| 释义 |
portent|ˈpɔətənt|
Also 7 portend, and in L. form portentum.
[ad. L. portent-um a portent, sign, omen, monster, marvellous tale (whence also It., Sp., Pg. portento, obs. F. portente), f. L. portendĕre to portend. Orig. stressed porˈtent, which came down to 19th c.; but ˈportent is found also in 1711. Pope has both.]
1. That which portends or foretells something momentous about to happen, esp. of a calamitous nature; an omen, significant sign or token.
1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 762 (R.) A strange portent and prodigious token from heauen, in the yeare of our Lord 1505. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 65 O what portents are these? c1611Chapman Iliad ii. 268 And there appear'd a huge portent, A Dragon with a bloody skale, horride to sight, and sent To light by great Olympius. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 491 As false portents, not sent from God, but thee. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. i. 22 My Loss by dire Portents the Gods foretold. 1711Pope Temp. Fame 452 Of prodigies and portents seen in air. 1736S. Wesley Hymn, From whence these dire Portents around, That Earth and Heaven amaze? 1814Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xxx, Portents and miracles impeach Our sloth. 1821Byron Sardan. ii. i, Let us think Of what is to be done to justify Thy planets and their portents. 1845Hirst Poems 73 Such portents shook the soul of Rome. 1871Froude in Devon. Assoc. Trans. IV. 20 The early records of all nations are full of portents and marvels.
b. The fact or quality of portending; in phr. of dire (etc.) portent.
1715–20Pope Iliad ii. 372 A mighty dragon shot, of dire portent; From Jove himself the dreadful sign was sent. 1865Parkman Huguenots iii. (1875) 28 A cloud of black and deadly portent was thickening over France.
c. In weakened sense: A sign of coming weather or other natural phenomena.
1868Hawthorne Amer. Note-Bks. (1879) II. 37 Lowering with portents of rain. 1882‘Ouida’ Maremma viii, She was not so familiar with the portents of the land.
2. Something considered portentous; a prodigy, wonder, marvel.
1741Middleton Cicero II. x. 422 L. Antony, the portent and disgrace of his species. 1842Macaulay Ess., Fredk. Gt. (1877) 671 Frederic was not one of these brilliant portents. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola i, If you talk of portents, what portent can be greater than a pious notary? 1881M. G. Watkins in Academy 19 Mar. 202 That portent the ‘general reader’ will find this book entertaining.
3. Comb., as portent-like adj. and adv.
1744Hanmer Shaks. Wks., L.L.L. v. ii. 67 Portent-like [Hanmer's emendation of pertaunt-, perttaunt-like of the Quartos and Folios]. 1747Warburton in Shaks. Wks. II. 256 Portent-like, i.e. I would be his fate or destiny, and like a portent hang over, and influence his fortunes.
Hence † porˈtentful a. Obs., portentous.
1633T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter iii. 5 There are bred those portentful comets and exhalations, out of which fantastical heads pick fanatical meanings. |