| 释义 |
conspiracy|kənˈspɪrəsɪ|
[f. L. conspīrātio conspiration, with substitution of the ending -acy q.v. A single example of conspiratie in 16th c. F. is given by Godefroy.]
1. a. The action of conspiring; combination of persons for an evil or unlawful purpose.
c1386Chaucer Monk's T. 621 Brutus and Cassius..Ful prively hath made conspiracie Agains this Julius in subtil wise. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 5 Enpresoned falslich..by fals conspiracie. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. v. i, Made a partner in conspiracie. 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 301 Open-ey'd Conspiracie His time doth take. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 751 Combin'd In bold conspiracy against Heav'ns King. a1832Bentham Just. & Codif. Petit. Wks. 1843 V. 485 In the very import of the word conspiracy is therefore included the conspiracy to do a bad thing. 1841–4Emerson Ess., Self-Reliance Wks. (Bohn) I. 20 Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.
b. Law.
1863H. Cox Instit. i. xi. 275 The crime of conspiracy consists in the agreement of two or more persons to do an illegal act, or to do a lawful act by unlawful means.
2. a. (with a and pl.) A combination of persons for an evil or unlawful purpose; an agreement between two or more persons to do something criminal, illegal, or reprehensible (especially in relation to treason, sedition, or murder); a plot. Also in phr. conspiracy of silence.
c1386Chaucer Doctor's T. 149 Whan schapen was al this conspiracye Fro poynt to poynt. 1494Fabyan Chron. v. lxxxvi. 64 Hauynge knowlege of the sayde conspiracy. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 34 Fearing greater deceytes and conspiracies. 1632Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 170, I hould here is a conspiracie by Travers and Frost and his daughter. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. (1843) 66/2 In all conspiracies there must be great secrecy. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. II. 81 A secret conspiracy had been formed against his person and government. 1839James Louis XIV, I. 105 Rumours of a conspiracy became general. 1865Mill Comte 199 M. Comte used to reproach his early English admirers with maintaining the ‘conspiracy of silence’ concerning his later performances. 1870Gentl. Mag. V. 331 Compel them, if they must divert themselves with a species of amateur conspiracy, to enter into a conspiracy of silence. 1885Church Reformer July 146/1 When such work as the Pall Mall has done is treated by the ordinary press with a conspiracy of silence, then it becomes our duty..to thank that paper for its outspoken boldness. 1931V. J. McGill Schopenhauer ix. 303 Their ‘conspiracy of silence’ had at last proved ineffective. 1944G. B. Shaw Everybody's Pol. What's What? xxiv. 223 The conspiracy of silence about the blunders and failures of medicine. 1965Times Lit. Suppl. 27 May 437/3 It semed perfectly correct to me when I read the article in question, although I find that English grammars seem to maintain a conspiracy of silence on the subject.
†b. A body or band of conspirators. Obs.
1555Eden Decades 53 The captayne of this conspiracie was slayne. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. lxiv. 2 Conspiracie..may bee taken as well for a companye that consult about mischeef, as for the mischeef itself they have devysed. 1600Holland Livy vii. xli. 279 Urged by those of the conspiracie [ab conjuratis].
3. fig. Union or combination (of persons or things) for one end or purpose; harmonious action or effort; = conspiration 3. (In a good or neutral sense.) Obs. or arch.
1538Starkey England i. i. 11 That thys cyvyle lyfe was..a conspyracy in honesty and vertue. 1580Sidney Arcadia iii. 382 (D.) So is the conspiracy of her several graces, held best together to make one perfect figure of beauty. a1677Barrow Wks. (1830) I. 191 There will be a conspiracy and faithful correspondence between our mind and our tongue. 1691–8Norris Pract. Disc. 229 To discern this Harmony and beautiful conspiracy of things. 1847Emerson Ode to Beauty Wks. (Bohn) I. 450 All that's good and great with thee Works in close conspiracy.
Add:4. Special Combs. conspiracy theory, the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties; spec. a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event; so conspiracy theorist.
1909Amer. Hist. Rev. XIV. 836 The claim that Atchison was the originator of the repeal may be termed a recrudescence of the *conspiracy theory first asserted by Colonel John A. Parker of Virginia in 1880. 1952K. R. Popper Open Society (ed. 2) II. xiv. 94, I call it the ‘conspiracy theory of society’. It is the view that an explanation of a social phenomenon consists in the discovery of the men or groups who are interested in the occurrence of this phenomenon. 1964Listener 24 Sept. 471/3 His ‘vulgar economic realities’ are the cloak for a conspiracy-theory, and he is disappointed that I don't subscribe to it. 1964New Statesman 1 May 694/2 *Conspiracy theorists will be disappointed by the absence of a dogmatic introduction. 1975N.Y. Times 12 May 10/4 Conspiracy theorists contend that two of the men have strong resemblances to E. Howard Hunt Jr. and Frank A. Sturgis, convicted in the Watergate break-in. 1987W. Greider Secrets of Temple i. ii. 52 From the beginning, the Federal Reserve was implicated in nativist conspiracy theories. 1990Times Educ. Suppl. 7 Dec. 5/1 Conspiracy theorists see the invisible hand of the Department of Education and Science behind the emergence of Walter Ulrich as secretary of the National Association of Governors and Managers. |