| 释义 |
centaurn. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from French. Etymons: Latin Centaurus; French centaure. Etymology: Originally (in Old English) < classical Latin Centaurus (see below); subsequently reinforced by or reborrowed < Anglo-Norman and Middle French centaure (French centaure) member of a race, half man and half horse (last quarter of the 12th cent. in Old French; the use as the name of a constellation is not paralleled until later than in English: 1732) < classical Latin Centaurus member of a race, half man and half horse, living in Thessaly, name of a constellation, name of a ship < ancient Greek Κένταυρος member of a race living in Thessaly, creature half man and half horse, name of a constellation; of unknown origin. Compare Catalan centaure (14th cent.), Spanish centauro (13th cent.), Portuguese centauro (first half of the 14th cent.), Italian centauro (a1321).In early Greek literature the name appears as that of a race living in Thessaly and subsequently came to be used for creatures half man and half horse. It has been suggested that the idea of the hybrid creature resulted from the first encounter with horse riders by a culture not familiar with them. Horse taming and horse riding arose first in the southern steppe grasslands of Central Asia. The Lapith tribe of Thessaly, who were the kinsmen (and foes) of the Centaurs in classical mythology, were described as the inventors of horseback riding by Greek writers. The Thessalian tribes also claimed their horse breeds were descended from the centaurs. Compare the following (quots. a1387 and 1477 reflect folk-etymological association with classical Latin centum hundred: see centum n.2):eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. ix. 28 Þonne þa Lapithe gesawon Thesali þæt folc of hiora horsum beon feohtende wið hie, þonne heton hi hie Centauri—þæt sindon healf hors, healf men—for þon hie on horse hie feohtan ne gesawen ær þa. ▸ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 187 Þilke men [sc. Lapithe] chastisede and temede hors firste wiþ bridels, and sette on hire bakkes; þerfore þe lewed peple wende þat it were alle on body, man and hors þat þey sitte on. And þerfore an hondred horsmen of Thessalia were i-cleped centaury. Þat name is i-gadered of tweyne, of centum, þat is, an hondred, and of aura, þat is, þe wynde. And so þat name was to hem i-schappe Centauri, as it were an hundred wynde waggers.1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 9 These Centaures were an .C. men that alway helde hem in Armes for to kepe the Contreye of Thessaylle. In forms centauri (and centaury) after the Latin plural form. In form centauros after the Latin accusative plural form; the passage cited in quot. c1405 is based on Boethius De consolatione philosophiae 4. met. 7, which has ille centauros domuit superbos ‘he tamed the haughty centaurs’. 1. the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > of classical mythology > centaur eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in J. J. Quinn (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1956) 197 Centauri, þæs centaures. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) vi. l. 522 (MED) Thei the whiche named were Centauri..This yonge wif, malgre hire lord..awei forth ladden. c1405 (c1375) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 101 Of Hercules..He of Centauros leyde the boost adown. c1475 (?c1451) (Royal) (1860) 21 He..made tame the proude beestis clepid Centaurus, that be of halfe man and halfe best. a1492 W. Caxton tr. (1495) i. xxxv. f. xxixv/2 He founde a Monstre halfe horse and halfe man, Whom the Poetes name Centaure. 1531 T. Elyot i. vii. sig. C.vi He had lerned to playe of Chiron the Centaure, whiche also had taught hym feates of armes, with phisicke and surgery. 1578 T. Nicholas tr. F. Lopez de Gómara 44 Thinking that he hadde bin a Centaure and that the Horse and man was all one incorporate. 1646 Sir T. Browne v. xix. 262 We shall tolerate flying Horses, black Swans, Hydrae's, Centaur's, Harpies, and Satyres. View more context for this quotation 1680 H. More 88 Such monsters as are usually called Centaures. 