| 释义 |
▪ I. saint, a. and n.|seɪnt; unstressed sənt, snt|
Forms: α. 2–6 seint, 3–6 seinte, seynt(e, sainte, 4–5 saynt, (2 zeinte, 3 sæinte, 5 seyntte, 6 seeynt, sayent), 4– saint. β. (prefixed to a name beginning with a cons.) 3–4 sein, 4 san, sen, 4–6 sayn, 5 sayne, sain, syn. γ. 3–5 sant, 4–6 sent, (3 sante, sente, 4 santt, sande, sont, 5 synt, scent, 6 sentt(e), 8–9 Sc. saunt. δ. (chiefly Sc.) 4–8 sanct (6 -e), 5 senct, 5–6 saynct, seynct, 6–7 sainct.
[a. OF. saint, seint, fem. sainte, seinte (sancte, saente, sente), later sainct, as prefix occas. saen, sain, mod.F. saint = Pr. sanct, sant, It., Sp., Pg. santo (before a cons. Pr., It. Sp. san, Pg. são):—L. sanctus, properly pa. pple. of sancīre to enact, ratify, devote, consecrate (cf. sanction).
The Latin word was adopted in most of the Germanic langs.; the variants with vowel other than a are due, partly to loss of stress in the prefixed position, partly to Fr. influence: OE. sanct, OFris. sankt, sunkt, sant, sent, sint, (prefixed) sancte, sente etc., MDu. (chiefly as prefix) sanct, sant(e, sent(e, sint(e, sunte, sonte, Du. sint, dial. seint, sunt, sünt, Flemish zant, MHG. (prefixed) sancte, sant(e, sent(e, mod.G. (prefixed) Sanct, sankt, Da. sankt-, Sw. sankt(e-.
The forms sauynt, sauyn (printed sanynt, sanyn) in the Ayenbite are difficult to account for.]
A. adj. = holy, in various special applications.
1. Prefixed to the name of a canonized person (see B. 2), also to the names of the archangels: now felt to be the n. used appositively. Commonly abbreviated S. or St. (see below).[In OE. sanctus and sancte (orig. the L. vocative) were used for the masc. and sancta for the fem.] The possessive of names preceded by ‘Saint’ is often used ellipt. in names of churches, as St. Paul's, St. Peter's. Hence various names of towns, villages, etc., as St. Albans, St. Andrews, St. Bees; also the anglicized forms of some foreign place-names, as † St. Omer's (= F. St.-Omer).
αc1175Lamb. Hom. 49 Seint gregori. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 9 Ure louerd sainte powel. c1250Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 26 Ure lauedi seinte Marie. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8423 Þis bataile ido was A seinte peteres eue. 1340Ayenb. 233 Ase zayþ saint austin. c1386Chaucer Prol. 173 The reule of seint Maure or of seint Beneit. 1452Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 277 The feste of Seynte Michell the Archangle. c1510More Picus Wks. 9/2 Which is as trew as the gospell of seint John. 1599Thynne Animadv. (1875) 57 Seinte Hughe Bishoppe of Lincolne. 1828Scott F.M. Perth v, The rites due to good Saint Valentine.
βc1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 71 Þe godspelle þe sein lucas makede. a1300Cursor M. 16762 + 10 Þe swerd of sorow was at hir hert, Als sayde san symeon. a1330Otuel 1585 Bi sein geme. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 54 Ye sunday after ye Natiuite of sen Jon day, baptist. c1400Rule St. Benet (Prose) 42 Sain Benet leris vs in þis sentence, how we sal chese vre abbesse. a1470Gregory's Chron. in Hist. Coll. Cit. Lond. (Camden) 168 Syr Phylyppe Dymmoke, that rode in the halle i-armyde clene as Syn Jorge. 1538Starkey England i. i. 20 Aftur the mynd of Sayn Poule.
γc1230Hali Meid. 7 As sente pawel seið, Alle þinge turneð þe gode to god. a1300Cursor M. 154 And hit sal be reddynn þanne O Ioachim and of sant tanne [Fairf. seynt anne]. Ibid. 469 Sent micheal..Rais a-gain him for to fight. c1375Ibid. 12863 (Fairf.) Sande Iohn nerehand him stode. 14..in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. (1907) IV. 24 Synt Petyrys mynyster of Exeter. 1557in Shropsh. Parish Documents (1903) 58 It' Re'd of thomas browne for sentmari day rent iis.
δ1375Barbour Bruce v. 336 The folk..Held to Sanct Brydis kirk thar way. c1470Henry Wallace i. 282 Quha sperd, scho said to Sanct Margret thai socht. c1510More Picus Wks. 12/2 And remember these wordes of Sainct Paule also. 1562Winȝet Cert. Tractates iii. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 27 Sanctis Hierome and Augustine. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iv. 230 Sancte Columba.
¶ Abbreviations: S. and St., pl. SS. and Sts.
Since the 18th c. ‘St.’ is the form usually employed; but since about 1830 ‘S.’ has been favoured by ecclesiologists. In place-names, and in family names derived from these, only ‘St.’ is used.
[c1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 963 To Eliᵹ, þær S. æðeldrið lið. c1154Ibid. an. 1132 On S' Petres messe dei.] a1400Wyclif's Bible IV. 693 Fynding of S. Steuen martir. 1535Coverdale Bible, The gospell of S. Mathew... The epistles of S. Paul. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋8 S. Chrysostome that liued in S. Hieromes time. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 33 St. Francis Shyvier the Navarrean Jesuit. 1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 344 The storys of their giants, their dragons, and St. George's. 1850J. H. Newman Serm. Var. Occas. xii. (1857) 263 Those early Religious, of which St. Benedict is the typical representative. 1852(title) The Homilies of S. John Chrysostom..on the Gospel of St. Matthew. 1877J. D. Chambers Div. Worship 177 The Octave of S. Stephen.
