prosaicn.adj.

Brit.

/prə(ʊ)ˈzeɪɪk/, U.S.

/prəˈzeɪɪk/,

/proʊˈzeɪɪk/

Forms: 1500s prosaicke, 1600s–1700s prosaick, 1600s– prosaic.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French prosaique; Latin prosaicus.

Etymology: < Middle French prosaique, French prosaïque (adjective) in prose, relating to prose (15th cent.), (of a composition) flat, ordinary, lacking poetic expression (1588; late 18th cent. or early 19th cent. in figurative use of a person's character or a non-literary work of art) and its etymon post-classical Latin prosaicus (adjective) written in prose, writing in prose (6th cent.) < classical Latin prōsa prose n. + -icus -ic suffix. Compare Catalan prosaic (1507), Spanish prosaico (15th cent.), Italian prosaico (1294). Compare earlier prosaical adj.

A. n.

1. A writer of prose. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > [noun] > prose writer

prosaic1589

proseman1589

prose writer1600

proser?1614

prosaist1776

prosateur1796

prosist1809

prosator1891

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xix. 33 Which occasioned the story writer to chuse an higher stile fit for his subiect, the Prosaicke in prose, the Poet in meetre.

1989 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Mar. 225/1 A vanity press catering for ley-liners and pyramidologists as well as poetasters and prosaics.

2. In plural. Dull or commonplace matters, considerations, observations, etc.

ΚΠ

1847 Amer. Whig Rev. Apr. 347/1 Pantol replied with an observation on the weakness of human nature and that no constitution or privilege would make men free, but only the natural liberty of the mind; with other prosaics.

1890 W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. I. viii. 163 She [sc. a ship] hardened rapidly into the familiar prosaics of timber, sail~cloth and tackling.

1938 Science Sept. 230/1 The term culture comprises much. It includes the prosaics of food getting and of everyday family life.

2003 Washington Post (Nexis) 1 May c1 War-gaming adds a dash of lottery drama to the prosaics of normal life.

3. With the. That which is prosaic (in various senses).

ΚΠ

1849 G. H. Lewes in Edinb. Rev. July 54 Primitive poetry..has a large admixture of the prosaic, and much of the language is only separated by rhythm from the language of ordinary life.

1874 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 1st Ser. 287 To hit off that delicate mean between the fanciful and the prosaic which shall satisfy his taste.

1953 P. Gallico Foolish Immortals viii. 45 A refreshing relief from the everyday and the prosaic.

1998 Strad July 763/3 Andrew Manze's approach to Tartini's ‘Devil's Trill’ Sonata raises it from the prosaic to the fiendish.

B. adj.

1. Of or relating to prose; consisting of or written in prose (opposed to poetic). Of an author: writing in prose. Now rare.In this neutral sense largely replaced in recent use by attributive use of prose (see prose n. and adj. Compounds 1), perhaps because of the negative associations of sense B. 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > [adjective]

prosaical1583

prosea1586

prosal1654

prosaic1656

1656 T. Blount Glossographia Prosaick, that is in Prose and not in Meeter, pertaining to Prose.

1657 H. Stubbe Enq. late Oneirocritica 19 Whatsoever the drag-net of Authors (antient and antick, Poets and prosaick writers) hath drawn down.

1679 S. Woodford Paraphr. upon Canticles Pref. sig. bii Their Metaphors, as appears in our Prosaic Versions,..are extremely bold.

1719 H. Eelbeck (title) A Prosaic Translation of..Persius Flaccus's Six Satyrs.

a1780 J. Harris Philol. Inq. (1781) ii. iii. 92 In modern Rhythm..be it Prosaic or Poetic, he [sc. the reader] must expect to find it governed for the greater part by Accent.

1830 W. Taylor Historic Surv. German Poetry III. 13 He [sc. Herder] published many works, chiefly prosaic, which widely extended his literary reputation.

1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz lxxix Verse which, born, demands Prosaic ministration.

1934 T. S. Eliot Elizabethan Ess. 189 What distinguishes poetic drama from prosaic drama is a kind of doubleness... The drama has an under-pattern, less manifest than the theatrical one.

