| 释义 |
chastity|ˈtʃæstɪtɪ|
Forms: 3–5 chastete, 4–6 chastite, chastyte, 4–7 chastitie, 5 chastitee, chastiti, 6 chastytye, 6– chastity.
[ME. chastete, -etie, a. OF. (13th c.) chastete, ad. L. castitāt-em under influence of the adj. chaste. The later spelling shows further assimilation to Latin; see -ity.
This was the second adaptation of the L. word in OF.; at a much earlier date it had been taken in as *castetet, *castedet, which, under the regular operation of the phonetic laws, had passed through chastedet to chasteet, chasteé, and in ONF. to casteed, before it was anew adapted as chasteté.]
The quality or state of being chaste.
1. a. Purity from unlawful sexual intercourse; continence.
c1305St. Edmund 83 in E.E.P. (1862) 73 He ne miȝte neuere fynde non of so gret chastete. 1393Gower Conf. III. 234 Chastete, which selde where Cometh now a daies into place. c1440Promp. Parv. 70 Chastyte, castitas, pudicacia. 1474Caxton Chesse 19 So she concluded that she wold kepe her chastete. 1547–64Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) vii. vii, The first degree of chastity is pure virginity, and the second faithfull matrimony. 1596Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 23 [Una]..the flowre of faith and chastity. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. iv. 18 Hee hath bought a paire of cast lips of Diana..the very yce of chastity is in them. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 75 And would instantly put her to death if he but suspected her chastity. 1798Malthus Popul. (1806) II. iv. ii. 323 The law of chastity cannot be violated without producing evil. 1872Morley Voltaire (1886) 149 Chastity was the supreme virtue in the eyes of the church.
†b. fig. Obs.
1570T. Norton tr. Nowel's Catech. (1853) 124 Whose chastity standeth in this, to be dedicated to God alone. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. lxxiii. 27 Wee define the spirituall chastitie of our minde to be a stedfast abyding faith, in calling upon God, in soundnesse of hart, and in obedience to y⊇ word. 1762–9Falconer Shipwr. i. 317 He felt the chastity of silent woe.
2. Abstinence from all sexual intercourse; virginity, celibacy.
a1225Ancr. R. 6 Non ancre..ne schal makien professiun..bute þreo þinges, þet is, obedience, chastete, & studestaþeluestnesse. 138.Wyclif Wks. (1880) 40 Frere menours..lyuynge in obedience, wiþ-outen propre, & in chastitie. c1449Pecock Repr. iii. vi. 311 Oonli vndir counseil he [St. Paul] profrid chastite to alle men that myȝten it take. 1538Starkey England iv. 128 The law wych byndyth prestys to chastyte. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iii. 21 Vpon whose Graue thou vow'dst pure chastitie. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 33 A nun, whom love seduced from her vow of chastity.
†3. Ceremonial purity. (for L. castitas.) Obs. rare.
1388Wyclif 1 Macc. xiv. 36 Thei..defouliden alle thingis that weren in cumpas of hooli thingis, and ȝauen greet wounde to chastite. 1606Holland Sueton. 39 To enter into this rowme unlesse it be of necessitie & with devout chastitie, men make it scrupulous & are affraide.
4. Exclusion of meretricious ornament; purity of style, modesty, chasteness.
1760Sterne Serm. Yorick III. 90 In our own church..there is the greatest chastity in the external parts of religion. a1763Shenstone Odes (1765) 218 The engaging chastity of dress. 1837Hallam Hist. Lit. I. i. iii. §37 Chastity and elegance of style.
5. Exclusion of excess or extravagance; moderation, restraint.
1712Steele Spect. No. 480 ⁋5 Indulge me, my Noble Master, in this Chastity of Renown.
6. attrib., as chastity clause; chastity belt, a belt designed to prevent a woman from having sexual intercourse; also fig.
[1922Index-Catal. Libr. Surgeon General's Office, U.S. Army 3rd ser. III. 1003/2 ‘Chastity girdle’ improvised by suspicious husband.] 1931E. J. Dingwall Girdle of Chastity ii. 10 The virgin girdles of antiquity have nothing in common with the chastity belts. Ibid. vi. 164 The imposition of chastity belts upon women in order to allay masculine jealousy. 1938L. MacNeice I crossed Minch ii. xvi. 230 As medieval and even more effective than a chastity belt. 1960Guardian 17 Dec. 4/6 A traffic plan which enclosed Oxford in, so to speak, a chastity belt. 1969Sun 19 June 5/6 A Dorset firm who make chastity belts have been told that the belts..must carry purchase tax of 133/4 per cent. They are appealing..that the belts should pay no tax ‘like other safety equipment’.
1906Chastity clause [see dum casta]. |