1719 N. Rowe tr. Lucan ix. 382 The Boys and Centaur justly Time divide, And equally their sev'ral Seasons guide. 1749 H. Fielding V. xiv. i. 112 Hence those strange Monsters in Lace and Embroidery..which are no more to be found in real Life, than the Centaur . View more context for this quotation 1794 R. J. Sulivan II. 177 Many..have held the mammouth to be as fabulous as the centaur. 1885 Sept. 443/1 The shaggy centaur, all beast in mood and well-nigh all beast in form. 1966 A. MacLean i. 12 It wasn't a man behind me, it was a centaur and he was shod with the biggest set of horseshoes I'd ever come across. 2011 105 82 A chariot driven by Nike and drawn by a centaur. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 357 Þe Centaures were men of Thessalia; þey were þe firste þat chastede hors, and ladde hem wiþ brydels, and ride on hors bakkes. 1565 T. Cooper Hippocentauri, Were a people in Thessalia by the mounte Pelius, which were also called Centauri, the which were the first that were seen in Greece ryding vpon horses. 1661 J. Boys in tr. Virgil 77 The Centaurs were a mountainous people of Thessalie. 1695 Ld. Preston in tr. Boethius iv. 208 (note) The Centaurs were People of Thessaly..who first attempted to make Horses tame, and to fight upon them. 1853 Feb. 157/1 The Pelasgian race..had no horses..; and the Centaurs were probably the first horsemen they had seen. 1918 A. P. Henderson xxv. 495 Centaurs were..bull-killers, but so ceaselessly were these ancient cowboys in the saddle,..that horse and man seemed one. 1996 C. Collins v. 104 The Centaurs were a savage people of Thessaly, a region also known for its horses. 2. the world > the universe > constellation > Southern constellations > [noun] > Centaurus J. Metham (1916) l. 580 (MED) Southe in the spere..the Centaure, or the monstyr off Chyryon. 1556 R. Record iv. 270 This Centaure with his righte hande dooth holde a Wolfe, whiche is a seuerall constellation made of 19 starres. 1659 J. Moxon 214 Centaurus, the Centaure, which comprehendeth 37. Stars. 1667 J. Milton x. 328 Satan in likeness of an Angel bright Betwixt the Centaure and the Scorpion stearing. View more context for this quotation 1702 H. Curson 354 The Centaur besides 14 visible Stars, hath 4 called the Crosiers, by which Mariners sail in the Southern Hemisphere. 1764 (Royal Soc.) 53 383 The bright star in the foot of the Centaur.., when viewed through a telescope, becomes divided into two stars. 1840 C. F. Blunt 94 The constellations Centaur, Crux, and Lupus, are so close to each other as to form, in fact, but one constellation. 1877 June 566/2 Low down toward the south you see the stars of the Centaur and Lupus. 1913 Feb. 248/1 The brightest star in the constellation of the Centaur, is just four of these units [sc. the light year] distant from our earth. 1961 18 Sept. 13/5 NGC 5128 is the name given to a visible galaxy at the center of Centaurus A, a strong radio source in the constellation Centaur. 2001 C. A. Pickover ix. 189 The brightest star in the constellation Centaur became our familiar alpha Centauri. 1979 C. T. Kowal et al. in 249 Chiron was one of the centaurs, and it is suggested that the names of other centaurs be reserved for other objects of this same type.] 1992 July 10/3 The new group, unofficially dubbed the Centaurs, has only two members, 1992 AD itself, and the mysterious comet/asteroid Chiron. 2001 J. Davies 30 Although he found four comets and several Earth-approaching asteroids, Kowal never did find another Centaur. 2014 1 Apr. d8 Chariklo is a type of asteroid known as a centaur—a class of objects that orbit the sun between Jupiter and Neptune. 3. figurative. A person or thing likened to a centaur, or regarded as resembling a centaur in some way. the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > fierceness > [noun] > person or being 1565 T. Peend tr. M. Bandello sig. I.viv As Susan fayre, thou didst Delyver in her woe. And Judith from the myghty hand Of Holoferne also: From this same Centaure fearce, Save me (O Lorde) I praye. 1583 Serm. Christes Death 32/2 in A. Marten tr. P. M. Vermigli The monstrous Centaurs the Papists, vnlesse we beware, will with their traditions & decrees leade it awaie in bandes to captiuitie. a1661 T. Fuller (1662) Hants. 