1992 Stud. Eng. Lit.: Eng. Number (Tokyo) 20 He..translated Salomon Gessner's German prosaic idyl ‘Der Erste Schiffer’ (1762) into a rhymed pastoral ‘The First Seaman’.

a. Of language or writing: having the character, style, or diction of prose as opposed to poetry; plainly or simply worded; lacking in poetic expression, feeling, or imagination.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > [adjective] > having quality of prose

prosaic1692

prosya1770

poetryless1854

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > dull

tedious1412

weary1549

plumbeousa1586

ungayed1670

deserta1674

prosaic1692

pedestrian1716

languishing1741

unglittering1813

prosy1837

urned1849

monotone1862

bluebooky1872

stodgy1874

pedestrial1941

1692 in J. Dunton Young-students-libr. 354/2 We may say of his Poetry, that the Stile is as Prosaick as that of his Speeches is Elevated.

1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires i. iv. 53 'Tis not enough to close the flowing Line, And in ten Syllables your Sense confine. Or write in meer prosaic Rhimes like me, That can deserve the Name of Poetry.

1795 W. Mason Ess. Eng. Church Music iii. 166 The verses were easy and..prosaic enough to be intelligible to the meanest capacity.

1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. II. 87 The verse being prosaic, preserves its colloquial ease.

1876 R. L. Stevenson in Academy 12 Feb. 139 That merry, coarse, and somewhat prosaic poetry which began with James I. and is yet scarcely cold.

1885 Times 22 Aug. 3/1 Prosaic myself, I wrote what I thought a very prosaic letter.

1952 D. Davie Purity of Diction in Eng. Verse i. 32 C. S. Lewis..can not only define the diction of Gower as conversational rather than prosaic, but can specify the sort of conversation.

1993 E. Oldfield Sudden Fire iii. 59 All they had done was look at each other and exchange a few very prosaic words, yet something magical was happening.

2003 Library Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 May 116 Although the subject should be inherently interesting, the choppy and prosaic writing dilutes the impact.

b. Of a person or thing: unpoetic, unromantic; dull, flat, unexciting; commonplace, mundane.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [adjective] > usual or ordinary > commonplace

quotidian1430

trite1548

beaten1587

trivial1589

threadbare1598

protrite1604

prose1606

commonplace1616

everyday1628

prostitute1631

prosaical1699

tritical1709

prosaic1729

tritish1779

hack1821

rum-ti-tum1832

unspecial1838

banal1840

commonplacish1847

prosy1849

inventionless1887

thread-worn1888

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > trite or banal

quotidian1430

trite1548

protrite1604

obvious1617

unbravea1681

prosaical1699

tritical1709

prosaic1729

hack1759

unstrikinga1774

commonplace1801

prosy1837

banal1840

mundane1850

unsensational1854

bromidic1906

corn-fed1929

corn-ball1970

1729 J. Mitchell Poems Several Occasions II. 291 I wish Mankind Were Prophets all—to Poetry inclin'd; for I'd not have them Priests, of a Prosaic Mind.

1792 P. Stockdale Three Lett. ii. 8 A plain, prosaic man, would insist, that I have been traduced.

1813 H. Smith & J. Smith Horace in London Introd. Dialogue 10 When you are flat, prosaic, and insipid, (which, under favor, you sometimes are).

1859 J. G. Holland Gold Foil iii. 41 Do you get impatient with the prosaic life around you—the dulness, and the earthliness and the brutishness of men?

1892 B. F. Westcott Gospel of Life 128 The Chinese are commonly held to be a prosaic people.

1924 Amer. Mercury Dec. 438/2 Lincoln..remains a prosaic figure in rusty black and a half-gallon hat.

1951 ‘N. Shute’ Round Bend iv. 118 The old man..had come to India after that for the prosaic job of organizing a service of lorries in Bengal.

