/sʌɪˈaməki/, U.S. /saɪˈæməki/, 1600s–1800s sciomachy, 1700s–1800s skiomachy, 1800s– skiamachy. skiamachyn.
/skʌɪˈaməki/, U.S. /skaɪˈæməki//sʌɪˈaməki/, U.S. /saɪˈæməki/, 1600s–1800s sciomachy, 1700s–1800s skiomachy, 1800s– skiamachy. A sham fight or argument; conflict or argument with an imaginary or insubstantial opponent; shadow-boxing.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > a fight > sham, imaginary, or with shadows
skiamachy1623
shadow-fight1768
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. Sciamachie, counterfeit fighting.
1637 G. Ironside Seven Questions Sabbath To Rdr. sig. Biijv Least thou shouldst perhaps think I affected a Sciomachy or Umbratilous skirmish.
1657 W. Morice Coena quasi Κοινὴ xv. 187 Their arguing against it is but a Sciamachy.
1747 H. Fielding Answer Scurrilous Libel 18 But enough of this Skiomachy.
1833 Philol. Museum 2 170 A great part of Cotta's argumentation becomes a mere sciomachy.
1862 Christian Remembrancer Apr. 446 As we have no taste for skiomachy, we leave the fuller exposure of this portentous mare's nest to other hands.
1917 R. Rooper in V. Gollancz Making of Women iii. 91 Weary of such profitless skiamachy, suffragists have..fallen upon the physical force argument.
1952 Crisis Aug. 424/1 Most observers of the South Carolina and Virginia cases regarded them as sciamachies preparatory to the inevitable argument before the Supreme Court.
2005 J. Henderson in K. Freudenburg Cambr. Compan. Rom. Satire 313 People..live inside their skin, in their skull, in their losing skiamachy between their selves.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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