| 释义 |
miller1|ˈmɪlə(r)|
Forms: α. 4 mulnere, mylnere, 5 milnare, mylnar, melner, 5–7 mylner, 6 myllner, 7 millner, 5–8, 9 dial. milner. β. 4 mellere, millere, 5 mylur, myllar(e, 6 myller, millar, 7 miler, 4– miller.
[Not found before the 14th c.; the α and β forms perh. represent formations of that period on the two ME. forms of mill n.1 (mylne, myll) + -er1.
The late appearance of the word is unfavourable to the assumption of an OE. *mylnere; if such a form existed, it might, with some of the synonyms in continental Teut., represent a WGer. adoption of late L. molīnārius (whence F. meunier) f. molīna mill n.1 Cf. OS. muliniri (MDu. molenare, mulner, muldener, MLG. molner, mod.Du. molenaar, mulder), OHG. mulinâri (MHG. mülnære, mülner, mod.G. müller), ON. mylnari (Sw. mjölnare, Da. møller). That the Eng. word was adopted from Du. or LG. is not altogether impossible.]
1. a. One whose trade is the grinding of corn in a mill; the proprietor or tenant of a corn-mill. Also (? dial.) applied to that workman in a mill who has charge of the actual grinding.
The OE. word was mylnweard (lit. ‘mill-keeper’: see millward), denoting the custodian or manager of the mill belonging to the lord. The word miller would have the same application so long as ‘the lord's mill’ continued to be one of the customary appurtenances of a manor.
α1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 80 Monde þe Mulnere [later texts mellere, mylnere], and moni mo oþure. c1425Wyntoun Cron. vi. xvi. 1625 This milnare had a dowchtyr fayre. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 319 A mylner callede Athus. 1523Fitzherb. Bk. Surv. 10 But dout ye nat the mylners wyll be no losers. 1619in Ferguson & Nanson Munic. Rec. Carlisle (1887) 278 We amercye Archilles Armestronge for keping his wief to play the milner,..iiis. 4d. 1725Lond. Gaz. No. 6384/7 John Hodgson,..Milner.
β1386Chaucer Prol. 542 Ther was also a Reue and a Millere. Ibid. 545 The Millere was a stout carl. c1425Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 650/22 Hic molendinarius, mylur. c1440Promp. Parv. 337/2 Myllare. molendinarius. c1515Cocke Lorell's B. 3 A myller dusty poll than dyde come. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vii. xiii. 365 Gillius..who..made enquiry of Millers who dwelt upon its shoare received answer, that it [sc. the Euripus] ebbed and flowed foure times a day. 1824R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 133 A similar irregularity in the motion of corn-mills..had early exercised the ingenuity of millers.
fig.1657Cokaine Obstinate Lady Poems (1669) 301 My noble milner of words, thou that dost grind thy speeches with a merry pronunciation.
¶b. In proverbs imputing to millers' dishonesty in the taking of toll.
The proverb given by Ray seems to mean that there are no honest millers, and to allude to the use of the thumb in taking toll of flour. It is probable that this is the original form, and that Chaucer and Gascoigne played upon the phrase, taking the ‘thumb of gold’ to mean one that brings profit to the owner.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 563 Wel koude he [sc. the miller] stelen corn and tollen thries And yet he hadde a thombe of gold pardee. 1576Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 79 When smithes shoe horses, as they would be shod, When millers toll not with a golden thumbe. 1678Ray Prov. (ed. 2) 176 An honest miller hath a golden thumb. 1876J. H. Ewing Jan of Windmill xxxii, Was 'ee ever in a mill? 'ee seems to have a miller's thumb.
c. Proverb. too much water drowned the miller: used to express that one can have too much of a good thing. Hence in figurative phrase to drown the miller: to add too much water to spirits, dough, etc. (in this use also to put the miller's eye out); also † Sc. ‘to become bankrupt’ (Jam.). For more recent examples see Eng. Dial. Dict.
1805A. Scott Poems (1808) 136 Honest men's been ta'en for rogues, Whan bad luck gars drown the miller. 1816Scott Antiq. xxi, The hale folk here..hae made a vow to ruin my trade, as they say ower muckle water drowns the miller. 1822― Pirate xvi, ‘A fine, a fine’, said the Udaller, ‘..he shall drink off the yawl full of punch, unless he gives us a song on the spot!’ ‘Too much water drowned the miller’, answered Triptolemus. 1834E. Copley Housekpr.'s Guide x. 233 If after..‘putting out the miller's eye’ by too much water, you add flour to make it stiff enough for rolling out [etc.].
d. One who regulates or works any machine called a ‘mill’. Chiefly in parasynthetic compounds, as cloth-miller, saw-miller, scribbling-miller, etc.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 992 The use of this machine [a lamp called a steel mill] entailed on the miner the expense of an attendant, called the miller, who gave him light. 1888Barrie When a Man's Single i, The saw-miller's letter. 1900Daily News 10 Oct. 7/3 He was a cloth miller.
2. Applied
a. to certain white or white-powdered insects, as (a) the cockchafer, Melolontha vulgaris; (b) a neuropterous insect, Sialis lutaria; (c) a small moth often used by anglers; also, the ghost moth, Hepialus humuli (E.D.D.);
b. to certain hairy caterpillars. See also dusty miller, dusty a. 5.
