| 释义 |
▪ I. silence, n.|ˈsaɪləns|
Forms: 3–6 scilence, 4–6 scylence, 6 scylens; 4–5 cilence; 5 sylens(e, 6 Sc. silens, 5–6 sylence, 3– silence.
[a. OF. silence, scilence, ad. L. silentium, f. silēre to be silent: cf. Prov. silenci, Sp. and Pg. silencio, It. silenzio.]
1. a. The fact of abstaining or forbearing from speech or utterance (sometimes with reference to a particular matter); the state or condition resulting from this; muteness, reticence, taciturnity. Occas. with a or in pl.
a1225Ancr. R. 78 Ine silence & ine hope schal beon ower strencðe. Ibid., Heo mei ec hopien þet heo schal ec singen þurh hire scilence sweteliche ine heouene. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 637 [He] gert scilence be mad, til he had sad þat wes in his gule. 1388Wyclif Acts xix. 33 And Alisaundre axide with his hoond silence, and wolde ȝelde a resoun to the puple. c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 44 In Plutoys name [there was] commaundyd silence. 1474Caxton Chesse ii. iii. (1883) 38 And oftetymes they selle as welle theyr scilence as theyr vtterance. 1535Coverdale Job xxix. 21 Vnto me men gaue eare,..& with sylence they taried for my councell. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 178 No word to your Master that I am yet in Towne. There's for your silence. 1601Campion Wks. (1909) 24 Doe not demaund why I am mute: Loues silence doth all speech confute. a1668Davenant News fr. Plymouth i. i, Silence becomes Men best, when Women talk. 1720Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. I. iii. 157 The People intimidated, kept in a profound Silence for some Time. 1781Cowper Retirement 414 The tongue..Shall own itself a stamm'rer in that cause, Or plead its silence as its best applause. 1818Shelley Julian 363 Nor dream that I will join the vulgar cry; Or with my silence sanction tyranny. 1847Emerson Poems Wks. (Bohn) I. 471 Ye taught my lips a single speech, And a thousand silences. 1875Farrar Silence & Voices ii. 29 What is called the silence of ignorance may sometimes be the silence of repudiation, sometimes even the reticence of scorn. 1967G. Steiner Lang. & Silence 415 Dickens, Hopkins, Kipling are examples of modern writers whose root sensibility was oral, and who tried to adapt essentially oral means to the silences of print.
personif.1607Shakes. Cor. ii. i. 192 My gracious silence, hayle: Would'st thou haue laugh'd, had I come Coffin'd home? 1667Milton P.L. iv. 604 The wakeful Nightingale..all night long her amorous descant sung; Silence was pleas'd. 1815Shelley Alastor 65 And Silence, too enamoured of that voice, Locks its mute music in her rugged cell. a1875G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 31 Elected Silence, sing to me.
b. In the phrases to keep (or † hold) silence, to break silence, in silence.
(a)a1225Ancr. R. 22 Vrom þet, efter Preciosa, holdeð silence. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 228/324 Hov holde ȝe so silence þat neuer on ne spekez with oþur? c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 336 As þai come til his presence, he gert þe puple kepe scilence. c1450Rule Syon Monast. liii. in Collect. Topogr. i. (1834) 31 Alle schal there kepe hyghe silence. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) I. 122 With this Iupiter helde his pees and kept scilence. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 18 He required him that his adversaries might kepe silence. 1782Priestley Corrupt. Chr. II. ix. 211 They kept a strict silence all the week. 1819Shelley Cenci iv. iv. 88 He keeps firm silence; but these lines found on him May speak. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 102 This is an event respecting which it is impossible to keep silence.
(b)1390Gower Conf. I. 86 Thus fulofte my silence I breke. c1400Destr. Troy 2525 Than Troilus..brake Sylense belyue, and abrode saide. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 42 He [Morpheus] mumbled soft, but would not all his silence breake. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 895 At length First to him⁓self he inward silence broke. 1718Pope Iliad xix. 461 He broke Eternal silence, and portentous spoke. 1783Burns Poor Mailie 12 At length poor Mailie silence brak. 1842Browning Pied Piper iv, An hour they sate in council, At length the Mayor broke silence.