2. transf.
†a. of heathen deities, etc. Obs.
c1375Cursor M. 7458 (Fairf.), I sulde him sla be seint Mahoun. c1400Rom. Rose 5953 By my modir seint Venus. Ibid. 6781 My moder flemed him, Seynt Amour. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 366 Saint Cupid then, and Souldiers to the field.
b. allusively or ironically. Obs. in gen. use.
St. Monday: see Monday 2. St. Lubbock's day: a jocular name for any of the bank holidays instituted by Sir John Lubbock's Act, 1871: see bank holiday.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 40 Ȝe þat secheþ seynt Iame and seintes at Roome, Secheþ Seint Treuþe for he may sauen ow alle. 1540Palsgr. Acolastus ii. i. I ij b, That holy saynte fylgutte or saynte panchart. 1592Greene Upst. Courtier D 3 b, He sits down in the chaire wrapt in fine cloaths, as though the barber were aboute to make him a foot-cloth for the vicar of saint fooles. 1657Titus Killing no Murder A 3 b, As Hugh Capet, in taking the Crown, pretended to be admonish't to it in a dreame by St. Valery, and St. Richard: so I beleeve will his Highnes [sc. Cromwell] doe the same, at the instigation of St. Henry and St. Richard his two Sonnes. 1665Swan Spec. M. iv. §4 (ed. 3) 214, I think the best time to try this, is upon St. Jefferies day, which is neither before Christmass nor after it. 1690C. Nesse Hist. & Myst. O. & N. Test. I. 39 Our late Anti-Sabbatarians..call'd it Saint-Sabbath.
†3. Prefixed to various common nouns (in collocations taken over from Latin and French), esp. Charity, Cross, Spirit, Trinity. Obs.
Sometimes abbreviated as in 1.
In dedications of churches there occur St. Cross, St. Faith, St. Saviour, St. Sepulchre.
a1300Cursor M. 21465 Bi sant drightin Mi thinc þe wers part es mine. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 104 Al-þough men made bokes, god was þe maistre, And seynt spirit þe saumplarye. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 863 But sle me first for seinte charitee. c1386― Sompn. T. 116 Chideth him weel, for seinte Trinitee. c1440Generydes 4282 He..askyd almes for seynt charite. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. i. 413 By seynt crosse said syre Vwayne he is a stronge knyght. 1553Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 206 Cause a masse to be song or sayde in the honoure of Saint Spirite. 1602Shakes. Ham. iv. v. 58 By gis, and by S. Charity, Alacke, and fie for shame. 1631Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 722 The Altar..was that which was first built to Saint seruice. 1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4688/1 The Annual Procession..in Honour of the Saint Sudario [i.e. il Santo Sudario].
4. Attributive and possessive collocations of proper names with the prefix ‘Saint’ (St.) in sense 1.
a. Many plants, animals, and other objects have been named after saints of the calendar. For these appellations see the saints' names in their alphabetical places or the ns. qualified by them.
b. Many diseases have been named after saints that are supposed to ward them off or relieve them.
A long list of these is given in Dunglison's Dict. Med. Sci. and Syd. Soc. Lex. For St. Anthony's, St. Francis's fire, see fire n. 12. St. Vitus' dance: see dance n. 6 d.
c. Many objects are called after a place-name or a surname beginning with ‘Saint’ (‘St.’); the following are some of the more important.
St. Augustine grass, a coarse grass, Stenotaphrum secundatum, native to the southeastern United States and central America and named after a town in Florida; St. Bees Sandstone, a pebbly sandstone occurring in thick beds in northwest England, formerly regarded as Upper Permian but now as Lower Triassic; St. Bernard (dog), in full Great St. Bernard dog, a dog of a breed kept by the monks of the Hospice of the Great St. Bernard (a dangerous pass in the alps between Switzerland and Italy) for the rescue of travellers in distress; St. Bernard('s) lily, a perennial herb, Anthericum liliago, belonging to the family Liliaceæ and bearing racemes of white flowers; St. Brigid('s) anemone, a plant belonging to a garden race of Anemone coronaria, bearing single or double red or blue flowers; St. Bruno's lily, a rhizomatous perennial herb, Paradisea liliastrum, which resembles St. Bernard's lily but has larger flowers (cf. lily 1 b); St. Dabeoc's heath, an Irish heath, Dabœcia cantabrica or one of its varieties, belonging to the family Ericaceæ and bearing white, pink, or purple flowers; St. Domingo cuckoo, etc., species of cuckoo, etc., found in San Domingo; St. Domingo fever, yellow fever; St. George's mushroom, a creamy-white, flattened mushroom, Tricholoma gambosum; St. Germain pear, a fine dessert pear; St. Gobain glass, a fine kind of plate glass manufactured at St. Gobain in France; St. Helena tea (see quots.); St. Johnston's riband, tippet, Sc., a halter or hangman's rope; (St. Johnston = Perth); St. Kilda cold (see quot.); St. Kilda (field, house) mouse, a variety of the long-tailed field mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis, or the house mouse, Mus musculus muralis; St. Kilda wren, a local variety of the wren, Troglodytes troglodytes hirtensis, with paler plumage; St. Leger, the name of a horse-race for three-year-olds run at Doncaster: instituted by Colonel St. Leger in 1776; St. Louis encephalitis [St. Louis, city of Missouri, U.S.], a severe viral encephalitis transmitted by mosquitos; St. Louis group, a section of the mountain limestone of North America, well developed in states bordering on the upper Mississippi; St. Lucia (Lucie) bark, the bark of the West Indian shrub Exostemma floribundum, used in tanning; St. Michael's, the name of one of the Azores, which produced a fine quality of orange; † St. Omer's (corruptly St. Thomas) worsted, a kind of worsted manufactured at St. Omer's; St. Patrick's cabbage (see cabbage n.1 2).
