| 释义 |
Methuselahn. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from Hebrew. Etymons: Latin Mathusala; Hebrew Mĕṯūšelaḥ. Etymology: < post-classical Latin Mathusala (Vulgate) and its etymon Hebrew Mĕṯūšelaḥ, the name of an Old Testament patriarch and the grandfather of Noah, said to have lived 969 years (Genesis 5:27). Compare Hellenistic Greek Μαθουσάλα (Septuagint, New Testament).The Hebrew name has been variously etymologized as ‘man of the javelin’, ‘man of [the deity] Selah’, and ‘man of [the deity] Lach’. The name, when it occurs in Old and Middle English, is always spelt with an a in the first syllable (compare α. forms above) and usually with t rather than th : compare Old English Matusalem (the usual form), Matusalam , and also Mathusalam , Mathusalem , Maþusalem , Maðusalem , Mathusal (in the poem Genesis); Middle English Matusale , Matussale , Matusalem , and also Mathusale (in Caxton's 1485 translation of Charles the Grete). Forms in Mat- are rare after Middle English and not attested later than the 16th cent. Forms in Math- are predominant in the 16th cent., as a result of new translations of the Vulgate (Tyndale has Mathusala , Coverdale Mathusalah ). After the 17th cent. forms in Math- occur chiefly in American sources. The name first appears spelt with an e in the first syllable (compare β. forms above) in the mid 16th cent. in Old Testament translations directly from Hebrew. The Great Bible and Bishops' Bible have Methuselah and Methusalah , the Geneva Bible Methushelah , and the King James Bible Methuselah and Methushelah ; in the recapitulation of the Sethite genealogy of patriarchs in Luke's gospel, all of these versions correspondingly have the form Mathusala (Luke 3:37), after the Greek. Forms in Meth- are common from the last third of the 16th cent. onwards. The principal forms of name attested from the 16th cent. onwards are Methusaleh , Methusalah , Methuselah , and Methusalem . The form Mathusala is fairly common from the 19th cent. The form Mathusalem is used by Spenser ( Faerie Queene ii. ix. 57) and is attested sporadically thereafter (it is now a not uncommon American variant in sense 2). A large number of rare or ad hoc forms, probably mostly representing small phonological variations in the main forms, occur up to the present day, although they are far less common in the 20th cent. Forms in -m probably derive from the Latin accusative form Mathusalam in the Vulgate; some may also be influenced by Jerusalem . N.E.D. (1906) noted the form Methusalem as ‘in vulgar use’, but while it remains chiefly in regional use in sense 1, it has become a common variant in sense 2. The Cainite genealogy of patriarchs lists Methushael (Methusael in the King James version) as the great-grandson, rather than the son, of Enoch (Genesis 4:17); the -ael form is common to practically all English Bibles and occurs as Matusael in the Old English Hexateuch. Although always treated as a distinct name, such forms occur very occasionally in more general contexts until the 19th cent., and may not always be clearly differentiated from those in -ale (the Old English poem Genesis uses the form Mathusal for both Methuselah and Methushael). Occasionally used as a male forename from the 16th cent., chiefly in North America. 1. c1390 in F. J. Furnivall (1901) ii. 447 Ȝif a Mon may libben heer As longe as dude Matussale.] 1509 H. Watson tr. S. Brant (de Worde) sig. Hii Also olde as euer was matheusale. 1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes iii. 19 I shall neuer gouerne, though I come to be as old as Methusalem. 1706 J. Stevens i. at Sarra Viéjo cómo Sárra, As old as Sarrah. We say, As old as Mathusalem, or as old as S. Paul. 1766 G. S. Carey Cottagers iii. ii, in 74 May you live to be as old as Mathusalem, I say. 1845 C. Dickens i. 41 A man may live to be as old as Methuselah. 1872 30 I tell you, gentlemen, that were I to live to be as old as Methuselah, I could never atone for this crime. 1931 J. D. Beresford i. 5 A woman..at least as old as Methuselah. 1998 (Nexis) 15 May b6 These Puritans know that adultery is a mischievous activity as old as Methuselah. the world > people > person > old person > [noun] > long liver 1622 J. Webbe 18 If, before we can justly tax our Predecessors of ignorance, we must necessarily take pains in reading them; and to read both new and ould Grammarians, were worke enough for a Methushelah. 1647 A. Cowley Love & Life in i So though my Life be short, yet may I prove The great Methusalem of Love. 1711 tr. S. Werenfels Disc. Meteors Stile in tr. S. Werenfels 225 The Heliotrope is the Methusalem of Flowers. 1756 H. Walpole Let. 4 Mar. in (1974) XXXVII. 447 It is impossible not to laugh at him as if he was a Methusaleh! 1849 H. Rogers II. vi. 316 A good book is the Methuselah of these latter ages. 1888 J. B. Bailey (title) Modern Methuselahs, or Short Biographical Sketches of a few Advanced Nonagenarians, or actual Centenarians. 1940 R. A. J. Walling i. 25 Giving the Methusalahs a kick in the pants. 1989 Nov. 38/1 A peek through the managerial keyholes at WinterPlace reveals anything but snowgoing Methuselahs—and that's what appeals most to the bankers. the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun] > bottle > for liquor 1935 A. L. Simon 172 Methuselah, double Jeroboam, holding 8 reputed quarts or 6·40 litres, equal to 225·350 fluid ounces. 1951 (Bohemian Distrib. Co., Los Angeles, U.S.A.) Apr. Out-size bottles include the..Methuselah..8 bottles or 213·30 ounces. 1962 25 May 13/4 Methuselah.., Salmanasar, Balthasar, Nebuchadnezzar—‘usually applied respectively to eight, twelve, sixteen, and twenty bottle containers’. 1972 E. Meigh 73 Wine bottlers ransacked the Old Testament for names of kings and captains to name the bottles in which their valuable liquids were confined: thus, in ascending order of magnitude are jeroboams, rehoboams, methuselahs. 1973 A. Powell ii. 63 The methusalem of champagne that burst celebrating the return from Europe of Texas Guinan. 1991 Aug. 55/1 Champagnes range from methuselahs to half bottles, from Ayala to Krug. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.1509 |