(c)c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 93 We shulden be tymes reste, and preye to God in scilence. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 41 He kept the nyhte in peas and silence. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 993 Þan sole in silence sall he sitt, And rays him self abouen his witt. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 566 In speech will I ever render thankes, and in silence acknowledge my selfe most deepely endebted. 1746Francis tr. Horace, Epist. i. xvii. 75 But had the Crow his Food in Silence eat, Less had his Quarrels been. 1757W. Wilkie Epigoniad vii. 192 Amaz'd we stood; in silence, each his mind To fear and hope alternately resign'd. 1827in Scott Chron. Canongate Introd. App., The next toast..he wished to be drunk in solemn silence. 1889Sat. Rev. 9 Feb. 145/2 A brave man suffers in silence.
c. to put to silence, to silence by argument or prohibition; † to put to death; also † to put silence (un)to, to reduce to silence.
(a)1382Wyclif Matt. xxii. 34 Pharisees, heerynge that he hadde put silence to Saducees. 1508Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 41 Heir I put sylence to the in all partis. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 155, I know writing Books of Trade..puts a silence unto the whole History, be it never so good.
(b)1502Arnolde Chron. (1811) p. xxxvii, The ii. sonnys of Kinge Edward were put to silence. 1529More Dyaloge i. Wks. 127/1 Ye haue put me to sylence, that I dare not nowe bee bolde to tell you that I haue sene it my selfe. 1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love Brief Descr. iiij b, Which wordes so often he repeated, that thereby he put Barry to silence. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 290 Murrellus and Flauius, for pulling scarffes off Cæsars Images, are put to silence. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 499 So as to put them to silence. 1846Trench Mirac. xix. (1862) 326 He had put them to silence and to shame before all the people. 1879M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xlii. 424 Tyndale..would..sometimes put all the dignitaries to silence by his arguments.
fig.1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 254 Such force and dexterity, as may be able to putte your overthwart obstinacy to scilence. 1590J. Smyth in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 60 My little Booke..shall be put to silence and abolished.
d. Used imperatively, = Be silent; make no noise.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 266 But silence, heere comes Thisby. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 216 Silence, ye troubl'd waves, and thou Deep, peace. 1728Pope Dunc. iii. 165 Silence, ye Wolves! while Ralph to Cynthia howls. 1819Shelley Cyclops 475 Silence now! Ye know the close device. 1873Symonds Grk. Poets vii. 225 Silence! Hush! what noise was this?
e. The renunciation of speech chosen or vowed by certain religious or monastic orders, esp. the Trappists; a period during which the members of a community or retreat renounce speech. Freq. in phr. the rule of silence.
1387,c1450[see sense 7]. a1631Donne Poems (1633) 69 Harmelesse fish monastique silence keepe. 1884Addis & Arnold Cath. Dict. 804/1 Probably the most trying part of all the discipline is the silence, no monk being allowed to speak to his brother on any occasion. 1921G. O'Donovan Vocations xxii. 305 Hush, Sister. The rule of silence is no joke. 1957P. L. Fermor Time to keep Silence 67 There is a special dispensation from the rule of silence for the monks who deal with the abbey livestock when they are actually addressing their dumb charges. 1978Oxford Diocesan Mag. Dec. 17/1 Then there was the two days' retreat... At no time..was the sense of fellowship more apparent than during the silence.
f. Proverbial phr. silence is golden. silence gives consent: see consent n. 1 c.
1834Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. iii, in Fraser's Mag. June 668/1 As the Swiss Inscription says: Sprechen ist silbern, Schweigen ist golden (Speech is silvern, Silence is golden). 1865W. White Eastern England ii. ix. 129 Silence is golden, says the proverb. We apprehended the full significance thereof when far away from busy thoroughfares. 1935M. V. Hughes Vivians vii. 138 ‘Did you tell him about that?’ ‘No, and I'm wondering whether I ought to?’ ‘I shouldn't if I were you. Silence is golden.’ 1980J. O'Neill Spy Game xxv. 239 ‘I'll tell you the rest..on the way back.’ He sealed her lips with a finger. ‘Meanwhile, silence is golden.’
