| 释义 |
ˈspaewife Sc.
[f. spae- + wife n. Cf. ON. and Icel. spákona, Da. spaakone, Sw. spåqvinna; NFris. spuaiwüf.]
A female fortune-teller; a sybil; a witch.
a1774Fergusson Hallow-Fair iv. Poems (1789) II. 27 What cairds and tinklers come,..An' spae-wives fenzying to be dumb. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. li, Many remembered that Annaple Bailzou wandered through the country as a beggar and fortune-teller, or spae-wife. 1872Kingsley Poems, Little Baltung xxvi, Oh a spae-wife laid a doom on me. 1876A. Laing Lindores Abbey xxvi. 382 He was going to consult a spaewife in the neighbourhood. |