| 释义 |
▪ I. provost, n.|ˈprɒvəst|
Forms: α. 1 pra(?prá)fost, -uost, -fast, -uast, -fest. β. 1 pro(?pró)fost, 2–6 prouost, 4 prouast, prouos, 4–6 provest, Sc. -west, 4, 8 proves, 5 -veste, 5–6 prowost, -voste, 6–7 -vist, 7 Sc. -veist, 4– provost. See also prevost, provo1.
[Corresponds to OE. profost (? pró-), beside prafost (? prá-), and also to early OF. and Anglo-Fr. provost (12th c.), found beside prevost (mod.F. prévôt); representing early med.L. propositus, occurring beside and in the sense of præpositus, ‘a prefect, president, head, chief, overseer, director, commander’, n. use of præpositus, placed, or set before or over, placed at the head, appointed as chief, pa. pple. of præpōnĕre, f. præ before + pōnĕre to place, put.
As to the etymological and phonetic relations of the OE. and Teutonic forms, see Note below.]
One set or placed over others; a superintendent, president, head, chief; used generally as an equivalent of the uses of præpositus in ancient and med.Latin, and of the descended terms in French and other languages, and spec. as the proper title of certain ecclesiastical and secular officers in England and Scotland, or as a rendering of French prevost, prévôt, formerly used to designate various officials: see Cotgr. s.v. Prevost, and cf. prevost.
I. In ecclesiastical and scholastic use.
1. The head or president of a chapter, or of a community of religious persons; in conventual bodies properly the official next in rank to the abbot, = prior 1 (in quot. c 1375 the prioress of a body of nuns); also the chief dignitary of a cathedral or collegiate church, corresponding to the existing dean (but see dean1 4). Now chiefly Hist.
αc961æthelwold Rule St. Benet (MS. c 1000) lxv. (1885) 124 Be mynstres prafaste [MS. F. c 1100 profaste]... Þurh þæs ᵹeendebyrdan profostes [MS. T. c 1075 prauostes] misfadunge. a1066Charter of Eadweard in Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 233 [Witnesses] Gisa bisceop, and ælfsie abbod, and Wulᵹeat abbod, and ælfnoð mynster prauost.
βa900Martyrol. 20 Mar. 42 Þa ondranc se þæs wætres ond sealde hit þæm breðer þe him ætstod, þæs mynstres profoste [v.r. prauast]. 970in MS. ‘Ritual of Durham’ (Aug. 10) lf. 84/2 (ed. 1840 p. 185), Be suðan wudiᵹan ᵹæteæt aclee on west sæxum on laurentius mæssan dæᵹi on wodnes dæᵹi ælfsiᵹe ðæm biscope in his ᵹetelde aldred se profast ðas feower collectæ on fif næht aldne mona ær underne awrat. c1000–1100 [see α c 961]. a1122O.E. Chron. an. 1066 Ða cusen þa munecas to abbot, Brand prouost. forðan þæt he wæs swiðe god man. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints x. (Mathou) 307 Þar dowchtyre..of his hand þe vail scho [Ephigenea] tuk..& wes mad proves but wene Of twa hu[n]dricht virginis clene. c1450Holland Howlat 688 Abbotis of ordouris, Prowestis and priouris. a1552Leland Itin. VI. 1 Wyngham..Ther is a Provoste, vi. Prebendaries, besydes othar Ministers of the Churche. 1561Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 194 All Denis, Archdenis, Subdenis, Chantouris, Subchantouris, Provestis, Personis, Vicaris. 1641Sc. Acts Chas. I (1817) V. 520/1 Ane dissolutione made be the proveist and first prebendar of the Colledge kirk of Corstorphine with advyse and consent of George Lord Forrester of Corstorphine vndoubted Patrone of the said Provesterie. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 177/1 (Benedictine Rules) That the Provost or Prepositus be chosen by the Abbot to whom he must be subject. 1824G. Chalmers Caledonia III. iii. viii. 307 In place of the nunnery [of Linncluden], he established a collegiate church, consisting of a provost, and twelve canons. 1878Clergy List 458 The Episcopal Church in Scotland..United Diocese of Moray, Ross, and Caithness..Provost of the Cathedral [Inverness] the Bishop. Ibid. 459 St Ninian's Cathedral [Perth] John Burton, Provost. 1898Beverley Chapter Act Bk. (Surtees) I. Introd. 40 At York, Hugh the Chanter says, on Thomas rebuilding the Canons' Hall he..‘established a Provost [Præpositum constituit] to preside over them and provide for them’.
