| 释义 |
† ˈbyspel, ˈbispel Obs. or ? dial.
Also 9 Sc. and north. byspale.
[ME. bispell, OE. ˈbíspell, ˈbíᵹspell, f. bí, by + spell tale, story, narration; cogn. w. MHG. bîspel, bîspil ‘instance, example’, MDu. bîspel, byspel (Kilian). As in other nominal compounds, the prefix had the strong accented form, and appears to retain the sound of by (baɪ) in the dialects in which the word lingers; but it was perhaps shortened to |ˈbɪspɛl| in ME.]
1. A parable.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxi. 33 Oðero bispell heres ᵹe. c1000Ags. Gosp. ibid., Gehyrað me oðer biᵹspel. c1160Hatton G. ibid., Geherað nu oðer byspel. c1175Cott. Hom. 233 Gode menn, understandeð þis bispel.
2. A proverb.
c1000ælfric Deut. xxviii. 37 And ᵹe forwurþaþ þurh biᵹspell [Wyclif & 1611 proverb] and biᵹcwidas. a1250Owl & Night. 127 Her-bi men segget a bi-spel. 1656Blount Glossogr. s.v. Gospel, Bigspell (Deut. 28. 37) signifies a by-word or Proverb; or (as it is used in the North) By⁓spell.
3. dial. One whose worthlessness is proverbial, who becomes a byword.
1691Nicholson in Ray N.C. Words (E.D.S.), Bispel, nequam, q.d. Qui adeo insignis est Nebulo ut jam in proverbium abiit. 1709T. Hearne Collect. (1886) II. 281 By⁓spel, homo nihili: Ita Angli Boreales. 1808Jamieson s.v., ‘He's just a byspale.’ ‘He's nae byspel mair than me.’ 1811Willan Gloss. West R. Yorksh. (E.D.S.), Byspelt.
4. An illegitimate child, a bastard. Cf. by-blow.
1781J. Hutton Tour Caves Gloss. (E.D.S.), Byspel, a bastard, or an outcast in a family. 1808Jamieson By-spel, an illegitimate child. |