| 释义 |
fairness|ˈfɛənɪs|
[f. fair a. + -ness.]
1. The quality or condition of being fair; beauty:
a. in the abstract; also concr. something that is fair, a beautiful feature, an ornament.
c1200Ormin 12253 Off hæle, off faȝȝerrnesse, Off strenncþe. c1340Hampole Prose Tr. (1866) 39 Thare es souerayne fairenes, lyghtenes, strenghe [etc.]. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xvii. (1495) 325 The mone is the fayrnes of the nyght. 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 177 Beholdynge in hym all fayreness, all power, and all verteu. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. vii. 35 Persons of the greatest fancy, and such who are most pleased with outward fairnesses are most religious. 1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. III. iv. xvi. §14 For all fairness we have to seek to the flowers.
b. of women.
a1000Liber Scint. 168 Leas gyfu & ydel ys fæᵹernyss. a1225St. Marher. (1862) 35 For ir feirnesse, þau ho bee comen of þrelle. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 47 Felyce hir fayrnesse fel hir al to sklaundre. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. vii. (1869) 4, I seygh a lady in my wey; of hire fairnesse she dide me ioye. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 63 In the whiche synne they fall communly by the reason of theyr fayrnes. 1624Heywood Gunaik. iv. 164 The higher powers have bestowed upon you fairenesse above man. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) I. iv, The print gives..some of her Flemish fairness. 1877Mrs. Forrester Mignon I. 54 And right royally she uses the prerogative of her fairness.
c. of men and children; rarely of animals. Obs. or arch.
a1000Lambeth Ps. xliv. 5 (Bosw.) Mid ðinum hiwe oððe wlite and fæᵹernysse ðinre. c1175Lamb. Hom. 77 Sunne and mone þostreþ for his fairnesse. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1233 Wantede ðit child faiernesse and miȝt. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 285 A woman..wedded a bocher for his fairenesse. 1401Pol. Poems (1859) II. 68 If Sathanas were transfigurid into his former fairnesse. 1535Coverdale Isa. liii. 2 When we loke vpon him, there shalbe no fayrnesse. 1608D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 48 The beautie and fairenesse of his eyes. 1820Keats Hyperion iii. 125 The immortal fairness of his limbs.
†d. of inanimate things. Obs.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 7025 Myȝte no..tunge telle þe feyrnesse. c1325Prose Psalter xlix. 12 Þe fairnes of þe felde is wyþ me. c1400Cato's Morals 109 in Cursor M. App. iv, Noȝt for þe fairnes, bot for þi nedines, loue þou þe peny. c15111st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 27 All with feders bouden for there bewtynes and fayrenes. 1583Hollyband Campo di Fior 305, I am not of opinion that any place can be found like to this in fairenesse. 1662Merrett tr. Neri's Art of Glass lxxxvi, A Violet colour of notable fairness. 1726Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 9, I shew'd him the Money, and he soon knew the Piece..from the particular Fairness of it.
†e. of speech. Obs.
c1490Promp. Parv. 146 (MS. K.) Fayirnesse of speche, facundia.
2. Of the complexion or skin: Lightness of colour.
1599Hakluyt Voy. II. 331 The whitenesse thereof [ivory] was..thought to represent the natural fairenesse of man's skinne. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. II. 550 Ambitious of intermarrying with Persians..on account of the fairness of their complexion. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xv, The fairness of his skin, where it had not..been exposed.
3. Equitableness, fair dealing, honesty, impartiality, uprightness.
c1460Townley Myst. 195 It is best that we trete hym with farenes. 1722Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 628, I hope fairness and truth were in mine eye. 1771Junius Lett. xlvi. 245 No man..will dispute the fairness of this construction. 1802Med. Jrnl. VIII. 184 We do not doubt of the fairness of the statement. 1859Macaulay Biog. (1867) 91 A show of fairness was..necessary to the prosperity of the Magazine. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. III. xcix. 387 The criticisms of an outspoken press rarely assail..their [English judges'] fairness.
†4. Of the weather: The state of being free from storms or rain; fineness. Obs.
c1440Promp. Parv. 146 Fayrnesse of wedur, amenitas. 1580Baret Alv. F 37 Fairenesse of weather: quietnesse, serénitas. 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 23 The Moon, Tides, and Fairness of Weather were more favourable to us by Night than Day.
†5. Courtesy. Obs.
c1205Lay. 3272 Me vnder-feng þene king: mid mochele feirnusse. a1400–50Alexander 1745 Feyne all with fairnes & fayne at þou may.
†6. Gentleness; only in by fairness, with fairness: by fair or gentle means. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 519 To drawen folk to heven, with fairnesse, By good ensample. c1400Beryn 1396 Let assay efft ageyn, with ffeirnes hym to chast. 1470–85Malory Arthur ix. lxxvii, Outher with fayrenes or foulnesse I shalle brynge hym to this courte. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 331 The king..will provyde some remedy for us, eyther by fayrenesse or otherwise. |
