Book : BREWER'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE & FABLE | Adam Bell Adelphi
Publisher : HARPER & BROTHERS pt 4
Adam Bell
10
Adelphi
John Ball's speech at Blackheath to the rebels
in Wat Tyler's insurrection (1381). It seems
to be an adaptation of some lines by Richard
Rolle of Hampole (d. c. 1349) :—
When Adam dalfe and Eve spanne
To spire of thou may spede,
Where was then the pride of man,
That now marres his meed?
Cp. Jack's as good as his master, under JACK
(phrases}.
Adam Bell. See CLYM OF THE CLOUGH.
Adam Cupid — i.e. Archer Cupid, probably
alluding to Adam Bell. In all the early
editions the line in Romeo and Juliet (II, i,.13) :
"Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim,'-
reads "Young Abraham Cupid," etc. The
emendation was suggested by Steevens.
Adam's ale. Water; because the first man
had nothing else to drink. In Scotland
sometimes called Adam's Wine.
Adam's apple. The protuberance in the
forepart of the throat, the anterior extremity
of the thyroid cartilage of the larynx; so called
from the superstition that a piece of the
forbidden fruit stuck in Adam's throat.
Adam's needle. Gen. iii, 7, tells us that
Adam and Eve "sewed fig leaves together;"
needles were (presumably) not then obtainable,
but certain plants furnish needle-like spines,
and to some of these the name has been
given. The chief is the Yucca, a native of
Mexico and Central America.
Adams, Parson. The type of a benevolent,
simple-minded, eccentric country clergyman;
ignorant of the world, bold as a lion for the
truth, and modest as a girl. Henry Fielding's
Joseph Andrews (1742).
Adam's Peak. A mountain in Ceylon
where, according to Mohammedan legend,
Adam bewailed his expulsion from Paradise,
standing on one foot for 200 years to expiate
his crime; then Gabriel took him to Mount
Arafat, where he found Eye.
In the granite is a curious impression resembling
a human foot, above 5 feet long by 2i broad; the
Hindus, however, assert that it was made by Buddha
when he ascended into heaven.
Adam's profession. Gardening or agricul-
ture is sometimes so called — for obvious
reasons.
There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners,
ditchers, and grave-makers; they hold up Adam's
profession.
SHAKESPEARE: Hamlet, v, 1.
Adamites (ad'amlts). The name given to
various heretical sects who supposed them-
selves to attain to primitive innocence by
rejecting marriage and clothing. There was
such a sect in North Africa in the 2nd century;
the Abelites (q.v.) were similar; the heresy
reappeared in Savoy in the 14th century, and
spread over Bohemia and Moravia in the
15th and 16th. One Picard, of Bohemia, was
the leader in 1400, and styled himself " Adam,
son of God." There are references to the
sect in James Shirley's comedy Hyde Park
(II, iv) (1632), and in The Guardian, No. 134
(1713).
Adamant (from Gr. a, not; damao, I tame).
A word used for any stone or mineral of
excessive hardness (especially the diamond,
which is really the same word); also for the
magnet or loadstone; and, by poets, for hard-
ness or firmness in the abstract.
In Midsummer Night's Dream, ii, 1
You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant;
But yet you draw not iron, for my heart
Is true as steel. .
we have an instance of the use of the word m
both senses. Adamant as a name for the
loadstone, or magnet, seems to have arisen
through an erroneous derivation of the word
by early mediaeval Latin writers from Late
Lat., adamare, to take a liking for, to have
an attraction for. Thus Shakespeare:—
As true as steel, as plantage to the moon,
As sun to day, as turtle to her mate,
As iron to adamant. .
Troilus and Cressida, m, 2.
Adamastor (ad a maY tor). The spirit of the
stormy Cape (Good Hope), described by
Camoens in the Lusiad as a hideous phantom
that appears to Vasco da Gama and pro-
phesies disaster to all seeking to make the
voyage to India.
Addison of the North. A sobriquet of Henry
Mackenzie (1745-1831), author of the Man
of Feeling.
Addison's disease. A state of anaemia,
languor, irritable stomach, etc., associated with
disease of the suprarenal glands: so named
from Dr. Thos. Addison, of Guy's Hospital
(1793-1860), who first described it.
Addisonian termination. The name given
by Bishop Kurd to the construction which
closes a sentence with a preposition, such as —
"which the prophet took a distinct view of."
Named from Joseph Addison, who frequently
employed it.
Addle is the Old English adela, mire, or liquid
filth; hence rotten, putrid, worthless.
Addle egg. An egg which has no germ ; also
one in which the chick has died. Hence,
fig., addle-headed, addle-pate, empty-headed.
As an addle-egg produces no living bird so
an addle-pate lacks brains.
The Addled Parliament. The second Parlia-
ment of James I, 5th April to 7th June, 1614.
It refused to grant supplies until grievances
had been redressed, and is so called because
it did not pass a single measure.
Adelantado (a de Ian ta'do). Spanish for "his
excellency" (from adelantar, to promote), and
given to the governor of a province. Hence,
a figure of importance.
Open no door. If the adelantado of Spain were
here he should not enter. — BEN JONSON: Every Man
out of his Humour, v, 4.
Middleton, in Blurt, Master Constable (IV, iii),
uses lantedo as an Elizabethan abbreviation of
this word.
Adelphi, The. A block of residential buildings,
off the Strand m London, designed by Robert
Adam in 1768 — now largely demolished.
Adam himself, Garnck, and in later times
Hardy, Barne; and the Savage Club had
accommodation in the main building.