b. In modern use, a rendering of Ger. propst, Da. provst, etc., as the title of the Protestant clergyman in charge of the principal church (hauptkirche) of a town or district.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 414 b, The fellowes or prebends of that Colledge [at Eluange = Elbing] haue authority to chuse the Prouost, as they commonly call him. 1780tr. Von Troil's Iceland 173 The provost and minister of Hiardarholt..is justly celebrated. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. II. 23 The Danish clergy consists of bishops, provosts, and ministers. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 507 Support..from their two provosts—patricians of Nürnberg—in the appointment of evangelical preachers.
†c. Applied by Caxton to a Muslim muezzin [mistransl. obs. F. provoire a priest].
1481Caxton Godeffroy clxx. 252 On the cornes ben hye towres, vpon whiche the prouostes were woonte to goo vp at certayn howres for to warne and somone the peple to praye.
2. The specific title of the heads of certain educational colleges.
In earlier instances, a survival from the ecclesiastical establishments in which these originated; in later instances an extension of the name to subsequent foundations. The title is borne by the heads of Oriel, Queen's, and Worcester Colleges at Oxford, King's College, Cambridge, and Trinity College, Dublin; also of Eton College, and now or formerly of certain other colleges in England, Scotland, the United States, etc.
1442Rolls of Parlt. V. 45/2 The Provost and the College of the same place [Eton]. 1531–2Act 23 Hen. VIII, c. 19 Archedeacons maisters prouostes presidentes wardens felowes bretherne scholers. 1581Mulcaster Positions xli. (1887) 241 Being himselfe prouost of the kings colledge in Cambridge. 1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. v. §47. 270 That D. Potter cannot leave being Provost of Q. Colledge. 1672Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 40 There is an University at Dublin..wherein are a Provost and seven Senior and Ruling Fellows. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 45 He..professed Theology in the Coll. of S. Salvator at S. Andrews, whereof he was made Provost. 1812Orig. Charter Columbia Coll. (1836) 35 The trustees of Columbia college have, by their petition, prayed that the provost of the said college may be eligible as a trustee of said college. 1838–9Hallam Hist. Lit. II. iii. i. §8. 374 From a press established at Eton by himself, provost of that College. 1846N. F. Moore Hist. Sk. Columbia Coll. 78 The trustees determined to divide the powers and duties of the presidential office between a president and an officer to be styled Provost.
transf.1669Gale Crt. Gentiles i. iii. ix. 93 He concludes with a Curator or Provist of the whole Discipline [Plato's Sacred College].
II. A secular officer, etc.
†3. One appointed to preside over or superintend something; usually the representative of the supreme power in a district or sphere of action; formerly used as a translation of various Latin titles, as præpositus, prætor, proconsul, procurator, etc.; also in the sense of viceroy, prime minister, and the like. Sometimes without explicit reference to his delegated or appointed position, = Ruler, chief, head, captain, etc.: see 4. Obs.
αa900O.E. Martyrol. 13 Aug. 144 Valerianus, Decies prafest þæs caseres. c1000ælfric Exod. v. 16 Þa comun Israela folces prafostas [Vulg. præpositi filiorum Israel] & clypodon to Pharaone & þus cwædon. a1100Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 309/33 Prepositus, ᵹerefa, oððe prafost.
βc1375Sc. Leg. Saints vi. (Thomas) 9 Gundoforus..þare kynnge..has send his proveste here Abney [orig. præpositum Abbanem], bis[i]ly fore to spere A man, þat sic palace can make. c1400Warres of Jewes (Laud MS. 22) in Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry (1840) II. 105 Pylot was provost under that prynce ryche. c1440J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iv. 1028 The prouost of perse was there also. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 110 A kingis provost may have na mare power na has his maister. 1491Caxton Vitas Patr. (1495) 111 A Provoste or Capytayne of men of warre. a1518Skelton Magnyf. 1480 The prowde prouoste of Turky lande. 1549Compl. Scot. xi. 87 He [Darius] send his prouest tasifernes vitht gold and siluer to lacedemonia. 1581Savile Tacitus, Hist. i. (1591) 25 Flauius Sabinus they ordeyned Prouost of the citty [L. urbi præfecere]. 1600Holland Livy viii. xi. 289 Their Pretor or Provost [L. prætor] named Millionius, spake these words. 1631T. Powell Tom All Trades (1876) 145 Free-Schooles... Some of them..are commonly in the gift of the King, or his Provost or Substitute, in that behalfe.
