| 释义 |
▪ I. pelican, n.|ˈpɛlɪkən|
Forms: 1–7 pellicane, 3–8 -ican, (5 -ycan(n, 6 -ycane, pillycane); 5– pelican, 7 pelicane, -ecane, 7–9 pelecan.
[(Like F. pélican (1210 in Hatz.-Darm.), Pr. pelican, Sp. pelicano, It. pellicano) ad. late L. pelicān-us, more correctly pelecānus, ad. Gr. πελεκάν, applied by Aristotle (in part at least) to the pelican (οἱ πελεκᾶνες οἱ ἐν τοῖς ποταµοῖς γινόµενοι); app. closely related to πελεκᾶς, -ᾶντα woodpecker, perh. f. πελεκᾶν to hew or shape with an axe, πέλεκυς axe, hatchet, from the appearance or action of the bill.
Πελεκάν was also used by the LXX to render the Heb. qāāth, in two (or three) of the places in which it occurs (in Eng. versions ‘pelican’); in the two others, Isa. xxxiv. 11, Zeph. ii. 14, different Greek words were used, and there the version of 1611 has ‘cormorant’, but the Revisers of 1885 restore ‘pelican’ as in Coverdale.]
I. The bird.
1. a. The name now appropriated to a genus, Pelecanus, of large gregarious fish-eating water-fowls, remarkable for an enormously distensible membranous pouch which depends from the lower mandible of the long hooked bill and is used for the storing of fish when caught. Two species, P. onocrotalus, the Common or White Pelican, and P. crispus, the Crested Pelican, are found in South-eastern Europe and adjacent regions, and are the original ‘pelicans’; to these the North American species P. trachyrhynchus is very closely allied. Other species are found in the West Indies, Africa, India, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia.
In all the quotations down to 14th c., and many later, the identification is vague, the bird being itself unknown in England, and the word merely a reflex of pelicanus of the Vulgate in Ps. ci(i). 7, pelicano solitudinis ‘the pelican of the wilderness’, which was app. not the pelican of naturalists. In the four other places where the same Heb. word occurs, the Vulgate has onocrotalus, a L. name of the modern ‘pelican’. Elsewhere (Comm. in Sophon., op. ed. Villarsi VI. 709) St. Jerome makes two kinds of onocrotalus, one the water-bird, the other that of the wilderness (‘onocrotalorum, duo genera, aliud aquatile, aliud solitudinis’). So Isidore (Orig. xii. vii. 32). These appear in the pseudo-Jerome Brev. in Psalt. (Villarsi VII. Appx. 271) as two kinds of pelicanus (here identified with onocrotalus); whence, ultimately, in Trevisa, quot. 1398 below.
c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) ci. 5 [cii. 6] Ic ᵹeworden eom pellicane ᵹelic, se on westene wunað. a1225Ancr. R. 142 Dauid, anon efter þet he heuede iefned ancre to pellican, he efnede hire to niht fuel. a1300E.E. Psalter ci. 7 Like am I made to pellicane of annesse. 1382Wyclif ibid., Lic I am maad to a pellican of wildernesse. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxviii. (Bodl. MS.), So doþ þe pellican þat hat also porphirio. Ibid. xii. xxx, Þere beþ twei manere of Pellicans; one woneþ in watres and eteþ fische and þe oþer woneþ in lond & loueþ wildernesse. c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 762/15 Hic pelicanus, a pelycan. 1535Coverdale Isa. xxxiv. 11 But Pellicanes, Storkes, great Oules, and Rauens shall haue it in possession, & dwell there in. 1604Drayton Owle 135 The Pellican in Desarts farre abroad, Her deare-lov'd issue safely doth unload. 1673Ray Journ. Low C. 28 A Museum..and therein..a Pelecan's Skin and Bill. 1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 15/1 Diverse names ascribed to the Devil..as an Owl, a Kite, a Raven, a Pellicane, from his ravening, and unsatiable desire of Devouring, Isa. 34. 11. 15. a1711Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 74 Complaining Pelicanes themselves bemoan. 1877A. B. Edwards Up Nile vi. 139 We see a top-heavy pelican balancing his huge yellow bill over the edge of the stream, and fishing for his dinner. 1883Chambers's Encycl. VII. 362/1 They often fly in large flocks, and the sudden swoop of a flock of pelicans at a shoal of fish is a striking and beautiful sight.
b. In reference to the fable that the pelican revives or feeds her young with her own blood.