Adept
11
Adonis
Adept means one who has attained (Lat.
adeptus, participle of adipisci). The alchem-
ists applied the term vere adeptus to those
persons who professed to have "attained to
the knowledge of" the elixir of life or of the
philosopher's stone.
Alchemists tell us there are always 1 1
adepts, neither more nor less. Like the sacred
chickens of Compostella, of which there are
only 2 and always 2 — a cock and a hen.
In Rosicrucian lore as learn'd
As he that vere adeptus earn'd.
BUTLER: Hudibras, I, i, 546.
Adeste Fideles (a des' ti fl de' lez) ("O come,
all ye faithful"). A Christmas hymn the familiar
tune of which was composed by John Reading
(1677-1764), organist at Winchester and author
of "Dulce Domum."
Adiaphorists (ad I af or ists) (Gr. indifferent.)
Followers of Melanchthon; moderate Luther-
ans, who held that some of the dogmas of
Luther are matters of indifference. They
accepted the Interim of Augsburg (#.v.).
Adieu (Fr. to God). An elliptical form for
J commend you to God (cp. GOOD-BYE).
Adjective Colours are those which require a
mordant before they can be used as dyes.
Admirable, The. Abraham ben Meir ibn
Ezra, a celebrated Spanish Jew (1092-1167),
was so called. He was noted as a mathe-
matician, philologist, poet, astronomer, and
commentator on the Bible.
TTie Admirable Crichton. James Crichton
(1560-1585?), Scottish traveller, scholar, and
swordsman. So called by Sir Thomas
Urquhart.
Admirable Doctor (Doctor mirabilis). Roger
Bacon (12147-1294), the English mediaeval
philosopher.
Admiral, corruption of Arabic Amir (lord or
commander), with the article al, as in Amir-
al-ma (commander of the water), Amir-al-
Omra (commander of the forces), Amir-al-
Muminim (commander of the faithful).
Milton uses the old form for the ship itself:
speaking of Satan, he says: —
His spear — to equal which the tallest pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast
Of some great ammiral, were but a wand —
He walked with.
Paradise Lost, i, 292.
In the Royal Navy there are now four
grades of Admiral, viz. Admiral of the Fleet,
Admiral, Vice-Admiral, and Rear- Admiral.
There used to be three classes, named from
the colour of their flag — Admiral of the Red,
Admiral of the White, and Admiral of the Blue,
who, in engagements, held the centre, van,
and rear respectively. The distinction was
abolished in 1864.
Admiral of the Blue (see above), used
facetiously for a butcher who dresses in
blue, or a tapster, from his blue apron.
As soon as customers begin to stir
The Admiral of the Blue cries, "Coming, Sir'"
Poor Robin (1731)
Admiral of the Red (see above), facetiously
applied to a wmebibber whose face and nose
are red.
Admittance. This word is not synonymous
with admission. From permission to enter,
and thence the right or power to enter, it
extends to the physical act of entrance, as
"he gained admittance to the church." You
may have admission to the director's room,
but there is no admittance except through his
secretary's office. An old meaning of the
word indicates the privilege of being admitted
into good society: —
Sir John . . . you are a gentleman of excellent
breeding ... of great admittance.
Merry Wives of Windsor, ii, 2.
Admonitionists, or Admonitioners. Certain
Protestants who in 1571 sent an admonition
to the Parliament condemning everything m
the Church of England which was not in
accordance with the doctrines and practices
of Geneva.
Adonai (a do' nl) (Heb. pi. of adon, lord). A
name given to the Deity by the Hebrews, and
used by them m place of Yahweh (Jehovah),
the "ineffable name," wherever this occurs.
In the Vulgate, and hence in the Wyclif,
Coverdale, and Douai versions, it is given for
Jehovah in Exod. vi, 3, where the A.V.
reads : —
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and
unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by
my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
Thus James Howell says of the Jews : —
. . . they sing many tunes, and Adonai they make
the ordinary name of God: Jehovah is pronounced
at high Festivals.
Letters, Bk. i, sec. vi, 14 (3 June, 1633).
Adonists. Those Jews who maintain that
the vowels of the word Adonai (<?.v.) are not
the vowels necessary to make the tetra-
grammaton (q.v.), JHVH, into the name of the
Deity. See also JEHOVAH.
Adonais (ad 6 na' is). The poetical name
given by Shelley to Keats in his elegy on the
death of the latter (1821), probably in allusion
to the mourning for Adonis.
Adonia (a do' ni a). The feast of Adonis,
celebrated in Assyria, Alexandria, Egypt,
Judaea, Persia, Cyprus, and Greece, for eight
days. Lucian gives a long description of these
feasts, which were generally held at mid-
summer and at which the women first lamented
the death and afterwards rejoiced at the
resurrection of Adonis — a custom referred to
in the Bible (Ezek. viii, 14), where Adonis
appears under his Phoenician name, Tammuz
Adonis (a do' nis). In classical mythology a
beautiful youth who was beloved by Venus,
and was killed by a boar while hunting.
Hence, usually ironically, any beautiful young
man, as in Massinger's Parliament of Love,
II, 2 I—-
Of all men
I ever saw yet, m my settled judgment . . .
Thou art the ugliest creature; and when trimm'd up
To the height, as thou imagin'st, in mine eyes,
A leper with a clap-dish (to give notice
He is infectious), in respect of thee
Appears a young Adonis.
And Leigh Hunt was sent to prison for libelling
George IV when Regent, by calling him "a
corpulent Adonis of fifty" (Examiner, 1813).
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