| 释义 |
▪ I. prune, n.|pruːn|
Forms: see below.
[a. F. prune (13th c. in Littré):—med.L. prūna, fem. sing. from prūna, neut. pl. of L. prūn-um, a. Gr. προῦν-ον, later form of προῦµν-ον a plum.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
4 prunne, 4– prune; 5–6 proyne, 6 prown, preune, 6–7 proine, 7 prewyn, pruine, 7–8 (9 dial.) pruin, pruen, pruan, 8 pruant.
1345–6Prunnes [see B. 2]. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 74 Drie prunis [v. r. prunes] of damascenes. c1430Prune [see B. 2]. 1481–90Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 338 On Crystemas even my Lord resseyved be the caryer..iiij. lb proynes. 1519in W. M. Williams Ann. Founders' Co. (1867) 52 Item, iij lb of Prownys. 1530Prune [see B. 1]. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1073 Preunes. 1598Proines [see B. 2]. 1602How to Choose Gd. Wife iii. iii. (1614) G j b, Pies, with Raisins, and with proines. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. i. 93 Longing..for stewd prewyns. Ibid. 103. Ibid. 110. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 26 The fruit..they..preserue..as Pruines. 1658Phillips, Jubeb,..a kind of Pruan [1696 Pruen, 1706 Prune]. 1659Wood Life 9 Apr. (O.H.S.) I. 277 Lemmons, oranges, pruins. 1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4790/4, 24 small Barrels of new..Pruants. 1714Fr. Bk. of Rates 20 Old Rags, Paper, Cards, Pruens, &c. 1719Accomplisht Lady's Delight (ed. 10) 21 To make Conserve of Pruants. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 94 Wines, Brandies,..Pruans, Linins and wrought Silk. 1773Pruin sauce [see B. 5].
B. Signification.
1.
†a. The fruit of the plum-tree; a plum; also, the tree, Prunus domestica. Obs. (exc. as in c. and 2).
1530Palsgr. 259/1 Prune a kynde of frute, prune. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. vii. 37 Gardens..filled with..prunes, abricots, dates & oliues. 1626Bacon Sylva §319 In Drying of Peares, and Prunes, in the Ouen, and Remouing of them often as they begin to Sweat. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 247 Peach, Apricot, Prunello's, Figs, Prunes,..and all those we call Wall-Fruit.
†b. damask prune = damson: see damask 2.
[c1400: see A.] 1533Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 22 The damaske prune rather bindeth than lowseth. 1579J. Jones Preserv. Bodie & Soule i. xvi. 29 Also Medlars, Peaches, Cheries, Grapes,..damaske proynes so they be sweete.
c. U.S. A variety of plum suitable for drying.
1902Westm. Gaz. 14 Feb. 12/2 Prunes grow in many countries, and it is said California is ‘full of them’... The crop in 1900 was about 140,000,000 pounds. 1902Daily Chron. 18 Sept. 5/1 After three years the prunes grow, the deep-blue ripe fruit being most plentiful at the end of August and beginning of September.
d. slang (orig. U.S.). A disagreeable or disliked person; a simpleton; spec., Royal Air Force, the personification of stupidity and incompetence (also, as a fictitious title, P.O. Prune). Hence ˈprunery; ˈprunish a.
1895W. C. Gore in Inlander Dec. 112 Prune, one who is disagreeable, and irritable. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 57 Prune, a simpleton, fool. 1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 67 All because the Prunes of the Air Force will ignore the existence of A.A. Danger Areas. 1942Observer 4 Oct. 7/2 The Royal Air Force has adopted him [sc. P.O. Prune] now, and an official magazine is devoted to the purpose of trying to cure him of his prunery! Ibid., One day, I think, in some solemn dictionary Prune will become immortal. 1942T. Rattigan Flare Path i. 30 They call me P.O. Prune—he's a character in The Training Manual—sort of crazy, good-tempered, half⁓witted sort of bloke..and I—well, I kind of act P.O. Prune for them. Ibid. ii. i. 53 He's not quite so prunish as he lets on. 1943C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake 49 Prune, Pilot Officer, a fictitious character who behaves as every officer should not, created by Squadron Leader Anthony Armstrong and the artist RAFF (L. A. C. W. Hooper)... Prune was created to teach pupils and other flying personnel how things should not be done. 1944‘N. Shute’ Pastoral ii. 35 He wished..that he knew what it was that worried her, whether it was some prune that she had left at her last station. 1961G. Smith Business of Loving viii. 201 Snap out of it, you moonstruck old prune. 1963Listener 28 Feb. 392/3 No horse-play, no gremlins: in Mr Barr's script the Prunes have all been turned into serious-minded Prisms. 1970Women Speaking Apr. 5/1 If a man doesn't like a girl's looks or personality, she's a..prune, lemon. 1978J. Krantz Scruples xiii. 368, I think she's a bit of a prune.