This is given by Epiphanius and St. Augustine; it appears to be of Egyptian origin, and to have referred originally to another bird.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xxix. (Tollem. MS.), The serpent hateþ kyndely þe pellican..and styngeþ and infecteþ þe briddes: þan sche smiteþ here selfe in þe breste, and spryngeþ blood up on hem, and rereþ hem fro deeþ to lyf. a1400Leg. Rood (1871) 172 Þe pelicane his blod did blede Þer-with his briddus for to fede. 1530Lyndesay Test. Papyngo 1100 My birneist beik I laif, with gude entent, Onto the gentyll, pieteous Pillycane, To helpe to peirs hir tender hart in twane. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 811–32. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 126 That blood already (like the Pellican) Thou hast tapt out, and drunkenly carows'd. 1601Chester Love's Mart., Dial. clxxx, The Pellican..reuiues her tender yong, And with her purest bloud-shed doth asswage Her yong ones thirst. 1695Congreve Love for L. ii. vii, What, would'st thou have me turn Pelican, and feed thee out of my own Vitals? 1848A. Jameson Sacr. & Leg. Art I. Introd. 36 The Pelican, tearing open her breast to feed her young with her own blood, was an early symbol of our redemption through Christ.
†c. Hence fig., applied to Christ as reviving the dead in spirit by His blood. Obs.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 107 b, Y⊇ moost piteous pellycane & heuenly phisycyon, our sauyour Iesu. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 25/1 Ungrateful soul! that..didst not think at all, or thoughtst not right, On this thy Pelican's great love and death. 1814Cary Dante, Paradise xxv. 113 [St. John] who lay Upon the bosom of our pelican.
2. A representation of the pelican in art or heraldry.
pelican in her piety (in Heraldry), a pelican represented as vulning (i.e. wounding) her breast in order to feed her young with her blood.
a1400–50Alexander 5129 Rekanthes of rede gold railed of gemmes, With pellicans & pape-ioyes polischt & grauen. c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 807 On hys helme on hygh a pelican he bare. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xvii. (1611) 162 He beareth Gules, a Pellican in her nest, with wings displaied, feeding of her young ones, Or, vulned proper. 1643–4in G. A. Poole Churches; their Structure, etc (1845) vi. 56 A glorious cover over the font,..with a pelican on the top picking its breast. 1672J. Davies Anc. Rites Durham 17 A goodly fine Lantern, or Letteron, of Brass..with a great Pelican on the height of it, finely gilt..her wings spread abroad, whereon did lye the Book. 1885Times 30 Apr. 7/6 Delicately engraved representations of the Agnus Dei and the Pelican in her piety. 1897J. Wells Oxford & Coll. 199 note, The Corpus tradition is that Keble..was once known to have thrown bread at the Pelican.
II. Transferred applications.
3. An alembic having a tubulated head, from opposite sides of which two curved tubes pass out and re-enter at the body of the vessel; used in distilling liquors by fermentation.
1559Morwyng Evonym. 102 Let it be put into a pellicane, that is a vessell with eares or handles on ether syde one. 1610B. Jonson Alch. ii. iii, The Retort brake, And what was sau'd, was put into the Pellicane. 1683Salmon Doron Med. i. 307 Being permixt together in a Pellican let them remain in digestion. 1706Phillips, Pelican or Blind Alembick.
4. a. An instrument having a strong curved beak, formerly used for extracting teeth.
1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 27/1 We cut them [extra teeth] of[f] with our cutting pellicane. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 398/1 A Single Beak Pellican with a screw..is an instrument to draw out corrupt and faded teeth. 1846F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 73 Amongst the multitude of instruments invented..some are absolutely bad, and ought to be rejected; such are the ‘pied de biche’, and the ‘pelican’.
b. ‘A hook somewhat in the shape of a pelican's bill, so arranged that it can be easily slipped by taking a ring or shackle from the point of the hook’ (Cent Dict. 1890).
5. An ancient piece of artillery; also, the shot from it.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., Pellican, again, is the name of an ancient piece of ordnance, carrying a ball of six pounds. 1754H. Walpole Lett. H. Mann 6 Oct., When your relation, General Guise, was marching up to Carthagena, and the pelicans whistled round him, he said, ‘What would Chloe [the Duke of Newcastle's cook] give for some of these to make a pelican pie?’ 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Pelican,..the old six-pounder culverin.
6. With capital initial: the proprietary name of a series of non-fiction books published by Penguin Books; a book in this series.
1937Bookseller 3 Feb. 147 (Advt.), A glance at the magnificent first list below will reveal the general nature of Pelican Books, a new series of popular books on science, astronomy, archæology, politics, economics, history, etc. 1942Scrutiny X. iv. 385 Enough passages like the above could be found..to yield Professor Stebbing cannon-fodder for at least a chapter, if not for a whole Pelican. 1948G. V. Galwey Lift & Drop vi. 158 He..began to study the book-shelves... There was..a fair showing of Pelicans. 1953E. Simon Past Masters i. i. 15 He published a Pelican on his work under Chrichton in the Islands, which I thought you might have seen. 1957R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy viii. 210 There are the dailies and weeklies,..the Penguins and the Pelicans. Ibid. xi. 261 They are in the habit today of buying copies of Pelicans. 1957Trade Marks Jrnl. 22 May 532/1 Pelican... Printed books, being literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, but not including books relating to pelicans. Penguin Books Limited,..Harmondsworth, County of Middlesex; manufacturers and publishers. 1966‘L. Black’ Bait viii. 128 He was reading a paper-back... It appeared to be a Pelican. 1968Guardian 26 Sept. 11/1 By the time of the first Pelicans Penguins (the mother birds) were, of course, well established... Pelicans were born in 1937, the inheritors of a half century and more of self-education.
