单词 | black swan |
释义 | black swann. 1. Proverb. Something extremely rare (or non-existent); a rarity, rara avis. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [noun] > rareness > something very rare rare1566 rariety1566 black swan?1570 rarity1592 hen's milk1601 white Negro1631 rara avis1651 (one) in a million1685 collector's or collectors' item1910 lightning in a bottle1941 rare bird1962 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xii. xii. 622 The swan hatte signus in latyn and olor in grew for he is al white in fetheres, for no man findiþ a blak swan.] ?1570 T. Drant Two Serm. sig. H.iiv Paule can not finde the Purpurisse, nor Peter the Currier: Iob we haue not, nor Toby we finde not: Captaine Cornelius is a blacke Swan in this generation. 1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 12 The abuse of such places [sc. theatres] was so great, that for any chaste liuer to haunt them, was a black swan, & a white crow. 1606 J. Day Ile of Guls sig. D4v The rare..Mopsa, the black swan of beauty, & madg-howled of admiration. 1694 N. H. Ladies Dict. 192/1 Husbands without faults (if such black Swans there be). 1743 H. Fielding tr. Juvenal 6th Satire in Misc. I. 97 A Virgin too, untouch'd, and chaste, Whom Man ne'er took about the Waiste. She's a rare Bird! find her who can, And much resembling a black Swan [L. nigro..cygno]. 1764 J. Wesley Jrnl. 2 Oct. (1827) III. 191 I breakfasted..with Mr. B——, a black swan, an honest lawyer! 1825 Atheneum: Spirit of Eng. Mags. 1 Nov. 95/1 It was indeed a black swan that Dick courted that day. 1890 W. E. Norris Misadventure ix He may not be such a black swan as Aunt Susan makes him out. 1998 S. Hermann Seeing Lessons 67 Samuel will ask much of you. But you must give it, because he is our black swan. 2009 N.Y. Times Mag. 4 Jan. 29/2 Something rare, something you've never considered a possibility. Taleb calls these events ‘fat tails’ or ‘black swans’. 2. The swan Cygnus atratus, native to Australia and introduced widely elsewhere, which has chiefly black plumage and a red bill. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of (miscellaneous) eyrar1551 black swan1698 coscoroba1808 1698 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 20 361 Black Swans, Parrots and many Sea-Cows were found there [sc. in Hollandia Nova]. 1789 A. Phillip Voy. Botany Bay xi. 98 A black swan..is here by no means uncommon, being found on most of the lakes. 1845 C. Hodgkinson Aust., Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay 208 Black Swans frequent the mouths of rivers, and salt lagoons, and are easily shot. 1870 Illustr. Austral. News (Melbourne) 21 May 98/2 The skins of the black swan are much sought after for the down. 1914 W. S. Churchill Let. 28 July in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) iv. 96 The two black swans on St James's Park lake have a darling cygnet—grey, fluffy, precious & unique. 1967 R. Donaldson et al. Cane! 114 ‘It's a black swan from western Aussie,’ he said without much interest. 2003 Black Men Oct. 91/1 Of the seven species of swans in the world, all are pure white except for the South American black-necked swan and the Australian black swan. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.?1570 |
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