1905W. J. Spillman Farm Grasses U.S. xiii. 196 *St. Augustine grass occurs along the Atlantic coast from Charleston, S.C., southward. 1968F. W. Gould Grass Systematics v. 203 St. Augustine grass is relatively coarse.
[1836Trans. Geol. Soc. IV. 398 The red sandstone of St. Bees Head is unquestionably the exact equivalent of the upper red sandstone of that series.] 1865E. W. Binney in Mem. Lit. & Philos. Soc. Manchester II. 373 Fine⁓grained red sandstone, laminated and ripple-marked, same as that seen at Moat,..Maryport, and other places, which may be conveniently called *St. Bees sandstone. 1946L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. & Scenery xxii. 224 The St. Bees Sandstone,..of New Red Sandstone age, forms the red cliffs of St. Bees Head. 1969Bennison & Wright Geol. Hist. Brit. Isles xi. 265 In this case the base of the St. Bees Sandstone, of Bunter age, may also be diachronous.
1839Sir T. D. Lauder in C. H. Smith Dogs (1840) II. 142 My *St. Bernard dog, Bass. 1877Encycl. Brit. VII. 327/2 The Great St. Bernard Dog of the present day is a powerful animal, as large as a mastiff. 1884Harper's Mag. Aug. 464/1 A big St. Bernard.
1883W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden 26/2 The *St. Bernard's Lily..grows from 1 foot to 2 feet high, producing single, sometimes branched flower-spikes. 1900W. D. Drury Bk. Gardening x. 315 The St. Bruno and St. Bernard Lilies..are fast becoming popular. 1964H. Ramsbotham tr. Schauenberg's Bulb Bk. iii. 106 St. Bernard's Lily..is a common plant in Alpine meadows.
[1894Jrnl. R. Hort. Soc. XVII. p. liv, Award of Merit. To Anenome St. Brigid's strain..from Earl Cowper, Panshanger, Hertford ([gardener] Mr. Fitt). ]1902Ibid. XXVII. p. lxxxvi. Award of Merit. To the Alderborough strain of *St. Brigid Anemones. 1939W. Fortescue There's Rosemary lxxix. 408 We had the joy..of seeing his beautiful frail hands caress the petals of flaming St Brigid Anemones and slender tulips which bordered the drive of the Domaine. 1971Country Life 2 Sept. 543/3 St. Brigid's anemones. Sown in April, they flower from August.
1795Curtis's Bot. Mag. IX. 318 (heading) Savoy Anthericum, or *St. Bruno's Lily. 1883W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden ii. 26/2 The major variety of the St. Bruno's Lily has much larger flowers than the type. 1964H. Ramsbotham tr. Schauenberg's Bulb Bk. iii. 204 The English name of this lovely Alpine plant [sc. St. Bernard's Lily] is ‘St. Bruno's Lily’.
1863R. C. A. Prior On Pop. Names Brit. Plants 195 *St. Dabeoc's Heath, from an Irish saint of that name, a species found in Ireland. 1978P. Rowe-Dutton tr. van de Laar's Heather Garden 130 St. Dabeoc's Heath. A low, evergreen Irish native with broad fresh green leaves, silvery beneath.
1782Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. ii. 541 *St. Domingo Cuckow. Ibid. i. 111 St. Domingo Falcon. 1793Smellie tr. Buffon's Nat. Hist. Birds VIII. 231 The St. Domingo Chesnut..Colymbus Dominicus, Linn.
1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 644 From the depredations it has committed in the West Indies and on the American Coast, it has been called the *St. Domingo..fever.
1891M. C. Cooke Brit. Edible Fungi iv. 34 ‘*St. George's mushroom’..makes its appearance about the time of St. George's Day. 1966Oxf. Bk. Flowerless Plants 134/2 ‘St. George's Mushroom’..grows in undergrowth on the edges of woods..and in open grassland.
1693Evelyn De La Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 93 This *St. Germain-pear, otherwise called the Unknown Pear of the Fare, has a very tender Pulp. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. iv. (1859) 77 Milton was a Saint-Germain with a graft of the roseate Early-Catherine... Russet-skinned old Chaucer was an Easter-Beurré.
1870Sauzay Marvels of Glass-making 91 note, According to M. Péligot the *St. Gobain glass is composed of, Silica 73·0, Lime 15·5, Soda 11·5.
1875Melliss St. Helena 239 Frankenia portulacæfolia, Spreng... Beatsonia portulacæfolia, Roxb.; *St. Helena Tea... I find no record of the plant having been ever used as a substitute for tea. 1897Syd. Soc. Lex., St. Helena tea, a kind of tea made in the island of St. Helena by infusing the leaves of the plant Beatsonia portulacifolia.
1638H. Adamson Muse's Threnodie (1774) 119 Hence of *St. Johnston's ribband came the word. 1816Scott Old Mort. vii, To be sent to Heaven wi' a Saint Johnstone's tippit about my hause.
1897Syd. Soc. Lex., *St. Kilda cold... A variety of Influenza occurring in the Hebrides, believed to be brought by strangers from ships touching at the islands.
1899G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton in Proc. Zool. Soc. 78, I have now before me..a fine adult pair..of the *St. Kilda Mouse. 1913― Hist. Brit. Mammals II. 540 (heading) The St Kilda Field Mouse. Ibid. 661 (heading) The St Kilda House Mouse. 1960M. Burton Wild Animals Brit. Isles 78 St. Kilda field mouse..with brown under parts. Ibid. 88 Since the human inhabitants left the island in 1930, the St. Kilda mouse has become extinct. 1976Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Mar. 3/3 The St. Kilda house mouse has become extinct. Ibid., The St. Kilda field mouse is also larger.
