| 释义 |
abigail|ˈæbɪgeɪl|
[From the name of the ‘waiting gentlewoman’ in Beaumont and Fletcher's popular play of The Scornful Lady; so named possibly in allusion to the expression ‘thine handmaid’ so frequently applied to herself by Abigail the Carmelitess, 1 Sam. xxv. 24–31; but Bible names were common at this date without any special allusion.]
A waiting-woman; a lady's-maid.
1666Pepys Diary IV. 195 By coach to the King's play⁓house, and there saw ‘The Scornful Lady’ well acted; Doll Common doing Abigail most excellently, and Knipp the widow very well. 1693Congreve Old Bachelor iii. vi. (1866) 157 Thou art some forsaken Abigail we have dallied with heretofore. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 57 An antiquated Abigail, dressed in her lady's cast clothes. 1849Lytton Caxtons xiv. vi. 370 (1875) The woman was dressed with a quiet neatness that seemed to stamp her profession as that of an abigail—black cloak with long cape, of that peculiar silk which seems spun on purpose for ladies' maids. 1864Duke of Manchester Court & Soc. Eliz. to Anne I. 81 Her house remained full of dons and pages, ladies and abigails. |