| 释义 |
termagantn.adj. Origin: From a proper name. Etymons: proper name Tervagant, Tervagan. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman Tervagant, Tervagaunt (late 12th cent.), variant (perhaps with remodelling of the ending after present participles in -ant -ant suffix1, although compare -ant suffix3) of Anglo-Norman and Old French Tervagan, the name of a god imagined in medieval Christendom to be worshipped by non-Christians, especially Muslims (c1100; Middle French Tervagan , French (now hist.) Tervagant ), further etymology uncertain and disputed (see note). Compare Middle High German Tervagant , Tervigant ( < French), Italian Trivigante (a1516 in Ariosto; probably < French). Neither the β. forms, with medial -m- (whose relationship to the α. forms is unexplained), nor the later semantic development to ‘hectorer, bully’ and ‘shrew, scolding woman’ appear to have parallels in the Romance languages.Further etymology. In the medieval French chansons de geste , Tervagan was one of three idols, along with Mahound (see Mahound n.) and Apollin (i.e. Apollo), supposedly worshipped by the ‘Saracens’, i.e. Muslims. The origin of the name has been the subject of much conjecture. A frequent suggestion connects it with classical Latin ter thrice (see ter- comb. form) and vagant- , vagans wandering (see vagant adj.), with allusion to the mythological triple personification of the moon which moves about or ‘wanders’ as Selene (in heaven), Diana (on earth), and Proserpina (in the underworld); with Italian Trivigante , perhaps compare classical Latin trivius ‘of or belonging to a three-way crossroads’, whose feminine form trivia occurs as an epithet of the name of the moon goddess Diana whose sinister aspect (identified with the Greek goddess Hekate) was believed to be present at crossroads. See further H. Grégoire ‘L'étymologie de Tervagant’ in Mélanges d'histoire du théâtre du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance offerts à Gustave Cohen (1950) 67–74, and (for an overview of several other etymological suggestions) A. Dauzat in Revue internationale d'onomastique (1950) 2 273–4. Specific forms. In form tryuigant after Italian Trivigante. A. n.the world > the supernatural > deity > other deities > [noun] > Islamic > imagined by Christians c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) l. 2670 For ȝif hit wulled Teruagant þe us [read is] oure god of þisse lond [sc. Rome]. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1978) l. 8198 Þe heðene..cleopeden. Ure godd Teruagant whi trukest þu us an hond[?]. c1300 St. Mary Magdalen (Laud) 205 in C. Horstmann (1887) 468 Ne bi-lieuez nouȝht opon Mahun, ne on teruagaunt, is fere. c1390 King of Tars (Vernon) l. 604 in (1889) 11 48 (MED) On Tirmagaunt he gon to grede: ‘On ȝow was neuere helpe at nede!’ a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich xlix. l. 51 (MED) We han foure Goddis, bothe goode & fyne, Mahownd and Termagaunt, goddis so fin; Anothir hihte Iubiter, and Appolyn. c1450 (a1375) (Calig.) (1979) l. 919 Þe sowdan, þat left [= believed] yn Teruagaunt. 1509 (de Worde) sig. O.iiiiv Kynge Rycharde sayd..as thou byleuest on termagaunt Tell me now what folke there is. 1591 J. Harington tr. L. Ariosto xii. xliv. 92 Blaspheming Tryuigant and Mahomet [It. Bestemmiando Macone et Trivigante], And all the Gods adord in Turks profession. 1597 Bp. J. Hall i. i. 1 Nor fright the Reader with the Pagan vaunt Of mightie Mahound, and great Termagaunt. 1637 T. Heywood ii. ii I'le march where my Captaine leads, wer't into the Presence of the great Termagaunt. 1661 B. J. sig. C2 I'le ne're depart..till in the Temples of Jerusalem, both Mahomet, Asteroth and Termagaunt, those holy Gods that Governs [sic] Babylon be set for you stout Christians to adore. 1825 W. Scott Talisman iii, in III. 79 Down with Mahound, Termagaunt, and all their adherents. 1875 S. W. Singer IX. 214 (note) Dr. Percy and Dr. Johnson, misled by the etymology given by Junius, have made a Saracen divinity of Termagant. 1950 B. Lewis ii. 45 Beginning as a kind of demon or false god worshipped with Apollyon and Termagant in an unholy trinity, the mediaeval Mahound developed in the West into an arch-heretic. 1999 M. Kauf (2002) iii. 62 The word is simply Dio..not Tervagent, Mahound, or any foreign-sounding idols. 2002 M. Greenfield in D. J. Baker & W. Maley v. 78 Termagant, the pagan god of the mystery plays, was known not for military valour but for comical ranting. 2. the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > person the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > blustering or bravado > [noun] > person society > authority > rule or government > oppression > [noun] > domineering or overbearing > domineering person 1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in (1998) I. 218 Nero thy nevow, Golyas thy grantsire..Termygantis tempise the, and..Belȝebub, thy full brothir, will clame To be thyne air. a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 152 Thae tarmegantis with tag and tatter Full lowd in Ersche begowth to clatter. 1543 J. Bale sig. Evii v Thys terryble termagaunt, thys Neroth, thys Pharao. 1618 T. Adams ii. 270 Wealth may doe vs good seruice, but if it get the masterie of our trust, it will turne tyrant, Termagant. 