| 释义 |
Megillah|məˈgɪlə|
Also † meghillah, megilla(h), megille. Pl. megil(l)oth, megil(l)a(h)s.
[Heb. megillah roll, scroll.]
a. Each of five books of the Old Testament, namely S. of S., Ruth, Lam., Eccles., and Esther, appointed to be read by adherents of the Jewish faith on certain feast days; freq. with particular reference to the book of Esther, read at the feast of Purim. Also, a copy of any one, or all, of these books.
1650E. Chilmead tr. Leon Modena's Hist. Rites of Jews iii. x. 165 They read..the whole book of Esther; which they have..in a long Roll:..and this they call..Meghillah, that is to say, Volumen, a Volume, or Roll. 1652E. Bargishai Brief Compendium Vain Hopes of Jews Messias 17 In the same Talmuth and book Megilla..saith Chennina, when the Messias shall appear, then shall God..shew great honours to the Jews. 1818Jewish Preceptress 85 After the usual service, the Megilla, or book of Esther, is read. 1836Nethiboth Olam (Old Path) 26 Feb. 27/1 We request the attention of our readers to the reason given why the reading of the Megillah is more important than any of the commandments. 1857C. D. Ginsburg Song of Songs p. vii, The following is an exposition of the first of the five books called Megilloth. Ibid. 2 This Song is the first of the..five Megiloth, or books which are annually read in the Synagogues. 1926‘R. Learsi’ tr. Ash's Kiddush Ha-Shem 89 Young men drew artistic designs in colors for..Megillahs. 1932A. Z. Idelsohn Jewish Liturgy 391 Měgilla chanting. 1957Oxf. Dict. Chr. Ch. 882/1 Megilloth (Heb..., ‘rolls’), the name given to five Books in the OT, all of them in the third and latest section of the OT canon known as the ‘Hagiographa’, which were read by the Jews on certain feast days. 1968L. Rosten Joys of Yiddish 230 Megillah... Hebrew: ‘scroll’. 1. Megillah usually describes the Book of Esther..; also the Book of Ruth. (There are five megillahs in all.) 1973Synagogue Light Sept. 12/2 We read in Megilas Ruth [etc.]. 1974Jewish Chron. 13 Sept. 17/1 A megilla in an engraved casket..was presented to the Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation.
b. slang. With allusion to the length of the Megillah: a long, tedious, or complicated story; freq. in phr. a whole Megillah (Yiddish a gantse Megillah).
1957L. M. Feinsilver in Chicago Jewish Forum Summer 228/1 A gantse Megillah or ‘a whole Megillah’ has been thrown around by a number of TV personalities..presumably with little idea of the origin of the phrase. 1968L. Rosten Joys of Yiddish 230 Megillah... 2. Anything very long, prolix; a rigmarole... 3. In popular parlance: Anything complicated, boring, overly extended, fouled up. 1968Punch 1 May 626/1 Feeding all the megillah to the papers about his family of Irish Polacks who came over with the Pilgrim Fathers. 1970L. M. Feinsilver Taste of Yiddish i. 28 The Megille, or scroll, of Esther which is read aloud on Purim, and which takes some time to read, gave rise to the humorous description of a long story as a gantse megille (a whole megille). 1970S. Sheldon Naked Face (1971) x. 110 ‘Do you know the most peculiar thing about this whole megillah?’ queried Moody thoughtfully. |
