| 释义 |
pyracanth, ‖ pyracantha|ˈpaɪərəkænθ, paɪərəˈkænθə|
Also 8 pyracanthe, piracanthy, 9 pyracanthus.
[ad. L. pyracantha, a. Gr. πυράκανθα, name of an unidentified shrub or plant, casually mentioned (but not described) by Dioscorides (i. xviii); applied by 16th c. botanists to the shrub here noted, and adopted by Linnæus as its specific name. See Note below.]
An evergreen thorny shrub, Cratægus Pyracantha, a native of southern Europe, bearing clusters of white flowers and scarlet berries; in England often trained against walls as an ornamental shrub; also called Christ's, Egyptian, or Evergreen Thorn.
1664Evelyn Sylva xx. ⁋9 Some Pyracanths which I have removed to a Northern dripping shade. 1705tr. Cowley's Plants Wks. 1711 III. 458 Phyllyrea here and Pyracantha rise, Whose Beauty only gratifies the Eyes. 1775R. Gough in Nichols Lit. Anecd. 18th C. (1814) VIII. 614, I can talk only of..Pyracanthas and Syringas. 1855Mrs. Gaskell North & S. vi, The long low parsonage house half-covered with China-roses and pyracanthus. 1878T. Hardy Ret. Native ii. v, A huge pyracanth now darkened the greater portion [of a house-front].
b. attrib. and Comb., as pyracantha seed; pyracantha-leaved adj.; pyracanth-medlar, the pyracanth (reckoned as a species of Mespilus).
1825Greenhouse Comp. II. 83 Celastrus Pyracanthus, pyracantha-leaved Staff-tree, a low tree also from the Cape. 1834M. Howitt Sk. Nat. Hist., Old-fashioned Winter 66 And the finches in their need Picked the pyracantha seed. 1842J. B. Fraser Mesopot. & Assyria xv. 353 On the flanks of forests..there appear..Mespilus Pyracantha... Pyracanth medlar [etc.].
Hence pyraˈcanthine a. [-ine1], of or belonging to the pyracanth.
1880Blackmore Mary Anerley III. 255 Lips as red as pyracanthine berries.
[Note. The numerous Latin versions of Dioscorides left πυράκανθα unidentified, and merely latinized as pyracantha. According to Lobel Adversaria 438 (1576), this was derived from L. pyrus pear + Gr. ἄκανθα thorn, from the resemblance of the leaves to those of the wild pear (‘arbusta cui facies et folium Pyrastri..propter foliorum similitudinem nonnulli Pyracantham vocant’). But this hybrid origin was, of course, impossible for the Greek word, and the name has been commonly taken as meaning ‘fire-thorn’, f. πῦρ fire + ἄκανθα thorn, and considered to be appropriate to the modern pyracanth, from its profusion of scarlet or flame-coloured berries. For the identity of this with the πυράκανθα of Dioscorides there is no other evidence.] |