2. The dried fruit of several varieties of the common plum-tree, produced in France, Germany, Southern Europe, California, etc., and largely used for eating, raw or stewed; a dried plum. Formerly distinguished as dry prune.
(The finest kind imported from France are also called French plums.)
1345–6Ely Sacr. Rolls (1907) II. 130 In ij lb. de Prunnes empt. 1s. 4d. c1400Drie prunis [see A.]. c1420Liber Cocorum (1862) 40 Do dates þerto..and raysyns and prunus also. c1430Two Cookery-bks. 52 Plante þe cofynne a-boue with Prunez, & with Datys. 1584Cogan Haven Health cv. (1636) 104 The Damasin Plummes are woont to be dried and preserved as figges, and are called in English, Prunes. 1598Epulario B ij, Stuffe them with sweet hearbes, dry proines, soure grapes. 1633Hart Diet Diseased i. xvi. 63 In France and Spaine..they drie their plummes..these kinds wee commonly call..prunes. 1752Berkeley Th. Tar-water Wks. 1871 III. 503 Stewed prunes, and other diet of an opening kind. 1893E. H. Barker Wand. Southern Waters 295 Upon the sill were plums laid out on wooden trays to dry in the sun and become what English people call prunes.
3. transf. The dark reddish purple colour of the juice of prunes; also called prune-purple. Also attrib.
1884Chr. World 17 Jan. 52/1 All wool Rich Ottoman Dress material..in..Prune. 1884Pall Mall G. 2 Sept. 4/1 Prune and a large variety of greys are likewise on the list of fashionable colours. 1899Westm. Gaz. 20 May 1/3 Miss Debby arrayed in a prune silk gown. 1922Joyce Ulysses 690 A sofa upholstered in a prune plush. 1976Vogue Jan. 74/1 Prune silk crepe de chine with tiny white print.
4. Phrase. prunes and prism: see quot. 1855. Thence, applied to a prim and mincing manner of speaking, and to superficial ‘accomplishments’. Also adj. phrs. prunes and prismy, pruny and prismy.
1855Dickens Dorrit ii. v, ‘Father is rather vulgar, my dear... Papa..gives a pretty form to the lips. Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism, are all very good for the lips: especially prunes and prism. You will find it serviceable in the formation of a demeanour, if you sometimes say to yourself in company or on entering a room, ‘Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes, and prism, prunes and prism.’’ Ibid. vii. heading, Mostly, Prunes and Prism. 1888Brit. Weekly 28 Sept. 353/1 He has none of the ‘prunes and prism’ style, and is, perhaps, addicted to strong language. 1892W. G. Jenkins in Amer. Ann. Deaf Apr. 91 Surface accomplishments, the prunes and prisms of education. c1909D. H. Lawrence Collier's Friday Night (1934) i. 8 She says this in a very quaint ‘prunes-and-prisms’ manner, with her chin in the air and her hand extended. 1922Joyce Ulysses 365 Say prunes and prisms forty times every morning, cure for fat lips. 1931Time & Tide 4 July 802/2 A tougher-minded generation than ours may find it altogether too prunes-and-prismy. 1940G. D. H. & M. Cole Counterpoint Murder v. 50 She's forty if she's a day, and all pruny and prismy. 1979Daily Tel. 22 Nov. 14/7 She regales us with an amusing chronicle of Lady Lytton's attempts to find a congenial companion among the straightlaced Indian Civil Service wives, whose ‘prunes and prisms’ expressions she found most off⁓putting.
5. attrib. and Comb. (see also sense 3), as prune-orchard, prune-packer, prune plum, prune-rancher, prune sauce, prune-stone, prune-whip; prune-coloured, prune-dark adjs.; prune-brandy, an alcoholic beverage prepared from prunes; prune-juice, the juice of prunes; also attrib. in reference to its colour (see 3); also (U.S. slang), nonsense; prune picker U.S. colloq., a Californian; prune-tree, (a) a plum-tree (now in sense 1 c); (b) Prunus occidentalis, a West Indian timber-tree (Treas. Bot. 1866).