2. a. The state or condition when nothing is audible; absence of all sound or noise; complete quietness or stillness; noiselessness. Sometimes personified. Also const. of (the night, etc.).
1382Wyclif Isaiah viii. 6 The watris of Siloe, that gon with cilence. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. x. ii. (1495) 27 b, Derknesse is seen yf noo thynge is seen, & scylence is knowen yf noo thynge is herde. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxv. 1 Lucina schynnyng in silence of the nicht. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 59 Whenas all the world in silence deepe Yshrowded was. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 506 But as we often see against some storme, A silence in the Heauens. c1630Milton Circumcision 5 Through the soft silence of the list'ning night. 1738Wesley Hymns, ‘Regent of all the Worlds above’ iii, Fair Queen of Silence, Silver Moon. 1784Cowper Task vi. 84 Stillness, accompanied with sounds so soft, Charms more than silence. 1832Macaulay Armada 49 Then bugle's note and cannon's roar the deathlike silence broke. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xix, There twice a day the Severn fills;..And makes a silence in the hills. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 25 Can I..sharpen ear to recognize Sound o'er league and league of silence?
b. Used allusively to denote the state beyond this life. Chiefly in pl. and with initial capital.
1803–6Wordsw. Ode Intimat. Immortality ix, Power to make Our noisy years seem moments in the being Of the eternal Silence. 1851Carlyle Sterling i. i, To return silently, with his small, sorely foiled bit of work, to the Supreme Silences. 1908E. Miller Martyrs of the Moors 55 In fear and darkness his soul floated out to the great Silence.
c. Tower of Silence, one of a number of small towers upon the summit of which the Parsees place their dead (see quot. 1865).
1865Chambers's Encycl. VII. 300 Their dead are not buried, but exposed on an iron grating in the Dokhma, or tower of Silence, to the fowls of the air. c1880Grant Hist. India I. lxix. 359/1 The exposure of their dead in the Towers of Silence, to be eaten by the birds.
d. Phr. the rest is silence and varr., in allusion to the last words of the dying Hamlet (Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 368).
1910Galsworthy Justice ii. 49 Once this cheque was altered and presented, the work of four minutes—four mad minutes—the rest has been silence. 1939A. Huxley After Many a Summer ii. i. 187 If only the rest were silence!.. What joy if the rest of Wordsworth had been silence, the rest of Coleridge, the rest of Shelley! 1982Daily Tel. 2 June 16/4 In most of the countries involved the eternal tug-of-war between Government and news media has long since ended. The curtain has fallen. The rest is silence.
e. A period of silence observed in memory of the dead, esp. the two minutes' silence kept on the anniversary of Armistice Day (11 Nov. 1918) or, since 1946, on Remembrance Sunday.
1919Times 12 Nov. 15/6 The Great Silence... At 11 o'clock yesterday morning the nation, in response to the King's invitation, paid homage to the Glorious Dead by keeping a two minutes' silence for prayer and remembrance. Ibid. 16/1 On the Stock Exchange, after the silence, a gong was sounded. 1926A. Topham Chron. Prussian Court xx. 245 We discussed among other things the Titanic disaster [1912] which had recently happened, and I remember referring to ‘the silence’ of two minutes by which the Canadian railways and churches had honoured the memory of the Canadians who had perished. 1929B.B.C. Year-bk. 1930 78 Broadcasting the Silence November 11th, 1928. 1972‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing (1973) xxii. 188 The game was preceded by a two-minute silence in memory of Billy Sicagusa. 1982D. Phillips Coconut Kiss vi. 52 You march once round the playground and salute the flag... Then you go in for the two minutes' silence.
3. a. Omission of mention, remark, or notice in narration. Chiefly in phrases to pass with silence, pass over in, silence.
