| 释义 |
spectator|spɛkˈteɪtə(r)|
Also 6–7 spectatour.
[a. L. spectātor, agent-noun f. spectāre to look, whence also F. spectateur (1540), It. spettatore, Sp. and Pg. espectador.]
1. a. One who sees, or looks on at, some scene or occurrence; a beholder, onlooker, observer.
a1586Sidney Arcadia ii. x. (1912) 211 [He] thought no eyes of sufficient credite in such a matter, but his owne; and therefore came him selfe to be actor, and spectator. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) II. 27 There is a true saying, ‘That the spectator oft times sees more than the gamester’. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxxi. 189 A signe is not a signe to him that giveth it, but to him to whom it is made; that is, to the spectator. 1677Hubbard Narrative (1865) I. 16 In such Passages as were variously reported by the Actors, or Spectators, that which seemed most probable is only inserted. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 205 Even the agonies of the former rather terrify the spectators, than torment the patient. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxviii, Henri was a silent and astonished spectator of the scene. 1828Lytton Pelham xvi, There is some trick afloat to which we may as well be spectators. 1841James Brigand xxxii, The hall was totally void of spectators.
†b. spec. A scientific observer. Obs. rare.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. iv. (1686) 10 They were conceived by the first Spectators to be but one Animal. 1787Families of Plants I. 259 Jacquin, Brown, and other Spectators consider it as a distinct Genus.
2. a. spec. One who is present at, and has a view or sight of, anything in the nature of a show or spectacle.
1590Spenser F.Q. ii. iv. 27 The treachour..Me leading, in a secret corner layd, The sad spectatour of my Tragedie. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. i. 20 Imagine me (Gentle Spectators) that I now may be In faire Bohemia. 1690T. Burnet Theory Earth ii. 214 This being the last act and close of all humane affairs, it ought to..satisfie the spectators, and end in a general applause. 1716Lady M. W. Montagu Let. C'tess Mar 14 Sept., All the men of quality at Vienna were spectators. 1784Cowper Task v. 878 Gods..that sit Amus'd spectators of this bustling stage. 1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park (1851) 103 Fanny began to be their only audience, and sometimes as prompter, sometimes as spectator, was often very useful. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxvi, He had been a pitying spectator of the tragedy. 1897‘Sarah Tytler’ Lady Jean's Son x. 178 The opposite houses, crowded from top to bottom with spectators.
attrib.1639Cokaine Masque Dram. Wks. (1874) 13 When they have danced all they intended, the Lar, or one of the Masquers, invites the spectator-ladies with this song to join with them. 1891Daily News 12 Oct. 3/5 The spectator portion of the baths was crowded to its utmost capacity.
b. spectator sport, a sport which affords good entertainment for spectators as well as for participants. Also transf. and fig.
1943Amer. Speech XVIII. 95 The American ‘spectator⁓sports’ (of clothes) has been mistranslated in at least one advertisement [in New Zealand] as ‘spectacular-sports’. 1944M. Laski Love on Supertax xi. 109 Burn all those clothes you've got on.. and get back into a decent unpretentious spectator-sports-suit. 1954Encounter Feb. 57/1 The fascination of the great spectator-sports—soccer, athletics, cricket, lawn tennis—is partly due to the effect of the game on its audience. 1969A. Glyn Dragon Variation ix. 268 Well, call this [sc. chess] a spectator sport, twenty goddam minutes and nobody's moved a thing. Give me tennis! 1975New Yorker 10 Feb. 110/3 With hard times upon us there may be a question in the minds of even the least dedicated office⁓holders both here and in Albany about how long their hard-pressed constituents will let them get away with treating representative government as a minor spectator sport. 1979Guardian 12 June 8/1 Watching election coverage all through the night is a great spectator sport.
3. Used as the title of various periodical publications. Also Comb.
Freq. with distinguishing epithets, as The Catholic, Country, Modern, Monthly, Provincial, Temperance Spectator (published at various dates between 1792 and 1866).
1711–14Addison (title), The Spectator. 1711Steele Spect. No. 20 ⁋2 Ever since the Spectator appear'd. 1714Addison Ibid. No. 567 ⁋8, I intend shortly to publish a Spectator, that shall not have a single Vowel in it. 1728–37(title), The Universal Spectator, and Weekly Journal. 1744Eliza Heywood Female Spectator I. 5 Whatever Productions I shall be favour'd with from these Ladies..will be exhibited under the general Title of The Female Spectator. 1755H. Walpole Lett. (1846) III. 178 The Spectator-hacked phrases. 1828–(title), The Spectator. A weekly journal of news, politics, literature, and science.
Hence specˈtatordom, spectators collectively; specˈtatorism, the practice of being a spectator or onlooker at sports or games.
1854Thoreau Walden i. (1863) 49 He was there to represent spectatordom. 1889Wykehamist No. 241. 317/1 There are distinct limits to the use of ‘spectatorism’.
Add:[2.] c. More fully spectator pump, spectator shoe. A woman's dress shoe, usu. with a white body and contrasting darker toe and heel; occas. a similar shoe worn by a man. N. Amer. (orig. U.S.).
1941M. Kettunen Fund. Dress xiv. 431 Other sport models, commonly known as ‘spectator’ sport shoes, come in more standard styles. 1946Glamour Sept. 74 (Advt.), Eileen spectators! Smart young moderns wear these..spectators. 1963M. McCarthy Group ii. 42 Wearing her white sharkskin sports dress and brown-and-white spectator pumps. 1969Sears Catal. Spring/Summer 422/2 Strut into spring sporting a high-powered spectator pump. Hand-rubbed leather upper set off by contrasting perforations and bold stitching. 1970A. Tyler Slipping-Down Life xi. 154 Mr. Casey was in a blue suit and white spectator shoes. 1975Daily Mirror 21 Mar. 24/7, I lived in Canada from 1946 to 56 and every summer the ladies wore court shoes which they called ‘spectators’... The toe caps and heels were either brown or navy blue, the rest white. And very smart, too.
specˈtatorish a., characteristic of a spectator or observer.
1977Oxf. Diocesan Mag. Nov. 17/2 There is something spectator-ish in treating knowledge as purely or even largely an intellectual affair. 1982Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Mar. 334/2 His republicanism..strikes one as of a similarly spectatorish kind, as of one who cannot countenance anything of which he is not himself a part. |