1895M. Pemberton Impregnable City vi. 41 Drink that, and when you've drained the bumper, we'll have some *prune brandy.
1872Young Englishwoman Nov. 595/1 A hat of duck-green turquoise is trimmed with *prune-coloured velvet. 1923Blackw. Mag. Oct. 499/2 The foothills..were covered with a shadow over which prune-coloured clouds hung.
1941L. MacNeice Plant & Phantom 64 With *prune-dark eyes, thick lips, jostling each other.
1863Aitken Sc. & Pract. Med. (1866) II. 729 The so-called ‘*prune juice’ expectoration characteristic of the third stage of pneumonia. 1873T. H. Green Introd. Pathol. (ed. 2) 91 A rusty or prune-juice colour. 1957J. Kerouac On Road (1958) iii. iv. 199 Here we were dealing with the pit and prunejuice of poor beat life. 1965Wodehouse Galahad at Blandings x. 170 We decided that a big Society wedding was a lot of prune juice and we wanted no piece of it.
1921Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 173/1 *Prune-orchards do not need irrigating.
1905Daily News 8 Dec. 6 The French *prune-packers, it is said, often import Californian prunes,..repack them,..and sell them to the Americans.
1918L. E. Ruggles Navy Explained 112 *Prune picker, a native of California. So called because of the abundant prune crops. 1929Papers Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts & Lett. X. 316 Prune picker, a Californian.
1891Ibid. 24 Oct. 5/4 *Prune plums, damsons, and bullaces are the principal other fruit.
1921Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 174/2 With proper pruning and cultivation the *prune-rancher has an assured..living.
1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. 11, To men that are hungry, pig, with *pruin sauce is very good eating.
1599Peele Sir Clyom. Wks. (Rtldg.) 500/1 This fear hath made me beray myself with a *proin-stone that was not digested.
1617Janua Ling. 98 The *prune tree and cherry tree do wither with frost. 1902Daily Chron. 18 Sept. 5/1 A peach or apricot seed is planted, and when the little tree is a year old it is cut to the ground, and a piece of live prune-tree fastened to it.
1942‘R. West’ Black Lamb & Grey Falcon II. 26 Their coffee-brown beauty which fastidious nostrils, secretive lips and eyes like *prune-whip made refined and romantic.
▪ II. prune, v.1 Obsolescent.|pruːn|
[ME. prune, pruyne, proyne, of uncertain origin, but in its phonetics apparently French; agreeing in form with prune v.2, of which it has been supposed to be a specialized fig. application. This is not impossible; but prune v.2 is not found till later, nor was it common till about 1550, and its original, OF. proignier, is not used in this sense.
To identify them, it would be necessary to assume that in Anglo-Fr. (? in Falconry) the verb had acquired this changed use, and been taken into Eng., long before its original French sense was adopted. Evidence of the vb. in Anglo-Fr. has not been found. There appears to be some relationship between this and the synonymous prene, preen v.2 Cf. the Chaucer quot. c 1386 in A. β]
A. Illustration of Forms.
(α) 4– prune, (5 prowne, 6–7 prewne).
1390–Prune [see B.]. c1450Bk. Hawkyng in Rel. Ant. I. 298 Put her oute a-gayn to prowne and spalch herself, and a-non after that proynyng draw her in agayn. 1592Prewn(e [see B. 4]. a1625Prewning [see pruning vbl. n.1 c].
(β) 4 pruyne, 5–7 proyne, 6 proine, proign, 6–7 proin, proyn.
a1380Pruynen [see B. 1 b]. c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 768 (Corp. MS.) He kembiþ him and proyneþ him and pikeþ [so Cambr., Petw., Lansd.; Ellesm. preyneth, Heng. prayneth, Harl. 7334 pruneth]. 1508Proyne [see B. 1]. 1575Turberv. Falconrie 133 That they may..proine and picke their feathers. 1588Proign [see pruning vbl. n.1 b]. 1623B. Jonson Underwoods, Celebr. Charis v, Where I sit and proin my wings After flight.
