释义 |
▪ I. bailey|ˈbeɪlɪ| Forms: 3 baili, 4 bayly, -lie, -lye, bailye, bailly, baly, 4–5 baillie, 4–6 baily, bailie, 9 bailey. [a ME. variant of bayle, bail n.3: possibly from the med.L. form balium, ballium; cf. Vetus Ballium = Old Bailey, Du Cange. Not in Fr. It coincides in its spellings with baillie, with which it was probably confused.] 1. The external wall enclosing the outer court, and forming the first line of defence, of a feudal castle; and, in a wider sense, any of the circuits of walls or defences which surrounded the keep.
a1300Cursor M. 10023 Þe midmast bailly of þe þre Bitokeneþ wel hir chastite..Name of baily hit haþ for-þi For hit [hir] helde euer in baily [v.r. bailey, bayly]. Ibid. 10034 Þere stonden þre bailyes wiþoute Þat wel kepen þat castel From arwe shet & quarel. c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 1082 As quen I blusched vpon þat baly, So ferly þer-of-watz þe falure. 1851Turner Dom. Archit. I. i. 16 The more recent habitation reared within its enclosures or baileys. 2. In later writers: The outer court or base court of a feudal castle; also, either of the two (or three courts) formed by the spaces between the circuits of walls or defences. Hence outer bailey, inner bailey.
1845Gloss. Goth. Archit. I. 37 Bailey was a name given to the courts of a castle formed by the spaces between the circuits of walls or defences which surrounded the keep. 1851Turner Dom. Archit. I. i. 17 The royal apartments were not in the keep, but in the court-yard, or bailey. 1862Luck of Ladysmede I. 93 The entrance-gate..led into a narrow outer bailey. 3. (Retained in proper names: e.g. the Old Bailey in London, the seat of the Central Criminal Court, so called from the ancient bailey or ballium of the city wall between Lud Gate and New Gate, within which it was situated.)
1570Piththy Note to Papists (Collier) 15 The Draile, wheron he lay fast bound in midst olde baily street. 1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 357/1 At a sessions holden in the justice hall in the old bailie of London. 1865Morn. Star 5 July, The phrase, ‘Old Bailey style,’ is an ordinary façon de parler, and is well understood to mean..a certain license of vituperation which has been supposed, rightly or wrongly, to characterise its proceedings. ▪ II. bailey obs. variant of bailie. |