1884H. Seebohm in Zoologist VIII. 333 Those ornithologists who regard the climatic races of this bird as distinct species, will probably come to the conclusion that the *St. Kilda Wren is one of the most distinct. 1914[see wren 1 b]. 1944J. S. Huxley On Living in Revolution ix. 96 The St. Kilda wren..was for some time classified as a separate species. 1976Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Mar. 3/3 The St. Kilda wren is unique.
1778in Baily's Racing Reg. (1845) I. 470/1 *St. Leger's Stakes of 25 gs. each. 1825C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy (1907) I. 327 This is the settling day for all bets made upon the great Doncaster St. Leger. 1847Thackeray Van. Fair (1848) xxxiv. 302 He and his father fell to talking about odds on the *St. Leger. 1930Daily Express 11 Sept. 9/5 The St. Leger was run in almost ideal conditions. 1977Times 10 Sept. 22/1 Thirteen runners have finally stood their ground for this year's St Leger..at Doncaster this afternoon.
[1933Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 9 Sept. 860/2 (heading) The St. Louis encephalitis epidemic.] 1934Ibid. 18 Aug. 462/2 The virus of *St. Louis encephalitis had an almost exclusively neurotropic activity. 1962Gordon & Lavoipierre Entomol. xix. 130 As regards western equine encephalomyelitis and St. Louis encephalitis..the important vector appears to be Culex tarsalis. 1977Jrnl. Virol. XXII. 608 The antigenic determinants of St. Louis encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, and dengue virus envelope and nucleocapsid proteins were examined by solid-phase competition radioimmunoassay.
1863Dana Man. Geol. 307 The *St. Louis limestone (250 feet thick), overlaid by ferruginous sandstone (200 feet). 1879Encyl. Brit. X. 350/2 St. Louis group.—Limestones with shale, in places 250 feet.
1840Pereira Elem. Mat. Med. ii. 992 *St. Lucia Bark. 1852C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 94 St. Lucia Bark..is said to be suitable for tanning. c1830*St. Michael's oranges [see orange n.1 1]. 1892Daily News 22 Dec. 3/1 It may be that some day sweet St. Michaels may pour in upon us again.
1530Palsgr. 269/1 *Seynt Homer's worstedde, demy ostade. 1552Inv. Church Goods (Surtees) II. 61 A cope of read Saint Thomas worsted.
1851C. A. Johns Flowers of Field I. 240 S[axifraga] umbrosa (London Pride or *St. Patrick's Cabbage). 1976Church Times 14 May 14/5 Other flowers with religious or curious folk⁓names are ‘Yellow Archangel’..; ‘St. Patrick's Cabbage’ (one of the saxifrages); [etc.].
‖d. Similarly found in various place- or personal names of French origin, as St. Cloud |sɛ̃klu|, used attrib. to designate porcelain or faïence made at St. Cloud, Seine-et-Oise, in the late-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; St. Emilion |sɛ̃temiljɔ̃|, the name applied to various wines produced in the region of St. Emilion, Gironde, in south-west France; St. Galmier |galmje|, an effervescent natural mineral water from St. Galmier, Loire, in central France; St. Honoré |ɔnɔre| (see quot. 1964); usu. attrib., as gâteau St. Honoré; St. Paulin |polɛ̃|, a kind of cheese (see quots.); St. Porchaire |pɔrʃɛr|, used attrib. to designate a kind of earthenware made at Saint-Porchaire, Deux-Sèvres, France, in the sixteenth century; St. Raphael (wine) |rafajɛl|, an aperitif wine from St. Raphael, Var, in France.
[1699M. Lister Journey to Paris 138, I saw the Potterie of St. Clou with which I was marvellously well pleased.] 1721M. W. Montagu Let. June (1966) II. 6 If you have not allready laid out that small Summ in St. Cloud ware, I had rather have it in plain Lutestring. 1870C. Schreiber Jrnl. 17 Feb. (1911) I. 71 We found an exquisite pâte tendre St. Cloud group. 1978Times 4 Mar. 10/7 The Garrick Club have..Thomas King's cane with a fine St Cloud porcelain handle.
1833C. Redding Hist. Mod. Wines v. 142 St. Emilion has plenty of body, and superior flavour. 1981P. Fox Satan's Messenger ii. xviii. 133 You don't serve a Château Lafite to two hundred people... The St. Emilion would be perfectly adequate.
1883Encycl. Brit. XVI. 436/1 Classes I. and II. of alkaline waters..are very abundant on the Continent, and..some of the best-known ones enumerated below are..French..St. Galmier, Pougues, Chateldon. 1912Beerbohm Seven Men (1919) 114 ‘Apollinaris? St. Galmier? Or what?’ I asked. He preferred plain water.
1907Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 55/2 Iced & Fancy Cakes... Gâteaux St. Honore..each 1/5. 1964A. Launay Caviare & After 143 Saint Honoré, a rich, round pastry filled with cream and topped with crystallized fruits. 1968V. Canning Melting Man v. 120 He..came back with a concoction that made me feel I would never want to eat again... ‘It is a Saint-Honoré. He was, you know, once Bishop of Amiens and is the patron saint of pastry-cooks. 1968D. Hopkinson Incense-Tree i. 6 Her dinner parties were graced with..Gâteau St Honoré.
1956A. L. Simon Cheeses of World 73 Saint-Paulin is a semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk... The Trappists of..Tamié..used to sell their cheese as St. Paulin, but it is now sold as Fromage de Tamié. 1958Catal. County Stores, Taunton June 9 Cheese..St. Paulin—each 5/6. 1971Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 28 Mar. 34/3 Saint-Paulin, resembles Port Salut in texture, taste and origins. First made in a Norman monastery, it is a rich yellow whole cow's milk cheese, at once soft and firm to the touch and very mildly ripe to taste.
