allusion

Word family

al·lu·sion /əˈluːʒən/ noun [countableC, uncountableU]

MENTIONsomething said or written that mentions a subject, person etc indirectly 暗示，暗指，間接提到；典故

allusion to

The committee made no allusion to the former president in its report.

委員會在報告中沒有影射前總統。

literary/classical/cultural etc allusions

Eliot’s poetry is full of biblical allusions.

艾略特的詩作中聖經典故比比皆是。

In his poetry we find many allusions to the human body.

在他的詩中，人體的隐喻俯拾皆是。

—allusive /-sɪv/ adjectiveadj [only before noun]

Examples from the Corpus

allusion• Like the cabalistic use of hints and allusions, it achieves results seemingly out of proportion to the measures employed.• Many pages of the New Testament contain quotations or allusions to the Old Testament.• The play abounds in biblical and religious allusions, typical of Romantic works, and also prevalent in the comedia lacrimosa.• Paige looked round, unsure if he was making some allusion to her or not.• The allusion to clouds is anything but fortuitous, emphasizing as it does the link between the sound of drums and thunder.• In various other places and strands of the New Testament we find similar unselfconscious allusions to the three persons in the deity.

literary/classical/cultural etc allusions• The thing about Mr Healey's delightful book is not only the bloody poetry but the classical allusions.

Origin allusion

(1600-1700) Late Latin allusio, from Latin alludere; → ALLUDE

Syllable

Corpus

TOEFL BNC: 11817 COCA: 11191

allusion

noun

ADJECTIVE | VERB + ALLUSION | PREPOSITION

ADJECTIVE

➤clear, direct明顯的影射；直接提及

➤frequent頻繁的提及

▸➤indirect, subtle, vague, veiled間接提及；閃爍其詞；含糊提及；不明言的指涉

◇She was made uncomfortable by his veiled allusion to the previous night.他對頭天晚上的事閃爍其詞令她感到不快。

➤biblical, classical, cultural, historical, literary, Shakespearean《聖經》典故；典故；文化典故；歷史典故；文學典故；莎士比亞文學作品中的典故

VERB + ALLUSION

➤contain, include含有典故；包含典故

▸➤make提及

◇He makes several allusions to these events in his latest book.他在最新出版的書中幾次提及這些事件。

PREPOSITION

➤allusion to對⋯的提及

TOEFL BNC: 11817 COCA: 11191

allusion noun
⇨ reference

TOEFL BNC: 11817 COCA: 11191

allusion

Comments and remarks: acknowledgment, afterthought, allusion...