with the police and get a par. in the papers. 1969Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 31 Oct. 21/2 A story that the Daily News would splash might make only a couple of pars well back in the [New York] Times. 1973K. Giles File on Death v. 119 There was a par. in the evening papers. 1976Listener 2 Dec. 712/3 My business [as television reviewer] is not to bore the readers, to get 'em in the first par and bounce 'em with a last par they'll remember.
attrib.1892Daily News 2 Feb. 7/2 He had paid..hundreds of pounds for par advertisements in the country papers.
▪ V. par, parr, v.1 Now dial.
[ME. parren; app. related to par n.3 dial., and possibly representing an unrecorded OE. *pearrian: see parrock.]
trans. To enclose, confine; to shut up in an enclosure; to fold, pen, etc.
c1300Havelok 2439 He bunden him ful swiþe faste,..Þat he rorede als a bole, Þat he wore parred in an hole, With dogges forto bite and beite. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 25 Þin enemyes schulen..parre þee in Jerusalem, as sheep ben parrid in a foold. c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 3228 Yn al þis [? tyme] was sir Ywayn Ful straitly parred with mekil payn. c1440York Myst. xxxiii. 33 Cayphas. In pynyng payne bees he parred. 1863W. Barnes Dorset Dial., Par, to inclose, shut up.
▪ VI. par, v.2|pɑː(r)|
[f. par n.1]
1. trans. To equate in value. rare.
1878Encycl. Brit. VIII. 789/2 When two countries par their gold coins, the object is to arrive at a common term, for which value for value will be paid.
2. Golf. To complete (a hole or a course) with a score equal to par.
1961Webster s.v., 3Par.., to make a golf score on (a hole) equal to par. 1974Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald 19 Apr. b5/1 Heard, who parred the course Wednesday, said he was driving badly ‘but I chipped and putted very well.’ 1976Scotsman 24 Dec. (Weekend Suppl.), We won every par five we parred. 1977Evening Post (Nottingham) 24 Jan. 16/6 He parred the next nine holes before his second bogey of the day at the 18th.
▪ VII. ‖ par, prep.|pɑr, pɑː(r)|
[F. par:—L. per ‘through, by way of, by means of, by’.]
A French preposition meaning ‘through, by’: occurring in Fr. phrases, but never itself adopted as an English word.
1. Occurring in ME., in certain asseverations and adverbial expressions (where it was sometimes confused with OF. pur, F. pour:—L. pro ‘for’). Many of these subseq. became obsolete, some continued into later use with change of par to per, others coalesced in popular use into words: see peradventure (par aunter), paramount, paravail, paravaunt, pardie, percase, perfay.
†a. par (per) amour, by way of love, for love's sake: see paramour adv.
†b. par (per, pur) charite (cheryte, etc.), by or for Christian love, out of charity (chiefly in adjurations): see charity 1. Also par seinte charite [OF. (13th c.) pour sainte charité (Littré)], for the sake of holy charity.
c1250Hymn Virg. 19 in Trin. Coll. Hom. 258 Bisech þin sune par cherite þat he me sschilde from helle pin. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6972, I nam noȝt wurþi to be þi sone ac par seinte charite..uor ȝif it me. a1300Cursor M. 20248 (Cott.) Quarfor i prai yuu, parcharite [so G.; F. for, Tr. pur charite]..Yee sai it me and helis noght. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 97 Anselme..kried, pes per charite. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxx. (Theodera) 403, & askit hym parcheryte Þat scho mycht þare resawit be. c1430Freemasonry (Halliw.) 794 Amen! amen! so mot hyt be! Say we so alle per charyte. c1450Guy Warw. (C.) 4551 Y bydde yow now pur charyte, That body ye delyuyr to mee.
†c. par ma fay (fey), by my faith. Cf. perfay.
c1300[see fay n.1 6 b]. 13..Cursor M. 636 (Gött) Þai were noght schamed par ma fay. c1435Torr. Portugal 830 Ryght gladly, par ma fay!