1668Charleton Onomasticon 47 Blatta...Molendinaria, the Miller, because always whited with a delicate Down. 1681Glanvill Sadducismus ii. 144 A Fly like a great Millar flew out from the place. 1829Glover's Hist. Derby I. 177 White miller or owl fly..yellow miller or owl fly. 1858H. W. Beecher Life Th. (1859) 170 Would you put the lamp out in your house because moths and millers burn their wings in it? 1869E. Newman Brit. Moths 251 The Miller (Acronycta leporina). 1883C. S. Burne Folk-Lore Shropsh. 194 Another amulet..is composed of a ‘miller’, or hairy caterpillar.
3. Applied to certain vertebrates, as
a. one of the rays, Myliobatis aquila;
b. dial. the young of the spotted flycatcher, Muscicapa grisola;
c. the hen-harrier, Circus cyaneus, and Montagu's harrier, C. cineraceus;
d. the whitethroat, Sylvia rufa or cinerea;
e. the ringed plover (Manx Bird-names in Zoologist Feb. 1897).
1620J. Mason New-found-land in Capt. John Mason (Prince Soc. 1887) 152 What should I speake of..Cunners, Catfish, Millers, thunnes, &c.? 1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 446 From..the crushing power of these teeth, the fish has acquired the additional name of the Miller. 1885Swainson Prov. Names Birds 49 In Salop the name of Miller is given to young flycatchers. Ibid. 132 Hen harrier..Miller. 1893Newton Dict. Birds 572 Miller, a name given to the grey males of Circus cyaneus and C. cineraceus..; and also locally to the Whitethroat.
4. Austral. = floury miller (floury a. d).
1896Rec. Austral. Museum II. 107 The same kind of Cicada is known by different names in different localities, such as ‘Miller’, ‘Mealy-back’, etc. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 46 Miller, a nickname for a cicada.
†5. A vaulting trick in horsemanship = miller's pass (see 8 b). Obs.
1641W. Stokes Vaulting Master C 3 The fifth Passe, called the Miller.
6. slang.
a. A pugilist. † Also, a murderer. Obs.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Miller, a Killer or Murderer. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 143 Next rings the fame of gallant Crib A cool and steady miller. 1823‘Jon Bee’ Dict. Turf, Millers—second rate boxers, whose arms run round in rapid succession [etc.]. 1830S. Warren Diary Physic. vii. (1832) I. 135 The Captain..being a first-rate ‘miller’, as the phrase is,..let fall a sudden shower of blows.
†b. Applied to a vicious horse. Obs.
1825C. M. Westmacott Engl. Spy I. 236 An incurable miller.
7. A milling-machine.
In mod. Dicts.
8. a. attrib. and Comb., as miller-maiden; miller-dog, a kind of dog-fish, Galeus canis; † miller-grape, a kind of grape; miller-moth, a white or ‘mealy-scaled’ moth (cf. sense 2); † miller-pit = mill-pool; † miller quarrier, one who quarries (millstones) for a miller.
1848Zoologist VI. 1974 *Miller Dog, Galeus vulgaris.
1763Mills Pract. Husb. IV. 381 The meunier, or *miller grape, delights in light sands.
1828Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. 237 Our simple *miller-maiden.
1819G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 382 *Miller moth (Noctua leporina). 1878T. Hardy Ret. Native iv. vii, White miller-moths flew into the air.
14..Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 725/8 Hic assicus, a *mylnerpyt.
1497Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. (1877) I. 328 Giffin to the foure *millar quareouris in Dunbar for stanis wynnyng and breking, iiij lib. xviij s.
b. With possessive: miller's coat, a coat of fence in use in the sixteenth century, apparently a buff-coat or similar defence of leather (Cent. Dict. 1890); miller's dog, a kind of dog-fish, Galeus canis; miller's-maze, ? = miller's round; † miller's pass = sense 5 (see quot. 1653); miller's round, a kind of dance; miller's soul, a large white moth, probably the ghost-moth, Hepialus humuli. Also miller's thumb.
1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 390 It is known by the names of Penny Dog and *Miller's Dog. 1880–4F. Day Brit. Fishes II. 292 Galeus vulgaris..miller's dog, from its light gray colour.
1597–8Bp. Hall Sat. iv. iii. 59 Some of thy stallion-race Their eyes boar'd out, masking the *millers-maze.
1641W. Stokes Vaulting Master Plate 5 The *Millers Passe. 1653Urquhart Rabelais i. xxxv, He brought himself betwixt the horses two eares, springing with all his body into the aire, upon the thumb of his left hand, and in that posture turning like a windmill, did most actively do that trick which is called the Millers Passe.
1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Oct. 52 Carroll lowde, and leade the *myllers rownde.
1585J. Higins Junius' Nomenclator, Pyrallis..a candle flie; a stout or *millers soule. 1894T. Hardy Life's Little Ironies 253 He saw one of those great white miller's-souls, as we call 'em—that is to say, a miller-moth.
Sense 8 in Dict. becomes 9. Add: 8. = mousseron n.
1954E. M. Wakefield Observer's Bk. Common Fungi 63 Clitopilus prunulus. Miller (plate 36). Edible. 1967W. P. K. Findlay Wayside & Woodland Fungi xi. 129 Clitopilus prunulus: The Miller (L. prunulus, little plum). This species owes its English name to the fact that it is white and smells strongly of meal. 1977C. Conran tr. M. Guérard's Cuisine Minceur (1981) 29 Millers...are an opaque dirty white with soft thick white flesh, and are somewhat trumpet-shaped. |
