| 释义 |
queen-ˈmother
[See queen 2 c.]
1. A queen dowager who is the mother of the reigning sovereign.
1577Frampton Joyfull Newes ii. lxxvi. 43 b He..did sende it to kyng Fraunces the seconde, and to the Queene Mother. 1664–5Pepys Diary (1879) III. 106 Mr. Povy carried me to Somerset House and showed me the Queene-Mother's Chamber. 1768H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 98 Why was not the queen-mother applied to..for his support and education? 1853Maurice Proph. & Kings xi. 177 A usurpation by the queen-mother for six years follows.
2. A queen who is a mother. Also applied to a queen-bee, and fig.
1602Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 190 Let his Queene Mother all alone intreat him To shew his Greefes. a1658Cleveland Myrtle-Grove 9 Clarinda rose..Like the Queen-mother of the Stars above. 1816Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1818) II. xviii. 118 The first fruits of the queen-mother's vernal parturition assist her. 1899Westm. Gaz. 24 May 5/1 For more than sixty years the Queen-mother has gone in and out among generations of Windsor people.
3. a. A variety of plum. b. A variety of pear.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 233/2 Plums,..Saint Julian, Queen Mother. 1767J. Abercrombie Ev. Man his own Gardener (1803) 673 Pears,..Queen mother, Myrobalan [etc.]. 1770Foote Lame Lover iii. Wks. 1799 II. 86 A damascen plum..does pretty well indeed in a tart, but..to compare it with the queen mother, the padrigons [etc.].
4. attrib. as † queen-mother herb, ‘queen's herb’, tobacco (Minsheu Ductor 1617). Obs.
So called after Catherine de Medici, to whom it was sent by Nicot, then ambassador in Portugal (1559–61). |