| 释义 |
compunction|kəmˈpʌŋkʃən|
Also 4 compungcion, -puncion, -punccoun, -punctioun, 4–5 compunccioun, 4–6 compunccion(e, -ccyon(e, 5 compunxione, -pounctyon, 6 compuncyon, -punctyon.
[a. OF. compunctiun, -on (12th c. in Littré, mod.F. componction), ad. L. compunctiōn-em (in Christian writers) sting of conscience, remorse, n. of action f. compungĕre.]
1. Pricking or stinging of the conscience or heart; regret or uneasiness of mind consequent on sin or wrong-doing; remorse, contrition.
a1340Hampole Psalter xxxi. 4 Compunccioun for my synn is festid in my hert. c1440Gesta Rom. xcv. (1879) 425 Thou haste not compuncion for thy synnes. 1490Caxton How to Die 17 Better it is that..he haue compunction and be saued. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 132 b, Teares of compunccion. 1629Donne Serm. Gen. i. 2 A remorse, and compunction for former sins. 1794Godwin Cal. Williams 49 Blasted with the compunctions of guilt. 1830Mackintosh Eth. Philos. Wks. 1846 I. 67 There is no sense of duty, no compunction for our own offences. 1855H. Reed Lect. Eng. Hist. x. 324 He has no compunctions of conscience, no remorseful remembrances.
b. In mod. use, often in weakened sense, denoting a slight or passing regret for wrong-doing, or a feeling of regret for some slight offence (sometimes including pity for the person wronged; cf. d); esp. in such phrases as without compunction.
1712Steele Spect. No. 448 ⁋3, I am left under the Compunction that I deserve, in so many different Places to be called a Trifler. 1720Swift Mod. Educ. Wks. 1755 II. ii. 38 It is ever with reluctance and compunction of mind. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xii, With a degree of angry impatience, which soon turned into compunction, when he saw that she was almost..exhausted. 1857Buckle Civiliz. viii. 502 They quitted it [the Reformed Communion] without compunction. 1876Black Madcap V. xix. 178 ‘Well, I don't exactly wish that’, she said, with some compunction.
†c. In active sense: The faculty of pricking the conscience, or producing conviction of sin.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) VI. 143 A man Cedmon by name tauȝhte by God to make dites of compunccion [carmina compunctiva]. 1605Camden Rem. (1636) 312 With his sweete verses full of compunction, he [Ceadmon] withdrew many from vice to vertue.
†d. A feeling of sorrow for the suffering of another; pity, compassion. Obs. exc. as in b.
1430Lydg. Chron. Troy i. v, Whan heauen and erth with hye compunction Haue sygnes shewed of lamentation. 1612T. Taylor Comm. Titus iii. 6 He is the spirit of grace, compunction, and compassion. 1773Mrs. Chapone Improv. Mind (1774) I. 79 The emotions of tenderness and compunction which..every one feels in reading..the simple narrative of the evangelists. [1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. vii, To walk off..with the precious stones and watch cases, [without] any compunction for the people who would lose the same. ]
†2. In physical sense: The action of pricking, or of producing a pricking sensation. Obs. rare.
1613R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Compunction, pricking. 1617Markham Caval. ii. 93 A sharpe naile..with which they pricke the horse..Such compunctions and tortures will euen cause the best..horse to..plunge. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. xii. 335 That acide and piercing spirit which with such activity and compunction invadeth the braines and nostrills. 1656Blount Glossogr., Compunction a pricking or stitch; remorse of conscience. |