†b. transf. Applied to the archangel Michael as leader of the heavenly host. Obs.
1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. ii. (1859) 3, I wil bringe hym bifore Mychael the prouost of heuene. 14..Hoccleve Compl. Soule 267 Wks. 1897 III. p. lix, Sere prouost Michael graciows. 1521in Market Harb. Records (1890) 216 The holy Archangell Mychell, the provest off paradyse.
4. An officer or official in charge of some establishment, undertaking, or body of men; an officer who had the management of a royal or feudal establishment and the collection of dues; a ruler, manager, steward, overseer, keeper. Now Hist.
The title prevost, prévôt was formerly extensively given in France to officials having administrative and judicial functions: see Cotgrave s.v. prevost, and cf. prevost 2.
1340Ayenb. 37 Þe greate [thieves] byeþ..þe ontrewe reuen, prouos, and bedeles, and seruons þet steleþ þe amendes, and wyþdraȝeþ þe rentes of hire lhordes. c1374Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. iv. 8 (Camb. MS.) Trygwille prouost of the Kynges hows [regiæ præpositum domus]. 1382Wyclif Judg. xx. 28 And Phynees, the sone of Eliazar, sone of Aaron, was prouost of the hows. 1382― Isa. xxii. 15 Weend in to hym, that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobnam, prouost of the temple. c1400Rom. Rose 6812 Taylagiers, and these monyours, Bailifs, bedels, provost, countours. 1570Dee Math. Pref. d iv b, The Architect..is..the Hed, the Prouost, the Directer..of all Artificiall workes, and all Artificers. 1598Barret Theor. Warres v. iv. 136 A Prouost ouer the horses which draw the Artillery. 1611Cotgr., Prevost des Monnoyes, the Prouost of the Mint; the Iudge of controuersies arising by reason of the Mint, or among Mintmen. 1615Bedwell Arab. Trudg., Amir, Præses fidelium, The prouost of the faithfull. 1696Lond. Gaz. No. 3219/4 Mr. John Braint, Provost of His Majesty's Mint at the Tower of London. 1766Entick London IV. 342 (At the Mint) A provost,..blanchers, moniers, &c. 1863H. Cox Instit. iii. ix. 727 Relieving them [burgesses] from the interference of Royal provosts in the collection of the King's revenue.
†5. The chief magistrate of a town.
a. In obsolete or historical uses, esp. (b) in reference to French, Flemish, or other foreign cities, in which also it sometimes passes into sense 6.
[a1135Leges Willelm. Conq. (MS. c 1230) i. ii. §1 E si aucuns vescunte u provost mesfait as humes [de sa baillie]. [And if any sheriff or provost does wrong to the men of his jurisdiction.] Ibid. v. Cil kis claimed, durrad [al gr(efe) s(ive) al provost aveir] pur la rescussiun viii den. [He who claims them shall give to the provost for the recovery 8 pence.] 1200Charter Ipswich in Grose Gild Merch. II. 115 Reddendo per annum rectam et solitam firmam ad terminum Sancti Michaelis per manum Gippeswici prepositi ad scaccarium nostrum. [transl. I. 7, Paying annually at our Exchequer the right and customary ferm at Michaelmas term, by the hand of the provost of Ipswich.] 1292Britton i. iii. §1 Le provost de chescune vile. 1306Rolls of Parlt. I. 270/1 Le Provost des Villes. ]1485Rolls of Parlt. VI. 378/1 The Office of Provost of your Towne of Middelton, in the forsaid Countie [Kent].