†d. par cœur (ceur), by heart, accurately: see perquere.
†e. par chaunce, by chance: see perchance.
† f. par (per) compaigny(e, by way of or in company, for company's sake: see company 1 b.
c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 653 To sitten in the roof par compaignye. ― Reeve's T. 247 The wenche rowteth eek par compaignye. 1390Gower Conf. III. 218 And tawhte hem hou they sholde ascrie Alle in o vois per compaignie. 1413Pilgr. Sowle iv. xx. (Caxton 1483) 67 Now lete vs steruen here per companye.
†g. par-entrelignarie [cf. OF. entreligneure, etc. (Godef.)], with interlineation.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 298 A chartre is chalangeable byfor a chief iustice; If false latyne be in þe lettre þe lawe it inpugneth, Or peynted parenterlinarie [or] parceles ouer⁓skipped. [1393C. xiv. 119 Oþer peynted par-entrelignarie.]
2. a. In mod.Eng., in advb. phrases from modern French, often hardly naturalized. Such are parbleu, q.v.; † par complaisance, by deference or indulgence; † par derrière, backward, on the back side, behind; par éminence, by way of eminence, pre-eminently; par exemple, for example, for instance; par force = perforce adv.; par parenthèse, by way of parenthesis.
1597J. Payne Royal Exch. 21 So yt ys par derriere. 1791A. S. Damer Let. 18 Aug. in ‘L. Melville’ Berry Papers (1914) 63 They have seen her, and..admire her talents, and, par parenthèse, I do really believe that he means to marry her. 1819H. Busk Dessert 106 And I became a volunteer par force. 1847in F. A. Kemble Rec. Later Life (1882) III. 264 There are a few expressions I should like to have stricken out of it, par exemple, I hate the word stink. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre I. xii. 204 This, par parenthèse, will be thought cool language. 1853Thackeray Let. in H. Ritchie Lett. A. T. Ritchie (1924) iv. 49 (This is par parenthèse). 1857C. Kingsley Two Yrs. Ago I. p. ix, You shall see enough to-day..Par exemple—’ And Claude pointed to the clean large fields. 1863Geo. Eliot Let. 4 Dec. (1956) IV. 118 Miss Hennell is staying there and writes me word that Miss Remond is a fellow guest lecturing (par parenthèse) on Slavery. 1867H. James Let. 22 Nov. in R. B. Perry Tht. & Char. W. James (1935) I. 251 Tonight, par exemple, I am going into town to see the French actors. 1878Sir G. Scott Lect. Mediæv. Archit. I. 9 Pointed architecture..is not exclusively, but par eminence, Christian. 1878H. James Europeans I. iii. 111 ‘Ah, par exemple!’ cried the young man. ‘You deserve that I should never leave you.’ 1889E. Dowson Let. 30 Jan. (1967) 30 Is he the Coquelin, par exemple or is he another? 1893F. Adams New Egypt 25 A small European force, and one, par parenthèse, by no means extraordinary as to its military character. 1916E. Pound in Lett. J. Joyce (1966) II. 375 And par exemple, the ‘practical’ Pinker was able to do less than I was.
b. par excellence [L. per excellentiam], by virtue of special excellence or manifest superiority; pre-eminently; by the highest claim or title to the designation; above all others that may be so called.
[1598Tofte Alba i. (1880) 57 My bright Sunne, renowmd per Excellence, Through the illustrious splender of her gleames.] 1695Earl of Perth Lett. (Camden) 61 The Santo (which is St. Antonio's church, called il Santo par excellence). 1777in W. Roberts Mem. Hannah More (1834) I. 118 The whole house groaned at poor Baldwin, who is reckoned, par excellence, the dullest man in it. 1804Edin. Rev. V. 85 Of the class of narratives usually denominated ‘anecdotes’ par excellence, M. Kotzebue has given several that deserve notice. 1873C. Robinson N.S. Wales 80 The fashionable quarter par excellence is the east end of the city.
▪ VIII. par
var. parr n., young salmon; obs. f. pair. |