| 释义 |
▪ I. dowd, n.1|daʊd|
[Of uncertain origin. In mod. use appar. a back-formation from dowdy a.
The ME. rimes with shroud show that the ME. vowel was |uː| = Fr. ou or OE. ú; this separates it from dow v.3 (which besides appears later); it also eliminates Wedgwood's suggestion of connexion with dawdle and Sc. dawdie. The mod.Sc. dooda |ˈdudə| may be related.]
A person, usually a woman, whose dress and appearance are devoid of smartness and brightness.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11255, I trowe þer were many doude Þat proudly spak for noble schroude. c1425Wyntoun Cron. iii. 795 In sege a sot to se, Or do a dowde in dignite. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 312 If she be neuer so fowlle a dowde, With hir kelles and hir pynnes..The shrew hir self can shrowde. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 309 b, To begette soche foule babies and oule faced doudes. 1607Breton Murmure C vij, Doest thou being Faire murmure at the preferment of a foule one and in thy rage call her foule Dowde? 1814F. Burney Wanderer III. 199, I go such a dowd here, that it's enough to frighten you. 1899Westm. Gaz. 30 Oct. 3/2 She's a dowd to-day. 1904Ibid. 23 June 4/2 Only a duchess may dare to be a dowd just now. 1930Time & Tide 13 Sept., To confound the shallow-pates who complained that a suffragist must be a dowd, the leader of the W.S.P.U. appeared on platforms clothed in Paris frocks. 1950John o' London's 24 Nov. 629/3 A homely and devoted dowd like some of the later translations by Victorian writers.
▪ II. † dowd, n.2 Obs. or dial.
A woman's cap or night-cap.
1749R. Goadby Carew (ed. 2) 42 Having..pinn'd a large Dowde under his Chin. Ibid. 223 He..puts on a long Dowde. 1808–80Jamieson, Doud, a kelled mutch, or woman's cap with a caul, considered as a dress cap. 1847–78Halliwell, Dowd, a night-cap. Devon.
▪ III. dowd, dowed, ppl. a.
see dow v.3 |