1513Bradshaw St. Werburge Prol. 114 It were no reason her name be had in scylence, But to the people her name be magnyfyed. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxxiii. 156 Ordinances, which I passe with silence. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa iii. 131, I would much rather haue smothered such matters in silence. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 385 Eternal silence be thir doome. 1711Addison Spect. No. 1 ⁋3 As for the rest of my Infancy, there being nothing in it remarkable, I shall pass it over in Silence.
b. Neglect or omission to write (about something); failure to communicate or reply.
1617Moryson Itin. ii. 206 By Don Jeans silence from Spaine, this overture..tooke no effect as long as the Queene lived. 1698Froger Voy. A j, The silence of all those who made the voyage with me, constrained me to expose it to publick view. 1771Junius Lett. liv. (1788) 292, I under⁓stand that the public are not satisfied with my silence;—that an answer is expected of me. 1790Paley Horæ Paul. ii. i. 9 The silence of the historian..concerning any contribution, might lead us to look out for some different journey.
†4. A small hammer used to command silence or order. Obs.—1
1556in Jupp Acc. Carpenters' Comp. (1887) 139 He helde not his peess before the master hade knockyd with the sylence iij tymes.
5. Mus. A rest.
1752tr. Rameau's Treat. Music 171 This Silence or Rest can be made but upon a Concord or consonant Note. 1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh v. 342 The soul..With all its grand orchestral silences To keep the pauses of its rhythmic sounds.
6. Distill. Want of flavour in distilled spirit. (Cf. silent a. 5 c.)
1879Spon's Encycl. Manuf. I. 229 Owing to its ‘silence’, there is no possibility of detecting afterwards from what source it has been obtained.
7. attrib. and Comb., as silence time, and in recent use silence-box, silence command, silence room, silence rule, etc.; silence-loving adj.; silence cabinet, (a) = silence-box; (b) (see quot. 1929).
1889Telephone I. 471/1 The public is also admitted to a silence-box at the Nottingham Post Office. 1894Daily News 28 Mar. 3/1 These particulars are telephoned into a silence-box at the Central Savings Bank.
1893Preece & Stubbs Man. Teleph. 227 At most telephone exchanges a ‘silence cabinet’ is provided in the public office. 1929B.B.C. Year-bk. 1930 309 In Savoy Hill there are nine studios, six of which are equipped with silence cabinets (these are small rooms adjacent to the studios from which the announcer can speak before switching over to the studio itself).
1855F. W. Faber Growth in Holiness ix. 147 It wrung a cry even from the silence-loving Heart of our ever-blessed Saviour. 1912W. Owen Let. 23 June (1967) 142 The firm Superintendent of their Sunday School, the silence-loving, and the melancholy-voiced, on that day capered about the lawn among them. 1958S. Hyland Who goes Hang? xviii. 77 They were in the Silence Room of the Library, a room in which conversation..is..a tabu. 1959T. S. Eliot Elder Statesman ii. 47 And remember, when you want to be very quiet There's the Silence Room. With a television set.
1894Daily News 14 May 5/1 He promised the modification and virtually the abolition of the silence rule.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 19 Speke wolde he nevere, as it is i-write in þe questiouns þat he wroot in his scilence tyme. c1450in Aungier Syon (1840) 268 Eche suster..shalle answer thus aȝene in lyke voyce thof it be sylence tyme.
▪ II. silence, v.|ˈsaɪləns|
Also 6 silense.
[f. prec.]
1. trans. To cause or compel (one) to cease speaking on a particular occasion; also, to overcome in argument.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 181 Silence that fellow: I would he had some cause to prattle for himselfe. 1683D. A. Art of Converse 18 If they happen to be silenc'd by another they become on a sudden ill humour'd. 1733Present State of Popery 21 This learned priest has silenc'd the parson. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xiii, Paulo was silenced for a while by a significant look from his master. 1825Scott Betrothed xvii, Silenced by this hint, the chirurgeon betook himself to his proper duty. 1877Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. i. iv. 47 The Archbishop of York peculiarly irritated Becket, and was silenced by a violent answer.
refl.1604Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 4 Ile silence me e'ene heere: Pray you be round with him.
fig.1736Butler Anal. i. i. Wks. 1874 I. 18 How difficult it is to silence imagination enough to make the voice of reason even distinctly heard. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, And, for a time, silenced his conscience.
b. To cause (an animal or thing) to cease from giving out its natural sound; to still, quieten.