(γ) Sc. 5–6 prunȝe, 6 prunȝa, pronȝe, prounȝe, prwnȝe, prunȝie.
c1450Holland Howlat 21 Birdis..Pransand and prunȝeand, be pair and be pair. 1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 374, I wald me prunȝa plesandly in precius wedis. 1513Douglas æneis v. iii. 50 A standand place quhar skarthis with ther beikis, Forgane the son, glaidlie thaim pronȝe and bekis. c1560Prounȝe [see B. 2 b]. 1571Satir. Poems Reform. xxxvii. 56 Persaue..þe papingo þat prwnȝeis. a1585Montgomerie Flyting 86 As proud as ȝee prunȝie, ȝour pennes sall be plucked.
B. Signification.
1. Of a bird (or any being so figured): To trim or dress the feathers with the beak: = preen v.2 1.
a. trans. (refl., or with the feathers, etc. as obj.)
1390Gower Conf. III. 75 For there he [i.e. the eagle] pruneth him and piketh, As doth an hauk. 1490Caxton Eneydos xvi. 63 As a byrde that pruneth or pycketh her. 1508Fisher Penit. Ps. cii. Wks. (1876) 154 There she proyneth & setteth her feders in ordre. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. iii. 36 She gins her feathers fowle disfigured Prowdly to prune, and sett on every side. 1704Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 235 Friend, said the Bee (having now prun'd himself). 1735Pope Donne Sat. iv. 186 Where Contemplation prunes her ruffled wings. 1820Scott Abbot vii, The falcon instantly settled on his wrist, and began to prune itself. 1874Holland Mistr. Manse v, The pigeon pruned his opal breast.
b. absol. or intr. for refl.
a1380Pistill of Susan 81 Þe popeiayes perken and pruynen for proude. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. lxiv, The birdis..said, ‘wele is vs begone,..We proyne and play without dout and dangere’. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV lxxiv, Harry prunes safe, and brings fresh feathers on T' enlarge his wing.
2. Of a person: To trim, dress up with minute nicety; to prink, deck out, adorn.
a. trans. (or refl.): cf. preen v.2 2. (In quot. c 1450, ironical.)
c1386[see A. β]. c1450Cov. Myst. xvii. (Shaks. Soc.) 164, I xal prune that paddok and prevyn hym as a pad. 1513Douglas æneis iv. v. 80 His hair enoynt weill prunȝeit ondir that. 1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. Induct., Another..with more beard than brain prunes his mustaccio. 1629Massinger Picture iv. ii, The younger Prunes up himself, as if..he were To act a bridegroom's part. 1737Songs Costume (Percy Soc.) 220 Adorn thy mind the more within, And prune thy person less. 1789E. Darwin Bot. Gard. II. 13 So Ninon pruned her wither'd charms.
b. absol. or intr. for refl.
c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxxiv. 95 Swa ladeis will not sounȝe With waistit wowbattis rottin, Bot prowdly thay will prounȝe, Quhair geir is to be gottin. 1678Dryden All for Love Epil. 13 He grows a fop..Prunes up, and asks his oracle, the glass, If pink or purple best become his face. 1684Otway Atheist iii. i, A vain, pert, empty Rogue, That can prune, dance, lisp, or lie very much.
†3. refl. fig. To plume oneself, pride oneself. Obs.
1643Trapp Comm. Gen. xi. 7 He turned Nebuchadnezzar a grazing among beasts, for pruning and priding himself upon this Babel. 1657W. Blois Mod. Policies, etc. (ed. 7) E iij b, The Great Turk may justly exsult and prune him⁓self in discourses of this nature. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. I. 43 Divines..who pruned themselves in the peculiar Virulency of their Pens.
†4. trans. To set in order. Obs. rare.
1592Warner Alb. Eng., æneidos 195 A hunting was generally appoynted,..the Standes were prewned; the Toyles pitched.
▪ III. prune, v.2|pruːn|
Forms: α. 5 prouyne, 6–7 proin(e, proyne; β. 7 pruin(e, pruyn(e, 6– prune.
[In 15th c. prouyne, in 16th c. proine, a. OF. proöing(n)ier, proögnier, later proignier, in 16th c. progner, prougner, to prune or cut back (the vine): cf. L'aultre sa vigne y prougne ou taille (E. Damernal ed. 1597).
The ulterior history of the OF. is uncertain; it is quite distinct in sense and form from provaigner, provigner to layer a vine-shoot; provine v.; although in mod.F. dialects the latter is reduced to preugner, progner.]