3 Without manners one is but a Man-beast or Centaure. 1784 E. Hunt i. 15 Celestial Virtue, aid my mortal Pen, And make these Centaurs rational again. 1816 1 Sept. 1 Law..is a very Centaur, and requires a great many human sacrifices to satisfy its maw. 1866 Jan. 414 Surely Mr. Mill had need be a very centaur in metaphysical controversy if he is to maintain his fight against such an array of opponents. the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > [noun] > a mixture > of incongruous elements the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > heredity or hereditary descent > [noun] > cross-breeding or hybridism > hybrid or cross 1606 T. Dekker vii. sig. G3 Sixe of these Centaures (that are halfe man, halfe beast, and halfe diuell). 1641 J. Milton 63 Make our selves rather the Bastards, or the Centaurs of their spirituall fornications. 1704 J. Corey ii. 26 You had best disturb him, and see whether it be so or not, he'll be worth your Sight, a meer Centaur, half Clown, half Gentleman. 1822 Ld. Byron (ed. 5) clviii. 214 Why don't they knead two virtuous souls for life Into that moral centaur, man and wife? 1883 W. J. Stillman in Oct. 826 Master and servant..a kind of social Centaur, a single brain and a double body. 1960 2 70 The sea in its tidal motion is now a foamy centaur, half sea, half estuary. 1986 M. R. Damaška i. 38 The English adjudicative centaur—part professional, part lay..was in the hands of the judge. 2012 (Nexis) 22 Dec. a2 I'd melded into my chair to become some kind of movie-theatre centaur, half-woman and half-seat. 1849 62/2 A very centaur grown grey, who could hardly walk, so long had he ridden. 1879 Dec. 21/1 Jerome was the timid, careful, nervous rider, while Louis became a centaur, and cared no more for ditches and fences than for the thistle-down in his path. 1883 I. Banks III. iii. 75 Sir Jenkyn was also in the field, a very centaur on his high-mettled bay. 1918 24 Aug. 245/1 He..was an enthusiastic fisherman, a very centaur on horseback, and a hunter who killed his first moose at the age of ten. society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > other types of vessel > [noun] 1622 G. de Malynes 173 To describe the diuersitie of ships, as Carracks, Galleons, Galeasses, Galleys, Centaureis, ships of Warre, Flyboats, Busses, and all other kind of ships and vessells. Compounds1638 J. Leycester tr. J. Rainolds 84 These Centaure Christians, both men & monsters..who speake impiously as Philosophers in the Schooles, and holily in the Church like Christians. 1739 Dec. 646/2 This new and Centaur Army might scatter the same Terror among the present Spaniards, as [etc.]. 1850 12 146/2 The man furnished with fins who interferes in the Centaur-battle of our chariot bas-reliefs. 1876 ‘G. Eliot’ I. i. vii. 123 The superadded thrill of social vanities and consciousness of centaur-power which belong to human kind. 1963 J. Killinger ii. 53 The starched and decent Presbyterianism of Altamont..is too tame and orderly for Eugene Gant's wildish centaur heart. 1998 51 188/2 The plot to disgrace Cassio..is particularly emblematic of centaur myth. Derivatives a1586 Sir P. Sidney (1590) ii. v. sig. R2 As if Centaurlike he had bene one peece with the horse. 1621 W. Slatyer iii. iii. 67 From Troian Brute deriu'd, they sayne, These Centaure-like huge monsters raigne. 1653 W. Hemings So Centaur-like he's anckor'd to his seat. 1712 (Royal Soc.) 27 348 In the middle of this Plate is delineated a very strange Centaur-like Monster. 1740 11 Long, Centaur like, with Argus Eyes, he'd rang'd These lovely Plains, unsatiated with Spoils. 1846 59 176/2 The centaur-like cavalry, and stealthy riflemen..became apparent. 1906 26 17 Achelous, who is here represented centaur-like with a man's body growing out of a bull's. 1967 25 Feb. 497/3 In Germany, where that centaur-like clinician, the neuro-psychiatrist, still flourishes. 2003 (Nexis) 22 June Two pairs of dancers are entwined with black skirts to become centaur-like figures. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021). <  n.eOE |
