| 释义 |
civilize, v.|ˈsɪvɪlaɪz|
[app. f. 16th c. F. civilizer (Cotgr.) now civiliser; app. representing a med. or mod.L. civilizare, to make civil (a criminal matter), whence transferred to ‘make civil’ in other senses; f. cīvīl-is civil + verbal formative -izāre, ad. Gr. -ίζειν, in mod.F. -iser, Eng. -ize, q.v.]
1. To make civil (sense 7); to bring out of a state of barbarism, to instruct in the arts of life, and thus elevate in the scale of humanity; to enlighten, refine, and polish. to civilize away; to do away with, by civilization.
1601Cornwallyes Ess. ii. xxviii, And ciuilized, or ciuited..kisse the hand. 1611Cotgr., Civilizer, to ciuilize, bring to ciuilitie, make ciuill, to tame, quiet, reclaime. 1631Massinger Emperor East i. ii, I..civilize Their barbarous natures. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. II. 102 The doctrine of the Gospell..Christianizeth men, and then civilizeth them. 1713Addison Cato i. iv, To civilize the rude unpolish'd world. 1780Johnson in Boswell 30 Aug., A very savage parish was civilized by a decayed gentlewoman, who came among them to teach a petty school. a1876J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. I. i. iv. 179 Christianity itself has never, I think, suddenly civilized a race.
†b. To subject to civil authority. Obs.
1624Capt. Smith Virginia iv. 147 It is more easie to ciuilize them by conquest then faire meanes. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 251 The king of Spain did not allow troops sufficient to civilize and reduce them.
c. To polish what is rude or uncouth.
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xix. 124 If I can civilize his rudenesse by my sword. 1748Chesterfield Lett. II. cliv. 49 Your exercises of riding, fencing, and dancing will civilize and fashion your body and your limbs.
d. transf. To domesticate, tame (wild animals).
1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 64 For the Pike..as it is a Fish of Prey, it has been thought impossible to civilize it, or make it any way familiar with Mankind.
†2. To make ‘civil’ (sense 15 b) or moral; to subject to the law of civil or social propriety.
a1640W. Fenner Sacr. Faithfull ii. (1648) 57 He doth not say civilize your members; many there be that civilize their earthlie members. [Cf. civility 9.]
†3. To make lawful or proper in a civil community. Obs. rare.
1643Milton Divorce ii. xii. (1851) 92 With an ignominious note of civilizing Adultery.
4. Law. To turn a criminal into a civil cause.[Cotgr. has F. civilizer in this sense.] In mod. Dicts.
5. intr. To become civilized or elevated.
1868W. R. Greg Lit. & Soc. Judg. 410 If they [the negroes] are to civilize..they must work either at a trade..or on their own grounds.
†6. intr. To conform to the requirements of civil life, to behave decently.
1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. Law, I Civilize, least that I seeme Obscœne. |