1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 175 Silence that dreadfull Bell, it frights the Isle, From her propriety. 1735Sheridan in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 99 Upon desiring him to silence our dog. 1789Cowper Mrs. Throckmorton's Bulfinch 59 That beak..Might have repaid him well, I wote, For silencing so sweet a throat. 1810Scott Lady of L. iii. iii, The mountain eagle..spread her dark sails on the wind, And..Silenced the warblers of the brake. 1859Tennyson Merlin & V. 391 It is the little rift within the lute That by and by will make the music mute, And ever widening slowly silence all.
c. To stop, suppress (a noise or sound).
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xvii, Silence her cursed noise, if you should throttle her. 1819― Ivanhoe xxxi, An awful pause of horror silenced each murmur of the armed spectators.
2. To reduce (a person, etc.) to silence by restraint or prohibition, esp. in order to prevent the free expression of opinions.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. ii. 97 Imagine me, taking your part, And in your power, soft silencing your Sonne. 1607― Cor. ii. i. 263 He would Haue..silenc'd their Pleaders, And dispropertied their Freedomes. 1644Milton Areop. (Arb.) 38 We may not marvell, if not so often bad, as good Books were silenc't. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 157 He saw that the R. Cath. Religion would be silenced in England. 1727Boyer Dict. Royal ii, To silence the Play-house, interdire la Comedie. 1861Hook Lives Abps. I. i. 2 Oppression was legalised and Parliaments were silenced. 1879B. Taylor Germ. Lit. 165 If arms silence laws, they silence letters all the more speedily.
b. To put down, repress (any expression of feeling, etc.).
1647Sanderson Serm. II. 207 To silence all tumultuous thoughts and secret murmurings of our evil hearts. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iv. xlvi. 380 Let them [sc. opinions] be silenced by the Laws of those, to whom the Teachers of them are subject. 1788Gibbon Decl. & Fall xlv. IV. 434 The complaints of the people could no longer be silenced by the splendid names of a legislator and a conqueror. 1833H. Martineau Tale of Tyne vii. 124 She vehemently silenced poor Tim's suggestions. 1874Green Short Hist. iii. §5. 139 A threat of excommunication silenced the murmurs of the clergy.
3. a. Mil. and Naval. To compel (a gun, battery, or ship) to cease firing; to disable by superior fire; to stop (the fire of a gun).
1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xxxiii, The enemy's fire..slackened, and towards evening was quite silenced. 1755in Naval Chron. (1799) I. 9 We silenced three of her lower deck guns. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 345 The batteries..opened on the town and fort, and soon silenced their fire. 1893W. Forbes-Mitchell Gt. Mutiny 96 A number of the best shots..were selected to try and silence the fire from the battery.
b. slang. (See quot.)
1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., To silence a man, to knock him down, or stun him.
†4. To leave unmentioned or unnoticed; to pass over in silence, to omit. Obs.
1602Warner Alb. Eng. Epitome 381 The Surname Tuder: wherein..that of Plantagenet is inclusiuely silenced. 1627W. Sclater Exp. 2 Thess. (1629) 133 The..coniectures of the late Interpreter..I willingly silence. 1660Holmwood in J. Bland Trade Revived Pref., I was..injoyned..to silence his name, and have accordingly delivered sundry books to divers worthy Persons under a Nonemus.
†5. To get rid of (a thing) by maintaining silence. Const. away. Obs.—1
1788F. Burney Diary IV. iv. 197 The subject..being always embarrassing to me,..I silenced it away.
6. intr. To cease speaking; to become silent or still. rare.
1560Rolland Seven Sages 30 The Heralds bad sone silence all and ceis. 1594R. Carew Tasso (1881) 13 The olde man silenst here. Ibid. 91 There silenc'd she, and seemed a disdaine Royall and noble flamed in her face. 1886Randolph Mostly Fools III. i. 25 The busy bustling room silenced and sobered instantly. |