7. In full pelican crossing: a pedestrian-crossing controlled by push-buttons (see quot. 1966).
1966Evening Standard 26 May 11/6 We hope the Ministry will install ‘pelicans’..in the town. Pelicans would be safer than zebras and easily understood by the public—the pedestrian just pushes a button which operates red, amber and green lights telling motorists when to stop. 1969Daily Tel. 9 July 17/7 Another type of push-button pedestrian-controlled crossings—to be known as Pelicans—will come into operation on Monday. Ibid., Instead of the white ‘X’, the Pelican (pedestrian light controlled) crossing will show a green signal to a driver until a pedestrian presses the button to start the signal sequence. 1974Country Life 30 May 1332/2 A Minister stating that ‘pelicans will be interchangeable with zebras’..was referring to the replacement of the sturdy and familiar orange beacons at the kerbside by the flashing lights and little coloured men... A circular from the DoE elucidates some of the mysteries of the pelican crossing. 1975Times 22 Sept. 12/5 Question time at council meetings is peppered with inquiries and entreaties about zebra and pelican crossings and such like. 1976New Scientist 24 June 702/1 The GLC survey..studied 40 pelicans which had been converted from zebras. 1976Flintshire Leader 10 Dec. 1 Residents of Oakenholt are ready to block the main road through the village in their campaign for a pelican crossing.
III. 8. attrib. and Comb., as pelican brood, pelican daughter, pelican oil, pelican pie; pelicanwise adv.; pelican-fish, an eel-like fish (Eurypharynx pelecanoides), dredged from a great depth near the Canary Islands: so called from its enormously developed jaws and large gular pouch; Pelican flag U.S., the flag of the State of Louisiana; pelican-flower, a West Indian evergreen climbing plant (Aristolochia grandiflora); Poisonous Hogweed (Treas. Bot. 1866); pelican ibis, an Asiatic wood-ibis (Tantalus leucocephalus); pelican lectern, a lectern of the shape of a pelican; pelican's foot, a gastropod shell (Aporrhais pes-pelecani), so called from its digitate outer lip; pelican's head, a wooden battle-club with a rounded head and a projecting beak, used by the natives of New Caledonia; Pelican State U.S., a sobriquet of the State of Louisiana.
1818Keats Endym. i. 815 Nurtured like a *pelican brood.
1605Shakes. Lear iii. iv. 77 'Twas this flesh begot Those *Pelicane Daughters.
1883Leisure Hour 312/2 The characters of the Eurypharynx (wide-throated *pelican fish) are so divided.
1860Charleston (S. Carolina) Mercury 25 Dec. 4/5 The *Pelican flag of Louisiana was unfurled in the streets, amid tremendous cheering... The Pelican flag consists of a red star upon a white field, with the ancient Louisiana emblem of a Pelican feeding her young. 1865A. D. Richardson Secret Service 40 There were Pelican flags, and Lone Star flags, and devices, unlike anything in the heavens above.
1881Field 13 Aug. 262/1 Conspicuous next in order..were numbers of *pelican ibises.
1898J. T. Fowler Durh. Cath. 57 The modern..*Pelican lectern.
1859Harper's Mag. May 853/2 A well-known writer in the *Pelican State writes us a good thing from one of his little folks. 1934G. E. Shankle State Names 119 The name, the Pelican State was given to Louisiana from the fact that this bird is so frequently seen along the streams..which fact caused it to be chosen as the emblem in the state coat of arms. 1949Times-Picayune (New Orleans) Mag. 27 Nov. 53/2 Now Mississippi has nosed out the Pelican State. 1959E. A. Davis (title) Louisiana: the Pelican State. 1974Encycl. Brit. Micropædia X. 272 (table) State nickname(s) or slogan... Louisiana..Pelican state.
1862H. Aïdé Carr of Carrlyon III. 39 Their doubts feed themselves, *pelican-wise, from their own breast.
▪ II. ˈpelican, v. rare—1.
[f. the n.]
trans. To swallow or eat like a pelican.
1953Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954) 65 And she bursts into tears, and, in the middle of her salty howling, nimbly spears a small flatfish and pelicans it whole. |