[1899P. Glazier Man. Hist. Ornament 81 Henri-deux, or St Porchards ware, now more properly described as Oiron ware, originated at St Porchard in 1524.] 1925E. Hannover Pott. & Porc. III. i. 15 Specimens of the ‘Henri II’ (St. Porchaire) ware, which is also extremely rare, have repeatedly been offered for sale..in our own days. 1960[see Henri Deux]. 1975Times 20 May 16/4 One of the greatest rareties in..European ceramics, a St. Porchaire ewer, is to be offered for sale... St. Porchaire wares were made between about 1525 and 1565 and only 60 pieces have survived... St. Porchaire ware, also known as faience de Henri II..was rediscovered by the public, like Palissy ware, as a result of the 1862 ‘Special Exhibition of Works of Art’ at the South Kensington Museum.
1899Hardy Let. 23 Aug. in One Rare Fair Woman (1972) 83, I have taken one bottle of St Raphael wine—and it has picked me up. 1951[see Lillet]. 1971Guardian 3 June 9/4 St. Raphael and Dubonnet are the sweetest [aperitifs]. 1980E. Leather Duveen Let. xii. 138 Glasses of St Raphael and Vichy water were ordered.
B. n. A holy person.
1. One of the blessed dead in Heaven. Usually pl.[a1000Cædmon's Satan 355 Þær habbað englas eadiᵹne dream, sanctas singað.] 13..Cursor M. 10402 (Gött) Felauschip..Of saintes [Cott. halus] hye in heuen bliss. 138.Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 467 A thowsand þowsandis bene moo seintis in heven þen we kanonysen in þo kalender. c1420Prymer (1895) 7 (Te Deum) Make hem to be rewardid wiþ seyntis in endeles blis. 1592Arden of Feversham i. i. 329 To liue With God and his elected saints in heauen. 1657Jer. Taylor Funeral Serm. Sir G. Dalstone, The consummation and perfection of the saints' felicity shall be at the resurrection of the dead. 1781Cowper Truth 150 She, half an angel in her own account, Doubts not hereafter with the saints to mount. 1851G. Rorison Hymn, ‘Three in One’, With the Saints here⁓after we Hope to bear the palm. 1864Bp. W. How Hymn, For all Thy Saints who from their labours rest. 1875Manning Mission Holy Ghost vii. 191 A multitude who have not been canonised on earth, though they are saints in heaven.
2. a. Eccl. One of those persons who are formally recognized by the Church as having by their exceptional holiness of life attained an exalted station in heaven, and as being entitled in an eminent degree to the veneration of the faithful; a canonized person. In Pre-Reformation use, the term implies that the persons so designated may be lawfully addressed in prayer for their intercession with God, and that miracles have been wrought through their aid after death. Also, a monk or anchorite, esp. in phr. (is)land of saints, Ireland. † to seek, visit a saint: to pay one's devotions at his shrine. (Cf. hallow n.1 2.)[c1000ælfric in Sweet A.-S. Reader (1894) 85 God ᵹeswutelode þæt he haliᵹ sanct wæs swa þæt heofonlic leoht of þæt ᵹeteld astreht stod up to heofonum. c1122O.E. Chron. (Laud. MS.) an. 979, He wæs on life eorðlic cing, he is nu æfter deaðe heofonlic sanct.] a1300Cursor M. 28604 To godd i merci cri..And all seyntes of heuen sere. a1310in Wright Lyric P. xxxiv. 96 Preye we alle to oure levedy, Ant to the sontes that woneth hire by. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 69 (118) In a cave To bidde, and rede on holy seyntes lyves. c1420Anturs of Arth. xvii, I salle garre seke sayntes for thi sake. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 6287 For seyntys wych that suffrede so, I wot ryht wel that they be go To paradys. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxv. 65 We pray to all the Sanctis of hevin, That ar aboif the sterris sevin. 1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 206 This præsent Kalendar quhairin is comprehendit the Sanctes and martyres vith the tyme of thair death or suffering. 1614Bp. Hall No Peace with Rome §21 Neither will we only glorifie God in his Saints..but wee will magnifie the Saints..for their excellent graces. 1726Boys Expos. 39 Art. 146 Pardons or Indulgences, which are promis'd to those that visit such a Saint or Chapel. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 44 The castle of St. Elmo, or St. Eramo, so called from a church dedicated to that saint. 1847J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. xii. 134 A considerable number of churches are called after the names of the primitive saints of our island. 1862Burton Bk. Hunter iv. 323 Technically, to make a saint, there should be an act of pontifical jurisdiction. 1888Chesterton Ballad of White Horse v. 102 His men were all as thin as saints. Ibid. 103 Though Ireland be but a land of saints, and Wales a land of thieves. 1904C. Walsh in J. McCarthy Irish Lit. I. p. xvii, Her nationality and her national spirit have been recognized during the last twenty years as they never were since the days when Ireland was the ‘island of saints and scholars’, the land of intellectual light and leading in Europe. 1938W. B. Yeats New Poems 13 My father upon the Abbey stage, before him a raging crowd. ‘This Land of Saints’ and then..‘Of plaster Saints’. 1964Welsh Hist. Rev. II. 122 The migrations of the ‘saints’ from Britain can be dated almost exclusively to the sixth century. Ibid. 123 We can picture these early British ‘saints’ (monks) seeking solitary places at home and abroad in which to serve God. 1979Guardian 1 Oct. 2/8 It was the Pope's arrival at Dublin Airport..which truly set the distinctive character of this personal pilgrimage to his ‘island of saints’.
Proverb.1550Bale Eng. Votaries ii. 105 b, These adages myght than haue bene founde true, suche saynt, suche shryn, suche bere, suche bottell.
b. A representation or image of a saint.
