abjectとは

意味・読み方・使い方

語源 1

From Middle English abiect (“outcast, wretched”), from Latin abiectus, past participle of abiciō (“to throw away, cast off, to reject”), from ab- (“away”) +‎ iaciō (“to throw”)^[1].

形容詞

abject (comparative abjecter または more abject, superlative abjectest または most abject)

1. Sunk to or existing in a low condition, state, or position. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]^[2]
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:

     So thick bestrown abject and lost lay these, covering the flood.

2. Cast down in spirit or hope; degraded; servile; grovelling; despicable; lacking courage; offered in a humble and often ingratiating spirit. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]^[2]
   • 1710, Joseph Addison, Whig Examiner, number 5:

     Honest men, who tell their sovereigns what they expect from them, and what obedience they shall be always ready to pay them, are not upon an equal foot with such base and abject flatterers;

   • 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second:

     Lord Howard of Escrick accused Ayloffe of proposing to assassinate the Duke of York; but Lord Howard was an abject liar;

   • c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:

     And banish hence these abject, lowly dreams.

   • 1931, Faulkner, Sanctuary, ii:

     He sat obediently with that tentative and abject eagerness of a man who has but one pleasure left and whom the world can reach only through one sense, for he was both blind and deaf.

3. Showing utter hopelessness, helplessness; showing resignation; wretched. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]^[2]
   • 1927, Countee Cullen, From the Dark Tower:

     We shall not always plant while others reap \ The golden increment of bursting fruit, \ Not always countenance, abject and mute \ That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap;

4. (obsolete) Rejected; cast aside. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the early 17^th century.]^[2]

使用する際の注意点

• Nouns to which "abject" is often applied: poverty, fear, terror, submission, misery, failure, state, condition, apology, humility, servitude, manner, coward.

同意語

• beggarly, contemptible, cringing, degraded, groveling, ignoble, mean, mean-spirited, slavish, vile, worthless

関連する語

名詞

abject (複数形 abjects)

1. A person in the lowest and most despicable condition; a castaway; outcast. [from late 15h c.]^[2]
   • 1830, Walter Scott, “Auchindrane; or, The Ayrshire Tragedy”, in The Doom of Devorgoil, a Melo-drama; Auchindrane; or, The Ayrshire Tragedy, Edinburgh: Printed [by Ballantyne and Company] for Cadell and Company; London: Simpkin and Marshall, OCLC 742335644, Act III, scene i, page 309:

     Hear ye the serf I bred, begin to reckon / Upon his rights and pleasure! Who am I— / Thou abject, who am I, whose will thou thwartest?

   • 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening:

     Shall these abjects—these victims—these outcasts, know any thing of pleasure?

   • c. 1591-1594, Shakespeare, Richard III, Act I, Scene I:

     We are the queen's abjects, and must obey.

語源 2

From Middle English abjecten, derived from the adjective form.^[3]

発音

• IPA^(key): /æbˈdʒɛkt/

動詞

abject (三人称単数 現在形 abjects, 現在分詞 abjecting, 過去形および過去分詞形 abjected)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cast off or out; to reject. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17^th century.]^[2]
   • 2001, Jana Evans Braziel, Kathleen LeBesco (editors), Bodies out of bounds: fatness and transgression, page 141:

     Rather than abjecting her own fat body, the Ipecac-taking fat girl is abjecting diet culture.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To cast down; hence, to abase; to degrade; to lower; to debase. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17^th century.]^[2]
   • a. 1632, John Donne, “Sermon IX. Preached on Candlemas Day.”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, OCLC 151169612, page 182:

     What phrases of abjecting themselves, in respect of the prince, can exceed David's humble expressing of himself to Saul?

関連する語

• abjection

参照