| 词源 |
odor of sanctity; odor of iniquity. In medieval times people believed that the bodies of saints or holy people gave off a sweet fragrance after death, an odor of sanctity; and that the bodies of evil people smelled to high heaven, an odor of iniquity. The followers of Emanuel Swedenborg, called the Swedenborgians, later attributed the delightful fragrance to the angels present at a saintly person’s deathbed. At any rate, the odor of iniquity never took on a figurative meaning, but an odor of sanctity came to mean “a reputation for holiness.” |