(b)c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 294 Þe prouest of þe toun [Bruges] a wik traytour & cherle, He þouht to do tresoun vnto his lorde þe erle. c1386Chaucer Prioress' T. 164 The cristene folk that thurgh the strete wente..hastily..for the Prouost sente. 1494Fabyan Chron. vii. ccxxxi. 263 This foresayde Charlis was sore hated of the prouoste of Brudgys. a1533Ld. Berners Huon vii. 15 Than they sent for y⊇ provost of Gerone. 1547Bk. Marchauntes ciij, The hygh prouost of these marchants..kepeth his bank vnder exchang to all people—conuertynge leade into golde. [1611Cotgr. s.v. Prevost, Prevost des Marchands à Paris, the Lord Mayor of Paris; different from the Prouost of Iustice, who is called, Le Prevost de Paris.] 1706Phillips, Provost of Merchants, the chief Magistrate or Mayor of the City of Paris in France.
b. spec. The title of the head of a Scottish municipal corporation or burgh; equivalent to mayor in England: cf. mayor 1.
The provosts of some of the more important corporations, viz. Edinburgh (since c 1486), Glasgow (since 1690), Aberdeen, Perth, Dundee, are styled Lord Provost.
[13..in Sc. Stat. (1844) I. 683 [319] Et facto hujusmodi sacramento osculari debet prepositum et vicinos si frater Gilde fuerit. ]1387Charters &c. of Edinb. (1871) 35 Androw Yutsoun prowest of the Burgh of Edynburgh. 1495Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 219 The provest of the toune beand present. a1515Interl. Droichis 21 in Dunbar's Poems (S.T.S.) 315 Prowest, baillies, officeris, And honerable induellaris,..Of all this fair towne. 1563Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. §29 Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 94 The prouestis and ballies of euiry burgh. 1639Duke of Hamilton in H. Papers (Camden) 70 A letter of yours derected to the prouist and balleifes of Edinburg. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., The provost of Edinburgh has the title lord. 1806Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 7 Aberdeen... Its civil government is vested in a provost, denominated lord provost, 4 bailies, a dean of guild, treasurer, and town-clerk, a town-council, and 7 deacons of the incorporated trades. 1882Grant Old & New Edinb. II. 278/1 In 1377 John of Quhitness first appears as Provost or Prepositus, on the 18th of May. Ibid. 278/2 Patrick Hepburn, Lord Hailey [c 1486] was the first designated ‘my Lord Provost’, probably because he was a peer of the realm.
†6. An officer charged with the apprehension, custody, and punishment of offenders. Obs.
In France many of the officials called prevost (prévôt) were specially charged with the keeping of public order and the apprehension, custody, trial, and punishment of offenders, for which they had considerable powers of summary jurisdiction: hence the military use in 7.
a1400Morte Arth. 1611 Be-teche þam þe proveste [of Paris] in presens of lordez, O payne and o perelle þat pendes there too. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. clxxxv. 564 The kyng commaunded hym and sayd: Prouost, get you men togyther well horsed, and pursewe that traytour syr Peter of Craon. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 118 Here comes Signior Claudio, led by the Prouost to prison. Ibid. iii. ii. 219 Prouost,..Claudio must die to morrow: Let him be furnish'd with Diuines, and haue all charitable preparation. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vii. xix. 552 A few dayes after hee sent a provost..to take this Sorcerer. 1611[see 5 a (b)]. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 289 (Netherlanders Commonwealth) Among the apprehenders, the chiefe are called Prouosts, and they of old had power to hang vagabonds. 1841James Brigand xxvii, ‘Fetch the provost’, exclaimed another. 1873J. Lewes Census 1871. 204 (Guernsey) The provost or Queen's sheriff [cf. prevost 2 b].
7. spec. Milit. An officer of the military police in a garrison, camp, or the field: see provost-marshal, and provost-sergeant in 9.
In this sense usually pronounced |prəʊˈvəʊ| (after F. prévôt) and sometimes written provo1.
1692–1746 [see provo1]. 1799Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) I. 37, I wish you would send the Provost here... Until some of the plunderers are hanged it is vain to expect to stop the plunder. 1894‘J. S. Winter’ Red-Coats 44 Perhaps she had less cause for bitterness..owing to her superior position as the wife of the Provost.
b. Short for provost-cell: see 9.
1890in Cent. Dict.
†8. An assistant fencing-master. (So F. prévôt.)
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 97 Of fence..there is not onely Masters to teache it, wyth his Prouostes [Wks. (ed. 1761) provosters] Vshers Scholers and other names of arte and Schole. 1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. ii, We..do give leave and licence to our provost, Acolastus-Polypragmon-Asotus, to play his master's prize, against all masters whatsoever. 1615in Strutt Sports & Past. iii. vi. §22 They which desire to be taught at their admission are called scholars, and, as theyr profit they take degrees, and proceed to be provosts of defence.