1563Homilies ii. Agst. Images iii. Q q iij, Such a creple came and saluted this saint of Oke. 1679Roxb. Ball. (1885) V. 594 And who, to furnish his own want, Can seize Gold Cross, or Silver Saint. 1817Lady Morgan France i. (1818) I. 92 Fruit in wax-work, and saints in or moulu. 1849James Woodman xv, Far readier to worship a gold angel than a painted saint. 1893Bates Eng. Relig. Drama 27 As if the chiselled, painted saint himself..stepped down..from marble niche.
c. transf. Applied e.g. to persons who are the objects of posthumous reverence in non-Christian religions. † Also rarely to heathen deities, etc.
13..K. Alis. 6763 Thou schalt fynde trowes two: Seyntes and holy they buth bo. c1400Destr. Troy 2000 All the buernes in the bote,..Besoght vnto sainttes & to sere goddes. Ibid. 12071 Þe sayntis of hell Were wode in hor werkis for wreke of Achilles. 1601Holland Pliny I. 4 Others..are punished by the saints whom they adore, and the holy ceremonies which they obserue. 1626Methold in Purchas Pilgrimage 999 One Saint they haue..whom they expresse by a plaine round stone. 1876A. J. Evans Through Bosnia viii. 342 There are many gay kiosques rising over the graves of Moslem saints.
3. a. In biblical use, one of God's chosen people; in the New Testament, one of the elect under the New Covenant; a member of the Christian church; a Christian. Hence used by some religious bodies as their own designation, e.g. by some puritanical sects in the 16–17th c., the Mormons (see latter-day), and the Plymouth Brethren.
1382Wylcif 1 Cor. i. 2 To the halowid in Crist Ihesu, clepid seyntis. 1526Tindale Acts ix. 32 As Peter walked throughoute all quarters, he cam to the saincts which dwelt at lydda. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 103 God, for thy grace,..Ceis not to send thy Sanctis sune support. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lvi. 123 The fellowship of his Saincts in this present world. 1610B. Jonson Alch. ii. v, A seruant of the exil'd Brethren, That deale with widdowes and with orphanes goods And make a iust account vnto the Saints: A Deacon. 1626― Staple of N. iii. ii. 125 Ha' you in your prophane Shop, any Newes O'the Saints at Amsterdam? 1658Cowley Cutter Colman St. iii. i, What preaching, and houling, and fasting, and eating among the Saints! 1704Nelson Fest. & Fasts xxxiv. (1739) 419 In the beginning of Christianity, the word Saint was applied to all Believers. 1710[H. Bedford] Vind. Ch. Eng. 170 We seem to have forgot the Saints Reign from 41 to 60. 1782C. Simeon in Carus Life (1847) 28 Now he scruples keeping a horse, that the money may help the saints of Christ. 1786Burns Sc. Drink viii, Godly meetings o' the saunts, By thee inspir'd. 1838G. V. Wigram Let. in T. S. Veitch Story of Brethren Movement (1933) iv. 59 The question I refer to is ‘How are the meetings for communion of Saints in these parts to be regulated?’ 1847J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. iii. 31 It is not..improbable..that St. Paul should have become acquainted with some of these captives, by means of some of the Saints in Cæsar's household. 1863Dickens Uncomm. Trav. xx, The Preface, dated Manchester, 1840, ran thus:—‘The Saints in this country have been very desirous for a Hymn Book adapted to their faith and worship’. 1866H. Groves Darbyism ii. 25 God so ordered it, that the anathemas which had divided the assemblies in Plymouth, should fall upon the saints assembling at Bethesda in Bristol. 1886Whitaker's Alm. 204 Religious Sects...Saints. 1907E. Gosse Father & Son iii. 72 She now had the care of a practised woman, one of the ‘saints’ from the Chapel. 1978Times Lit. Suppl. 26 May 573/1 Critical intelligence and the world of the Plymouth Brethren proved..incompatible: growing up meant leaving the Saints.
b. In biblical use applied to angels.
1382Wyclif Deut. xxxiii. 2 The Lord..aperide fro the hil of Pharan, and with hym thousandis of seyntis. 1611Bible Jude 14 The Lord commeth with ten thousands of his Saints. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 46 Gabriel..lead forth my armied Saints.
4. a. A person of extraordinary holiness of life. Sometimes ironically, A person making an outward profession of piety. Also in colloq. use, an extremely good or long-suffering person.
1563Foxe A. & M. 1258/2 Boner. Well mayster Countroller, I am no sainct. Ibid. 1374/2 Surely you would moue a Saint with your impertinent reasons. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 28 For such an iniurie would vexe a very saint. 1625Bacon Ess., Suspicion, What would Men haue? Doe they thinke, those they employ and deale with, are Saints? 1677W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. v. 99 We have read of Canniballs that devour the flesh of Men. Tush! They are Saints to Papists. For, They devour their God! 1732Pope Ep. Cobham 246 Odious! in woollen! 'twould a Saint provoke. 1749Chesterfield Lett. ccix. (1792) II. 301, I have sometimes known Saints really religious. 1852Thackeray Esmond III. iii. 92 ‘O how good she is, Harry,’ Beatrix went on to say, ‘O what a saint she is!’ 1884Harper's Mag. Jan. 296/1 Were you a saint at college? 1884H. A. Jones (title) Saints and Sinners. a1887H. W. Beecher Prov. Plymouth Pulpit 178 It will not do to be saints at meeting and sinners everywhere else. 1978R. Barnard Unruly Son xvii. 186 My mother..always thought about me. She was a saint.
b. Proverb.
