| 释义 |
▪ I. petrel|ˈpɛtrəl|
Also 7 pitteral, 8 pittrel, petril, petteril, 8–9 peterel.
[Occurs in 1676 as pitteral, in 1703 spelt petrel by Dampier, who says that the name was derived from that of St. Peter: see quot. If this was so, petrel may have been a formation analogous to cockerel, dotterel, hoggerel, pickerel; or might represent a Latin dim. of Petrus (e.g. Petrillus, Petrellus).
The name appears first in Eng.; it occurs in F. (pétrel) as a term of Ornithology in Brisson 1760; to Buffon 1782 it was app. an Eng. word requiring explanation. The Norwegian Soren Peders, and Peders fugl (Brunnich 1764), and Ger. Peters vogel are also later than the Eng. and app. suggested by it; they support Dampier's explanation. (But it is of course possible that the word had some other source, represented by pitteral, and that the association with Peter was due to popular etymology.)]
A small sea-bird, Procellaria pelagica, with black and white plumage and long wings; hence extended (with qualifications) to any species of the genus Procellaria (distinctively called Storm-Petrels or Stormy Petrels), or of the family Procellariidæ, or order Tubinares, esp. of the subfamily Procellariinæ. See quot. 1894.
1676Flawes Jrnl. Voy. Nova Zembla in Acc. Voy. i. (1694) 181 Saw many Pitterals about the Ship. 1703W. Dampier Voy. III. i. 97 As they fly..they pat the Water alternately with their Feet, as if they walkt upon it; tho' still upon the Wing. And from hence the Seamen give them the name of Petrels, in allusion to St. Peter's walking upon the Lake of Gennesareth. 1748Phil. Trans. XLV. 166 The Pittrel or Storm-Fink. 1767Carteret in Hawkesworth Voy. (1773) I. 318 The peterels, to which sailors have given the name of Mother Carey's Chickens. 1768Pennant Zool. II. 431 The whole genus of Petrels have a peculiar faculty of spouting from their bills, to a considerable distance, a large quantity of pure oyl. 1776Ibid. (ed. 4) II. 467 Stormy petrel. 1802Barrington Hist. N.S. Wales viii. 270 The sooty petrel had appropriated a certain grassy part of the island to herself. 1825Waterton Wand. S. Amer. ii. i. 85 When it blows a hard gale of wind, the stormy Petrel makes its appearance. 1838Poe A. G. Pym Wks. 1864 IV. 123 Mother Carey's geese, or the great peterel... The great peterel is as large as the common albatross and is carnivorous. 1843Yarrell Hist. Brit. Birds III. 514 The Storm Petrel,..exhibiting the deep keel of a Swift, and possessing accordingly enduring powers of flight. a1879in Poems Places, Br. America, etc. 90 Pied petrels coursed about the sea. 1894Newton Dict. Birds s.v., The true Petrels, Procellariinæ, in which..are combined forms so different..as the Diving-Petrels, Pelecanoides or Halodroma, the Storm-Petrels, Procellaria, the Flat-billed Petrels, Prion, the Fulmar, the Shearwaters and others... The common Storm-Petrel, Procellaria pelagica..Seamen hardly discriminate between this and others nearly resembling it.., such as Leach's or the Fork-tailed Petrel, Cymochorea leucorrhoa,..and Wilson's Petrel, Oceanites oceanicus, the type of the Family Oceanitidæ... The Cape-Pigeon or Pintado Petrel, Daption capensis, is one that has long been well known.
fig.1862Sat. Rev. 13 Sept. 321 M. Hugo..is the petrel of literature, revelling in the storms of passion, and the conflict of the elements that determine human action.
b. Locally applied to the Kittiwake.
1770Pennant Zool. IV. 26 [The] Kittiwake..inhabits the romantic cliffs of Flamborough head. [Note] Where it is called Petrel.
▪ II. petrel
var. peitrel Obs. |