| 释义 |
soothsayer|ˈsuːθˌseɪə(r)|
Forms: α. 4 zoþ ziggere, sothsegger(e, 4 soþ-, sothseyere, -seiere, 5 -seyer, 5–6 -sayer, 6 sothe-, soythsayer, 6 soothsaier, 7– soothsayer. β. 6 southeseyer, 6–7 southsaier, 6–8 -sayer.
[f. sooth n. or a. + sayer n.]
†1. One who speaks the truth; a truthful or veracious person. Obs.
1340Ayenb. 256 Senekes zayþ þet þer ne lackeþ to greate lhordes bote zoþ ziggeres. Vor hi habbeþ lyeȝeres and vlatours to greate cheape and veawe zoþ ziggeres. 1390Gower Conf. III. 164 The Sothseiere tho was lief, Which wolde noght the trouthe spare. c1400in Herrig Archiv CIV. 306 Bettre is chidyng of a soþ-seyere Þen deceyuyng of a losyngere. 1642Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1851 III. 306 In that which followes, he does not play the Soothsayer but the diabolick slanderer of prayers.
2. One who claims or pretends to the power of foretelling future events; a predictor, prognosticator.
α1381Rolls of Parlt. III. 113/ Johannes Say, Soth⁓seggere. 14..Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 595 Mastromaticus, a sothseyer. c1491Chast. Goddes Chyld. 53 Some sheew prophecye in the spyrite of deuil as ben thise men and wymen whiche men calle dyuynours or sothsayers. 1535Coverdale Isaiah viii. 19 Yf they saye vnto you: aske councel at the soythsayers, witches, charmers and coniurers. 1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. v, Sow-gelders, and Sooth-saiers. Gipsies and Iaylers. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 2 Where's the Soothsayer that you prais'd so to th' Queene? 1665Manley Grotius' Low C. Wars 965 While their Sooth-sayers..draw the Peoples minds changable by Superstition, now this way, now that way. 1732T. Lediard Sethos II. vii. 36 We are guided here by priests and soothsayers. 1791Cowper Iliad ii. 1015 Merops, expert in the sooth-sayer's art. 1821Byron Sardan. ii. i, Now were I a soothsayer, I would have boded so much to myself. 1878J. H. Gray China II. xvii. 3 Blind soothsayers are to be met with in all parts of the empire.
β1503Churchw. Acc. St. Marg., Westm. (Nichols, 1797) 4 Recieved of the Southeseyer for iv Tapers. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 27 Jone the Puzel, whom he vsed as an oracle and a southsaier. 1596Lodge Divel Coniured G iij, Some be shepheards, some southsaiers, and so of other crafts and trades. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. ii. 125 Some Southsayer, wise-man, fortune-teller, or Physition. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. (1650) 12 On this foundation were built the conclusions of Southsayers in their Auguriall and Tripudiary divinations. 1727De Foe Syst. Magic i. i. (1840) 20 By this study they obtained the name of southsayers and astrologers, added to that of magicians.
3. transf. An insect of the family Mantidæ; a mantis (cf. quot. 1855).
1855Dallas in Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. II. 359 Another prevalent superstition regarding these creatures is, that if they be asked the way to a place they will immediately indicate the right road by holding one of their legs in that direction,—hence the name of Soothsayers, often applied to these insects. c1884Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 13 The Mantidæ, Praying Insects, or Soothsayers.
Hence ˈsoothsayeˌress, a female soothsayer. ˈsoothsayership, prediction, soothsaying, or skill in this.
1648Hexham ii, Een Waerseggeresse, ofte waerseghster, a Shee-divine, or a Soothsayeresse. 1828Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. (1863) 118 He had the good fortune to foretell..the downfal of Napoleon Buonaparte—a piece of soothsayership which has established his reputation. 1875Stevenson in Colvin Lett. (1901) II. 92 ‘Yes, my dear,’ replied the soothsayeress. |