1500–20Dunbar Poems xlvi. 35 Of ȝung sanctis growis auld feyndis but fable. 1552Latimer 7th Serm. on Lord's Prayer (1562) H 4 b, The old prouerb yong saints, old deuils. 1616S. Price Ephesus Warning 73 That Prouerb inuented by the Diuell that young Saints proue old Diuels. 1655Fuller Serm. iv. 4 David began to be good betimes, a young Saint, and yet crossed that pestilent Proverb, was no old devill. 1694Motteux Rabelais iv. lxiv. 254.
5. A nickname for:
a. A member of a religious association at Cambridge (see quots.). Now Hist.
1793Acc. Proc. agst. W. Frend 107, I shewed them [sc. two letters] to some of my friends, as instances of the gratitude of the saints. 1803Gradus ad Cantabr. 116 Saints, a set of men who have great pretensions to particular sanctity of manners and zeal for orthodoxy. 1882Mrs. Oliphant Lit. Hist. Eng. III. 38 [Dean Milner] was at the head of the party vulgarly called the Saints, the preachers of world-renunciation and self-denial. Another leader of this party..was Charles Simeon.
b. One of the party which promoted the agitation in England against slavery. Now Hist.
1830N. S. Wheaton Jrnl. 281 The friends of negro emancipation..are already (1823–4) honoured with the nickname of ‘Saints’. 1832Marryat N. Forster xv, ‘But do you think that this is likely to occur?’ ‘I do, most certainly, if those who govern continue to listen to the insidious advice of the party denominated ‘Saints’. 1880S. Walpole Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 196 The West Indians were furious with Stanley for doing so much; the ‘Saints’ were annoyed with him for doing so little.
6. attrib. and Comb., as saint-author, saint-martyr, saint-protectrice; saint-beseeming, saint-eyed, saint-faced, saint-holy, saint-pleasing, saint-seeming adjs.; saint-maker, saint-making, saint server, saint-worship, saint worshipper; saint's day, (a) a day set apart by the Church for observing the memory of a saint; (b) = name-day 1; † saint's head stone, a name for a kind of limestone.
1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 165 A *saint-author of all men least values politeness.
1650Baxter Saints' R. i. iv. §5. 29 That *Saint-beseeming work.
1778Epit. in Stretton Church Yard in Bye-Gones 18 July (1894) 376 Go *saint-eyed patience from affliction's door.
1829H. Hawthorn Visit Babylon 61 Some usurious and *saint-faced Quakers.
a1617Bayne On Eph. (1658) 7 Such beleevers..who will not be accounted *Saint-holy.
1604Hieron Answ. to Popish Ryme B 2, Who made the Pope a *Saint⁓maker? 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 19 A man who was called the saint-maker..married five shrews in succession, and made Grizels of every one of them.
1802Ranken Hist. France II. ii. §2. 186 The church of Rome, desirous of engrossing this power of *saint-making.
1826W. E. Andrews Exam. Fox's Cal. Prot. Saints 473 Fox being in want of a *saint-martyr, thought proper to canonize a self-destroyer.
1601Weever Mirr. Mart. B 7 b, Thy sweete *saint-pleasing songs forgotten.
1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 273 The ladys..were the *saint-protectrices to whom the champions chiefly paid their vows.
a1450Myrc Festial 267 Þogh we halowen but few *sayntes⁓dayes, ȝet we ben full neclygent yn oure seruyce. 1726Ayliffe Parergon 473, I cannot find..that we can trace what we call the Saints'-Days higher than the eighth or ninth Century. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xxi, Eliza was gone to attend a saint's-day service at the New Church. 1863Hawthorne Our Old Home II. 100 On a Sunday or Saint's day. 1943E. M. Almedingen Frossia iii. 149 It is my saint's day, we have guests coming. 1980‘J. Le Carré’ Smiley's People xxiii. 272 Felicity had called her in..to have Russian company on her saint's day.
a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 395 Their *saint⁓seeming sanctity.
1563J. Man Musculus' Commonpl. 293 As the *Sainct seruers [L. cultores diuorum] doe in our dayes.
1763Museum Rust. I. lxxxv. 379 There is frequently found in the clay very hard lyas, or *saints-head stones.
1601Weever Mirr. Mart. E 7, Acton did march in *Saint-triumphing showes.
1677Gale Crt. Gentiles iii. 173 The imputation of *Saint-worship. 1775Adair Amer. Ind. 207 The popish saint-worship. 1882–3Schaff's Encycl. Relig. Knowl. III. 2098 The abuses of saint-worship.
1615Byfield Expos. Col. i. 19 (1628) 127 Sancti-colists, Pharises and *Saint-worshippers. 1648Gage West Ind. 174 All that were there present, as well Saint-worshippers, as indeed that Idols worshippers.
Add:[A.] [4.] [d.] St. Louis |lwi|, used attrib. to designate a kind of crystal glass manufactured at the St. Louis glass-house in the Munzthal, Lorraine, from the mid-eighteenth century; also absol., an article (esp. a paperweight) manufactured there.
1969P. O'Donnell Taste for Death ii. 29 His eye fell on the glass paperweights..‘That's a St. Louis... The other two are Baccarat and Clichy-la-Garenne.’ 1973Times 17 Apr. 18/4 A St Louis green overlay relief lizard weight made {pstlg}4,800. There was also a very rare St Louis aventurine ground weight at {pstlg}2,400. 1979N. & I. Lyons Champagne Blues 11 The crystal pendants on the Saint-Louis chandelier.
St(e).-Maure |sɛ̃tmɔr|, a cylindrically-shaped cheese made from goat's milk, named after the village in the Touraine where it is chiefly produced.
1951Good Housek. Home Encycl. 489/1 [Goats' milk] is widely used for making cheeses, for example, Saint Maure. 1961List of French Cheeses (Harrods) Sept., Sainte-Maure, the most widely produced goat's milk cheese of the Touraine. It has quite a mild flavour, and, when the rind is blueish in colour, it indicates that the cheese is of the highest quality. 1982D. Smith Compl. Cookery Course 462 Saint-Maure..is cylindrical, firm to the touch and full-flavoured.