9. attrib. and Comb.: provost-cell, a cell for confining military prisoners; † provost-place, in phr. to sit provost-place, to preside; † provost-seal, the official seal of a provost of a borough; provost-sergeant, a sergeant of the military police: cf. sense 7.
1902Webster Suppl., *Provost cell, in the British service, a military prison for soldiers confined, by order of the commanding officer or by sentence of court martial, for periods not exceeding forty-two days.
1748J. Wallis in Gentl. Mag. (1779) XLIX. 495 If the proud gentleman that thinks himself slighted should happen to sit *provost-place as they call it, he sits at the head of his table in all the agonies of concealed ill-nature.
1466Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 322 Undre the *Prowost seall of the saide citte.
1868Regul. & Ord. Army ⁋824 The *Provost Serjeant is to cause the prisoners to wash themselves once a day.
Hence, chiefly nonce-wds., † ˈprovostage, some impost duty in some countries; ˈprovostess, a female provost; in quot. (after Ger. pröpstin) applied to the prioress of a (Protestant) conventual foundation; provoˈstorial a., of or pertaining to a provost, provostal.
1766W. Gordon Gen. Counting-ho. 281 The ship Jenny arrives at Bilboa, and there Bradson sells 1640½ quintals of fish..and delivers for *provostage 2½ per cent. in specie of fish.
1905Westm. Gaz. 20 Mar. 2/1 The dismantled apartments are hung with the portraits of the Abbesses since the Reformation... One looks, instinctively, for Aurora von Königsmark; and she, having been only *provostess, is missing... Certainly she is the lady of Quedlinburg.
1855J. Strang Glasgow & Clubs (1856) 212 During his *provostorial sovereignty the provost haugh was purchased. [Note. The forms of this word in the cognate continental langs. are ON. prófastr (c 1160 in Norway), Icel. prófastur, Norw. provast, -est, MSw. provast, -est, proast, -est, proost, Sw. prost, MDa. provæst, -est, Da. provst (propst); MLG. provest, prōfst, prōst, MFris., MDu. prōvest, MDu. also proo(f)st, Du. proost (provoost); OHG. probost, -ist, MHG. probest, Ger. probst, propst: all in eccl. sense. It is not clear whether the OE. profost was historically connected with any of these, except as representing the same Latin word; prafost stands quite alone. The length of the stress-vowel in OE. can only be determined by inference; most lexicographers have marked it as long, as in ON.; but Pogatscher (Lautl. der Gr. Lat. Lehnworte im Altengl.) gives reasons for short a and o (so Sievers and Napier); the o in Ger. and Du. appears also to have been short. Pogatscher takes prafost as repr. late L. or Romanic prepost- from præpositus, and profost, late L. or Romanic propost- from propositus; which latter gave OHG. probost and all the continental cognate forms. The early 12th c. prouost = provost might mean either the OE. pro-vost or the Anglo-Fr. proˈvost. While the Teutonic langs. have favoured the propost- form, the Romanic have preferred the prepost- from præposit-, though in earlier times they had also forms in pro-. Cf. OF. prevost, also provos(t, pourvost, prouvos(t, preuvost, proost, prost, pros (Godef. Compl.), Anglo-Fr. provost, mod.F. prévôt; Pr. prebost, Sp., Pg. preboste, It. prevosti, formerly also provosto (Florio).] ▪ II. ˈprovost, v. rare.
Also provo' (cf. provo1).
[f. prec. n. sense 7.]
trans. To hand over to the provost-marshal to be dealt with summarily and (formerly) to receive corporal punishment. Hence ˈprovosting vbl. n.
Apparently a short-lived word used c 1837.
1837Major Richardson Brit. Legion ix. (ed. 2) 241 Men found to be incorrigible, have first been provosted, then marched forth disgracefully by beat of drum from their regiments. 1837C. Shaw Mem. II. xxxv. 541 There is a good deal of provosting, of which I rather approve, as it prevents serious punishments. 1839A. Somerville Hist. Brit. Legion iii. 69 He [an officer] was a decided enemy to provo'ing. Ibid. xi. 242 In four months he had been eleven times provosted, and once flogged by sentence of a court-martial. |