1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 4 Feb. b1/5 Turnips are prosaic, even dowdy.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	prosaic
释义	prosaicn.adj. Brit. /prə(ʊ)ˈzeɪɪk/, U.S. /prəˈzeɪɪk/, /proʊˈzeɪɪk/ Forms: 1500s prosaicke, 1600s–1700s prosaick, 1600s– prosaic. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French prosaique; Latin prosaicus. Etymology: < Middle French prosaique, French prosaïque (adjective) in prose, relating to prose (15th cent.), (of a composition) flat, ordinary, lacking poetic expression (1588; late 18th cent. or early 19th cent. in figurative use of a person's character or a non-literary work of art) and its etymon post-classical Latin prosaicus (adjective) written in prose, writing in prose (6th cent.) < classical Latin prōsa prose n. + -icus -ic suffix. Compare Catalan prosaic (1507), Spanish prosaico (15th cent.), Italian prosaico (1294). Compare earlier prosaical adj. A. n. 1. A writer of prose. rare. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > [noun] > prose writer prosaic1589 proseman1589 prose writer1600 proser?1614 prosaist1776 prosateur1796 prosist1809 prosator1891 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xix. 33 Which occasioned the story writer to chuse an higher stile fit for his subiect, the Prosaicke in prose, the Poet in meetre. 1989 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Mar. 225/1 A vanity press catering for ley-liners and pyramidologists as well as poetasters and prosaics. 2. In plural. Dull or commonplace matters, considerations, observations, etc. ΚΠ 1847 Amer. Whig Rev. Apr. 347/1 Pantol replied with an observation on the weakness of human nature and that no constitution or privilege would make men free, but only the natural liberty of the mind; with other prosaics. 1890 W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. I. viii. 163 She [sc. a ship] hardened rapidly into the familiar prosaics of timber, sail~cloth and tackling. 1938 Science Sept. 230/1 The term culture comprises much. It includes the prosaics of food getting and of everyday family life. 2003 Washington Post (Nexis) 1 May c1 War-gaming adds a dash of lottery drama to the prosaics of normal life. 3. With the. That which is prosaic (in various senses). ΚΠ 1849 G. H. Lewes in Edinb. Rev. July 54 Primitive poetry..has a large admixture of the prosaic, and much of the language is only separated by rhythm from the language of ordinary life. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 1st Ser. 287 To hit off that delicate mean between the fanciful and the prosaic which shall satisfy his taste. 1953 P. Gallico Foolish Immortals viii. 45 A refreshing relief from the everyday and the prosaic. 1998 Strad July 763/3 Andrew Manze's approach to Tartini's ‘Devil's Trill’ Sonata raises it from the prosaic to the fiendish. B. adj. 1. Of or relating to prose; consisting of or written in prose (opposed to poetic). Of an author: writing in prose. Now rare.In this neutral sense largely replaced in recent use by attributive use of prose (see prose n. and adj. Compounds 1), perhaps because of the negative associations of sense B. 2. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > [adjective] prosaical1583 prosea1586 prosal1654 prosaic1656 1656 T. Blount Glossographia Prosaick, that is in Prose and not in Meeter, pertaining to Prose. 1657 H. Stubbe Enq. late Oneirocritica 19 Whatsoever the drag-net of Authors (antient and antick, Poets and prosaick writers) hath drawn down. 1679 S. Woodford Paraphr. upon Canticles Pref. sig. bii Their Metaphors, as appears in our Prosaic Versions,..are extremely bold. 1719 H. Eelbeck (title) A Prosaic Translation of..Persius Flaccus's Six Satyrs. a1780 J. Harris Philol. Inq. (1781) ii. iii. 92 In modern Rhythm..be it Prosaic or Poetic, he [sc. the reader] must expect to find it governed for the greater part by Accent. 1830 W. Taylor Historic Surv. German Poetry III. 13 He [sc. Herder] published many works, chiefly prosaic, which widely extended his literary reputation. 1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz lxxix Verse which, born, demands Prosaic ministration. 1934 T. S. Eliot Elizabethan Ess. 189 What distinguishes poetic drama from prosaic drama is a kind of doubleness... The drama has an under-pattern, less manifest than the theatrical one. 1992 Stud. Eng. Lit.: Eng. Number (Tokyo) 20 He..translated Salomon Gessner's German prosaic idyl ‘Der Erste Schiffer’ (1762) into a rhymed pastoral ‘The First Seaman’. 