| 释义 |
▪ I. abject, ppl. a.|ˈæbdʒɪkt|
[ad. L. abject-us, pa. pple. of abjĭcĕre to cast off, throw away, f. ab off, away + -jic-ĕre = jac-ĕre to throw, cast. At first, like its L. original, a pple. and adj., accented abˈject. After the formation of the vb. abject, it was gradually superseded in the ppl. use, by the regular form abjected, but remained as an adj. with shifted accent ˈabject, also from an early period used substantively.]
A. pple. and adj.
†1. pple. Cast off, cast out, rejected. Obs.
c1430Lydgate Bochas (1554) ii. i. 43 a, Thus was Saul..Abiect from his royal see. 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys I. 72 The Holy Bybyll grounde of trouthe and of lawe Is now of many abject and nought set by. c1585Faire Em ii. 388 I am abject in those gracious eyes, That with remorse erst saw into my grief. 1614W. Browne Shepherd's Pipe Wks. 1772 III. 16 Well worthy were it me to been abject From all good company.
2. adj. Cast down, downcast, brought low in position, condition or estate, low-lying.
a1520Myrroure of our Ladye 52 And hir outwarde apparell was nat after the condicion of hir persone, but moch meke and abiecte. 1526Tindale 2 Cor. vii. 6 He thatt comfortith the abiecte. 1671Milton Samson 169 To lowest pitch of abject fortune thou art fall'n. 1729R. Savage The Wanderer i. 399 Rains redundant flood the abject ground. 1742Walpole Lett. to H. Mann 26 (1834) I. 112 I hope his state will grow more abject every day. 1840Macaulay Essays, Clive II. 502 Nothing more than a nominal dignity was left to the abject heirs of an illustrious name. 1854S. Dobell Balder xiii. 56 Lying most humbly weary and abject On the immoveable earth.
3. Down in spirit or hope; low in regard or estimation, degraded, mean-spirited, despicable.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Paraph. Matt. x. 19 Unlearned and abiecte men. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. i. 105 These paltry, seruile, abiect Drudges. 1642Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. 163 I repute my self the most abjectest piece of mortality. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 91 I know nothing so abject as the behaviour of a man canvassing for a seat in parliament. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 527 note, Howard was an abject liar. 1879O'Connor Ld. Beaconsfield 554 Those who in adversity are the most abject, are in prosperity the most insolent.
B. n. One cast off; a castaway, an outcast; a degraded person.
1534More Comforte agt. Tribulacyon i. Wks. 1557, 1145/1 He is not an abiect, cast out of god's gracious fauour. 1582T. Bentley Monumt. Matrones iii. 328 O almightie God: which raisest vp the abiects, and exaltest the miserable from the dunghill. 1611Bible Ps. xxxv. 15 The abiects gathered themselues together against me. 1631G. Herbert Temple, Sacrifice 36 Servants and abjects flout me, they are witty. 1818Shelley Prom. Unbd. iii. iv, The subject of a tyrant's will Became, worse fate! the abject of his own. 1867H. Bushnell Dark Things 57 What wonder that men have been deified and set up as idols of religious worship, when souls are only abjects to themselves.
▪ II. † abject, v. Obs.|æbˈdʒɛkt|
[f. prec., like content vb. from content adj. abject continued to be used for some time as its pa. pple. but was gradually superseded by abjected.]
1. To cast off, throw off or away, cast out, exclude, reject, lit. and fig.; generally, though not always, as inferior, unworthy, or vile, and hence passing into the idea of casting down, degrading.
c1475Henryson Moral Fables 42 Arguments they reuolue, some abjecting, and some can hald. 1509Barclay Ship of Fooles (1570) 217 To learne the wayes his vices to abiect. 1534Polyd. Verg., Eng. Hist. I. 89 The Brittaines..abjecting the Romaine yoke, created him kinge. 1587Gascoigne Workes; Hearbes, Weedes 287 A Lover being disdainfully abiected by a dame of high calling. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xxiv. 104 Dauid durst not touch Saul, though he was abiected by God. 1650Venner Via Recta 111 The Spawn of them is to be abjected.
2. To cast or throw down; hence fig. to lower, degrade, abase, debase.
1553Foxe A. & M. (1596) 167/2 Such of the cleargie as abjected themselues to be underlings or servants. 1557Geneva N.T. 1 Cor. iv. 10 note, In abiecting him selfe and exalting the Corinthians he maketh them ashamed of their vayne glorie. 1563Homilies ii. (1859) 445 A gross carnal feeding, basely abjecting and binding ourselves to the elements and creatures. 1604T. Wright Passions of the Mind v. §3. 181 The eye..may be grauely eleuated vp to heuen or abjected to earth. 1630–40Donne Serm. ix. 22 What phrases of abjecting themselves in respect of the Prince, can exceed David's humble expressing of himself to Saul? |