释义 |
eagren.Origin: Of uncertain origin. Etymology: Origin uncertain and disputed: perhaps (i) the reflex of Old English ēgor flood, high tide, (violent or turbulent) body of water (also as ēagor ; see note), although this poses considerable phonological problems (especially the unexpected modern pronunciation with plosive /ɡ/); or (ii) < early Scandinavian; compare Old Icelandic ægir sea (see note), although this also poses formal problems (since preservation of the nominative singular inflectional ending is not normally expected). Compare West Frisian agger (1890), Dutch agger (1856; perhaps earlier in place names), both in sense ‘sea swell during low tide’, similarly of disputed origin. Compare earlier acker n.1Etymology of Old English ēgor. Old English ēgor , ēagor is probably < the same base as ea n., perhaps with (Indo-European) s -extension; compare Old English ēg- (in compounds as ēgweard watch by the sea, ēgstrēam stream, sea) and perhaps also Old Icelandic ægir sea (also as the name of Ægir , the god of the sea). Form history and formal difficulties. With the α. forms compare post-classical Latin higra , which is attested several centuries earlier with reference to the tidal bore of the Severn and is apparently a loan from late Old English:c1125 William of Malmesbury Gesta Pontificum Anglorum (2007) I. iv. §153. 446 Naute certe gnari, cum uident illam higram (sic enim Anglice vocant) uenire, nauem obuertunt, et per medium secantes uiolentiam eius eludunt. It is possible that the attested α. forms as a whole represent a reborrowing of the post-classical Latin form back into English (directly from William of Malmesbury or from Camden; compare quot. 1610 at α. ). The forms hygra, higra at α. forms are clearly after post-classical Latin higra. Because i in post-classical Latin higra is attested as early as the 12th cent., it is not easy to explain the vowel of the first syllable in the α. forms in relation to the β. forms, irrespective of which derivation is adopted, and it has therefore been questioned whether the α. and β. forms show the same word. With the β. forms compare earlier occurrence of Agar as the name of a fictional monster associated with a tidal surge in the Humber estuary:1592 J. Lyly Gallathea i. i. sig. B2 [The scene is beside the Humber] Neptune..sendeth a Monster called the Agar, against whose comming the waters rore, the fowles flie away, [etc.]. The spelling aegir at β. forms has apparently been reinforced by association with Old Icelandic ægir (compare (ii) above). It is uncertain whether acker n.1 is related, despite its semantic and formal resemblance to the early β. forms. According to N.E.D. (1891 ) ‘the usual pronunciation in the neighbourhood of the Humber and Trent is /ˈeɪɡə(r)/’, despite the fact that ‘the Dictionaries give /ˈiːɡə(r)/’. Engl. Dial. Dict. (1898) records both pronunciations. the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > types of waves > [noun] > high wave caused by movement of tide > of unusual height α. 1610 P. Holland tr. William of Malmesbury in tr. W. Camden 357 The watermen well ware hereof when they see that Higra [L. Higram] comming, (for so they call it in English), turne the vessell affront upon it, and so cutting through the midest of it, check and avoide the violence thereof. 1612 M. Drayton vii. 101 The Muse from Cambria comes againe,..Sees Severne; when the Higre takes her, How feuer-like the sicknes shakes her. 1623 J. Taylor Very Merry Wherry-Ferry Voy. in ii. 11/1 The Flood..hath lesse mercy then Beare, Wolfe or Tyger, And..it is called the Hyger. 1714 R. Steele 11 May Such a Roll of the Tides as the Sailors corruptly call the Higre, instead of the Eager. 1779 S. Rudder 46/1 This contest [between the waters of the Severn and the tide]..is called the Hygre, or Eager, probably from the French eau-guerre, i. e. water-war. 1817 A. Stark ix. 216 A curious phenomenon is observed in the Trent, at this place, called the Eagre or Hygre. 1878 S. H. Miller & S. B. J. Skertchly vii. 182 The tide..overcame all obstacles and rushed up the tortuous channel to Boston as a bore or hygre. β. 1647 J. Sprigge ii. ii. 68 This day, the General..was graciously delivered from a great danger he was near unto by a sudden surprisal of the Tide called the Eager.1650 Sir T. Browne (ed. 2) vii. xiii. 312 From the peculiar disposition of the earth at the bottome..may arise those Agars and impetuous flows in some æstuaries and Rivers, as is observable about Trent and Humber in England.1685 J. Dryden iv. 7 His manly heart..like an Eagre rode in triumph o're the tide.1759 S. Johnson 24 Mar. 89 He forded rivers where the current roared like the Egre of the Severn.1851 F. Palgrave I. 323 The Eager or Eau-guerre, so remarkable in the mouth of the Severn.1863 J. Ingelow 144 So farre, so fast the eygre drave, The heart had hardly time to beat.1870 E. Peacock II. 87 He would..get on a pink and go up wi' th'ager.1910 5 Aug. 5/4 Eagre at Ferry 20 min. before high water at Hull Stockwith.1952 A. White (1993) i. v. 45 Do you wish to remain glaring at the Trent and waiting for the eagre to overwhelm you?1974 16 Aug. 11/1 Eagre times. The arrival of the Eagreon the River Trent is calculated on the time of high water at Hull.2008 T. Fort xviii. 247 What if I was confronted by the Aegir, the Trent version of the Severn Bore, which sweeps a seven-foot wave upstream at the speed of a galloping horse?This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1610 |