2. a. Of language or writing: having the character, style, or diction of prose as opposed to poetry; plainly or simply worded; lacking in poetic expression, feeling, or imagination. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > [adjective] > having quality of prose prosaic1692 prosya1770 poetryless1854 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > dull tedious1412 weary1549 plumbeousa1586 ungayed1670 deserta1674 prosaic1692 pedestrian1716 languishing1741 unglittering1813 prosy1837 urned1849 monotone1862 bluebooky1872 stodgy1874 pedestrial1941 1692 in J. Dunton Young-students-libr. 354/2 We may say of his Poetry, that the Stile is as Prosaick as that of his Speeches is Elevated. 1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires i. iv. 53 'Tis not enough to close the flowing Line, And in ten Syllables your Sense confine. Or write in meer prosaic Rhimes like me, That can deserve the Name of Poetry. 1795 W. Mason Ess. Eng. Church Music iii. 166 The verses were easy and..prosaic enough to be intelligible to the meanest capacity. 1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. II. 87 The verse being prosaic, preserves its colloquial ease. 1876 R. L. Stevenson in Academy 12 Feb. 139 That merry, coarse, and somewhat prosaic poetry which began with James I. and is yet scarcely cold. 1885 Times 22 Aug. 3/1 Prosaic myself, I wrote what I thought a very prosaic letter. 1952 D. Davie Purity of Diction in Eng. Verse i. 32 C. S. Lewis..can not only define the diction of Gower as conversational rather than prosaic, but can specify the sort of conversation. 1993 E. Oldfield Sudden Fire iii. 59 All they had done was look at each other and exchange a few very prosaic words, yet something magical was happening. 2003 Library Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 May 116 Although the subject should be inherently interesting, the choppy and prosaic writing dilutes the impact. b. Of a person or thing: unpoetic, unromantic; dull, flat, unexciting; commonplace, mundane. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [adjective] > usual or ordinary > commonplace quotidian1430 trite1548 beaten1587 trivial1589 threadbare1598 protrite1604 prose1606 commonplace1616 everyday1628 prostitute1631 prosaical1699 tritical1709 prosaic1729 tritish1779 hack1821 rum-ti-tum1832 unspecial1838 banal1840 commonplacish1847 prosy1849 inventionless1887 thread-worn1888 the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > trite or banal quotidian1430 trite1548 protrite1604 obvious1617 unbravea1681 prosaical1699 tritical1709 prosaic1729 hack1759 unstrikinga1774 commonplace1801 prosy1837 banal1840 mundane1850 unsensational1854 bromidic1906 corn-fed1929 corn-ball1970 1729 J. Mitchell Poems Several Occasions II. 291 I wish Mankind Were Prophets all—to Poetry inclin'd; for I'd not have them Priests, of a Prosaic Mind. 1792 P. Stockdale Three Lett. ii. 8 A plain, prosaic man, would insist, that I have been traduced. 1813 H. Smith & J. Smith Horace in London Introd. Dialogue 10 When you are flat, prosaic, and insipid, (which, under favor, you sometimes are). 1859 J. G. Holland Gold Foil iii. 41 Do you get impatient with the prosaic life around you—the dulness, and the earthliness and the brutishness of men? 1892 B. F. Westcott Gospel of Life 128 The Chinese are commonly held to be a prosaic people. 1924 Amer. Mercury Dec. 438/2 Lincoln..remains a prosaic figure in rusty black and a half-gallon hat. 1951 ‘N. Shute’ Round Bend iv. 118 The old man..had come to India after that for the prosaic job of organizing a service of lorries in Bengal. 1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 4 Feb. b1/5 Turnips are prosaic, even dowdy. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.adj.1589
随便看	stand in doom stand in etc service stand in etc stead stand in good stead stand in great service stand in hand stand in island stand in it stand in judgement stand in judgement against stand in line stand in little stead stand in need stand in no service stand in no stead stand in one's own light stand in one's stockings stand in one's way stand in print stand in service stand in state stand in stead stand in stead of a person stand in store stand in super