[B.] [5.] c. ellipt. for *Helenian n.
1983Times 19 Mar. 8/6 To the traveller, St Helena presents an idyllic prospect..but this lonely little colony of 5,500 souls faces a bleak future... The Saints, though not a resentful people, compare their lot with that of the Falkland Islanders. 1985Observer 16 June 17/1 ‘I'm a Saint,’ he said. ‘Not, I mean, that I'm saintly, of course.’ He laughed. ‘But from St Helena Island. That's what people from there are called.’
▪ II. saint, v.|seɪnt|
Forms: see saint n.; also 3 pa. pple. isonted.
[f. saint n.]
1. pass. To be or become a saint in Heaven. Obs. or arch.
a1225Ancr. R. 350 Þeo pilegrimes þet goð touward heouene, heo goð forte beon isonted. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. i. iv. 34, I hold you as a thing en-skied, and sainted. 1854Longfellow Birds of Passage, Prometheus iv, Only those are crowned and sainted Who with grief have been acquainted.
2. a. trans. To call (a person) a saint, give the name of ‘saint’ to; to reckon among the saints; spec. to enroll among the number of saints formally recognized by the Church; to canonize.
1375Barbour Bruce xvii. 875 This thomas, That on this vis maid martir was, Wes sanctit and myraclis did. 1553Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 180 He [sc. Pope John XXII] sainted also Thomas of Aquine the blackefrier. 1601Weever Mirr. Mart. F 3, He praisd, adornd, and for a martyr sainted, Whilst I (Rome's scoffe) my rites of buriall wanted. 1622Drayton Poly-olb. xxiv. 960 There other holy Kings were likewise, who confess'd, Which those most zealous times have sainted. 1628Earle Microcosm., Shee Hypocrite (Arb.) 63 Shee doubts of the Virgin Marie's Saluation, and dare not Saint her. 1690Norris Beatitudes (1692) 135 The most generous and brave Spirits, those whom Paganism has Deify'd, and Christianity has Sainted. 1705Addison Italy, Sienna 391 A Shooe-Maker that has been Beatify'd, tho' never Sainted. 1830Coleridge Table-t. 4 June, [Jeremy] Taylor..saints every trumpery monk and friar, down to the very latest canonizations by modern popes. 1842Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 152 They shout, ‘Behold a saint!’ And lower voices saint me from above. 1906Westm. Gaz. 19 June 5/1 The sandy shores of River Nid, where Holy Olaf's bones were laid to rest before he had been sainted.
†b. fig. (Also absol.) Obs.
1597Bp. Hall Sat. i. vii, Sure will he saint her in his Calendere. a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieut. iii. iii, If fortune dare play the Slut againe, I'll never more Saint her. 1632Brome Novella iv. i, Lovers shall saint thee; and this day shall be For ever callenderd to Love and thee. 1727–46Thomson Summer 1481 Alfred..whose hallow'd name the virtues saint. 1728Pope Dunc. ii. 357 Prompt or to guard or stab, to saint or damn. a1910‘Mark Twain’ in C. B. Taylor Margins on Thackeray's ‘Swift’ (1935) 47 It would have been enough merely to have forgiven Swift in this paragraph—not sainted him.
3. To cause to be regarded, or to appear, as a saint; to represent as a saint. rare.
1609Daniel Civ. Wars i. liii, And in the vnconceiuing vulgar sort, Such an impression of his goodnes gaue As Sainted him. 1649Milton Eikon. Pref. B 3, Though the Picture sett in Front would Martyr him and Saint him to befoole the people. 1701Baxter's Paraphr. N.T. Postscr., However holy Salvian excuse them, and the Life of Bobeline saint them, the generality of Christian Writers disown them. 1853J. Hamilton Lives Bunyan, etc. 176 He fell upon a time when the Church of England contained many men whose genius and piety would have immortalized and sainted them in an earlier age.
absol.1887Browning Parleyings, B. de Mandeville ii, Brave sins which saint when shriven.
†4.
a. To ascribe holy virtues or a sacred character to. Obs.
1652French Yorksh. Spa xvii. 119 Whether this Well was Sainted from its real vertues, or onely supposed vertues. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. iv. §22 After-Ages..over-acted their part in shrining, sainting and adoring his Relicks. 1657Reeve God's Plea 90 It is an easie matter..to professe the Gospell, to Saint a fancied cause.
b. To name (something) after a saint. Obs. rare—1.
1706E. Baynard Cold Baths in Floyer Hist. Cold Bathing ii. 319 A..Well, Sainted with the Name of Anne.
5. intr. To act or live as a saint; to live a saintly life; to play the saint. In later use chiefly with it.
c1460Towneley Myst. xiii. 209 Mak... I must haue reuerence; why, who be ich?.. Bot, mak, lyst ye saynt? I trow that ye lang. 1530Palsgr. 697/1, I praye God I saynte than. 1571Satir. Poems Reform. xxviii. 204 Nane I accuse, I come not heir to Sant. c1585Faire Em iii. 1280 Let Mistress nice go saint it where she list. 1599Shakes., etc. Pass. Pilgr. 342 Thinke women still to striue with men, To sinne and neuer for to Saint. 1619W. Sclater Exp. 1 Thess. (1630) 183 What need to Saint it in youth? time enough to repent in age. 1735Pope Ep. Lady 15 Whether the Charmer sinner it, or saint it. 1737Ramsay Prov. (1750) 76 Neither sae sinfu' as to sink, nor sae haly as to saunt. 1880A. I. Ritchie Ch. Baldred 26 He sainted it and sinnered it in turns.
▪ III. saint
variant of cent2, seynt. |