1. a. trans. To cut or lop superfluous branches or twigs from (a vine, tree, or shrub), in order to promote fruitfulness, induce regular growth, etc.; to trim.
α1547Homilies 1. Falling fr. God ii. (1859) 87 As long as a man doth proine his vines, doth dig at the roots, and doth lay fresh earth to them, he hath a mind to them, he perceiveth some token of fruitfulness. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 49 He is coumpted no good Gardener, that..doeth diligently proine his old Trees, and hath no regard either to ympe or graffe young settes. 1670W. Hughes Compl. Vineyard 15 In Germany..they Proin not their Vines the first year.
β1575Fenton Gold. Epist. (1577) 93 The tree..by the high way giues more shadowe to the passenger, than fruite to the owner that prunes it. 1611Bible Lev. xxv. 3 Sixe yeeres thou shalt prune thy Vineyard. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 26 Vines..covered with fruit, though never pruined nor manured. 1711Addison Spect. No. 98 ⁋1 Like Trees new lopped and pruned. 1870Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 76 In France, the vine is pruned down to the size of a gooseberry bush.
b. absol.
1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. ix. ii. (1886) 136 Times and seasons to sowe, to plant, to proine. 1612Drayton Polyolb. iii. 357 Heere set, and there they sowe; here proine, and there they plant. 1648Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. 243 What Husbandman would plow and sow and plant and prune..if he did not hope..to Inn the fruits? 1847Emerson Repr. Men, Montaigne Wks. (Bohn) I. 347 On the whole, selfishness plants best, prunes best, makes the best commerce, and the best citizen.
2. To cut or lop off (branches, boughs, shoots).
α1572L. Mascall Plant. & Graff. (1575) 12 Ye must proyne or cut the braunch of commonlye in winter. 1612Two Noble K. iii. vi. 242 Doe men proyne The straight yong bowes that blush with thousand blossoms? 1626Bacon Sylva §432 A Tree..[with] the lower boughes onely maintained, and the higher continually proined off.
β1612Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 390 After the dead boughs are pruned off. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 99 [They] should have their bottom side-shoots carefully pruned, cutting them close to their stem.
3. fig.
a. To ‘cut down’, mutilate (quot. 1565); to rob, spoil (quot. 1640); esp. to cut down or reduce by rejecting superfluities; also to rid or clear of what is superfluous or undesirable.
α1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 244 Many a thyng, yt ys no nay, Mot be prouyned, & kut a-way, And yshape of newe entaylle. 1565Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 274 It is neither indifferent, nor true dealing, thus to nip, and to proine the Doctours sayings. 1608Machin Dumb Knight iii. i. F j b, Hee proind him well and brought him vp to learning. 1640Howell Dodona's Gr. 50 They might oppresse, spoyle, rob, peele, proyne, and grubbe them up at pleasure.
β1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxiii. §49 Howe they [laws] are to bee pruned and reformed from time to time. 1659Stanley Hist. Philos. xii. (1701) 475/1 When I considered, how difficult it were so to prune it [a treatise], as to please all Persons. 1711Addison Spect. No. 135 ⁋10 Some..Authors..began to prune their Words of all superfluous Letters. 1796Southey Lett. fr. Spain (1799) 201 [The lamp] has three branches;..a small pincers to prune it, and a bucket to deposit the snuff in. 1836J. H. Newman in Brit. Mag. X. 137 Prune thou thy words. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) II. xx. 194 Pruning it of all superfluous phrases. 1925B. Beetham in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 368 Bow to the inevitable, countenance what you deem to be reasonable, but prune early with a firm pencil anything excessive. 1970Railway Mag. Oct. 546/1 The locomotive-hauled stock of British Railways has been drastically pruned in recent years.
b. To take away or remove (superfluities, deformities). Also with out.
c1680Waller On Earl of Roscommon 9 Horace will our superfluous Branches prune. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. v. 77 Even magna carta itself..only pruned the luxuriances that had grown out of the military tenures. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 117 Establishing a standard and pruning away deformities [in language]. 1955Bull. Atomic Sci. Mar. 94/2 Undoubtedly, these will be pruned out in the next edition. 1973Sci. Amer. June 93/3 Shannon therefore proposed that the computer should not consider all possible moves from each position but should prune out the most obvious of bad moves. |