1679 T. Oates 30 So many imbittered Collegiates of St. Omers, the great Swash-bucklers and Termagaunts of Popery. 1730 J. Swift 37 I do not find how his E—— can be justly censured for favouring none but High-Church, High-flyers, Termagants, Laudists [etc.]. 1788 W. Hayley V. iii. 68 Nor think that females only fill the cave! Male termagants have liv'd, and here they rave. 1823 W. Scott II. viii. 196 The..consequences that might follow from the displeasure of this Highland Termagaunt. 1884 S. St. John vii. 269 Bazin, the military termagant who led the prosecution..browbeat the witnesses, bullied the jury. 1921 M. Loyd tr. L. Madelin viii. 185 That ‘termagant of a Municipality’ seemed likely to get the better of the Senate. 1988 J. Brady (1990) 87 He had been circumspect, not the opinionated termagant Minogue had expected in a student leader. the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > person > woman the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > ill nature in woman or shrewishness > [noun] > shrew society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [noun] > noisy or angry quarrel > one who > female society > authority > rule or government > oppression > [noun] > domineering or overbearing > domineering person > woman 1578 J. Rolland 111 Se the consait of this bald bitter Bitch..This tratour theif, this tryit termigant. 1659 i. iv. sig. B2 And just so must all our Tavern Tarmagons be us'd. a1732 J. Gay (1733) ii. ii. 27 This Girl is..such an arrant Termagant, that I cou'd as soon fall in love with a Tigress. 1794 H. Rowe ii. 27 Woman What!—me a termagant!—me a vixen!—I'll pull your eyes out, you white-livered villain. 1861 W. M. Thackeray iii. 112 Yonder is Sarah Marlborough's palace, just as it stood when that termagant occupied it. 1896 ‘I. Maclaren’ v. 77 A vulgar termagant..who would call her husband an idiot aloud before a dinner-table. 1956 T. Williams Let. 3 July in (1991) 135 Harold Levy..moved out, I would guess, to escape from his eighty-five-year-old termagant and shrew of a mother. 2002 Apr. 106/1 I've heard the stories about her being a tyrannical stage mother, a bitch on wheels. But Mother Norwood isn't the hard-nosed termagant you expect. B. adj.the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [adjective] the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > blustering or bravado > [adjective] society > authority > rule or government > oppression > [adjective] > domineering or overbearing 1546 J. Bale f. 40 They..conferre the fashyons of thys termagaunt Byshopp concernynge thys woman, with the cruell maners of great Pharao in the deliueraunce of the people of Israel. 1596 T. Nashe sig. G2 Termagant inkhorne tearmes. a1652 R. Brome Novella i. ii. sig. I2, in (1653) O Cupid what a Termagant tyrant art thou Over poore subjects of sixteene! 1695 C. Leslie 3 Consider the fine Knack these Gentlemen have got at Representation and Character; which you will find so luscious and termagant, as would shame even the Modesty of the Stage. 1710 ‘J. Touchwood’ 5 A Man of great Brawn and Muscle, Large, Tall and Termagant. 1784 T. Holcroft i. i. 6 Did you see in the fight how he brought down that termagant Dane,..he that seemed determined to kill every body himself? 1869 J. Martineau 2nd Ser. 213 His dialectic assumes a termagant character. 1985 L. Mosley (1990) xii. 149 All of Donald's peculiarly feisty characteristics remained two-dimensional so long as his termagant nature could not be wedded to the right kind of voice. the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [adjective] > of a woman the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > ill nature in woman or shrewishness > [adjective] society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [adjective] > quarrelsome > of a woman 1668 J. Dryden i. 4 His Wife, who is a Termagant Lady. 1680 J. Dryden i. i. 6 But this Lady is so Termagant an Empress! 1709 R. Steele No. 36. 298 Termagant Wives who make Wedlock a Yoke. 1761 F. Sheridan I. 314 The most termagant spirit that ever animated a female breast. 1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian vi, in 2nd Ser. II. 144 ‘I tell ye,’ raising her termagant voice, ‘I want my bairn!’ 1868 E. A. Freeman II. viii. 275 The plans of his own termagant niece Queen Constance. 1906 W. R. H. Trowbridge 67 Her termagant temper, by which strangely she held Charles as much as by her beauty. 1976 C. Reid i. 10 Nelly's classmates never visited her because of her termagant grand-mother. 2015 (Nexis) 23 Jan. Freud wrote a famous essay about Dostoyevsky, arguing that a man raised by a quarrelsome, termagant mother would end up gay. Derivatives the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [adjective] > of a woman the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > ill nature in woman or shrewishness > [adjective] society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [adjective] > quarrelsome > of a woman 1823 23 Apr. Mrs. Scarsfield had something so very termagantish in her appearance. 1901 Mar. 14 My first call, as luck would have it, was on one of those termagantish old Irish women—in fact a perfect petticoat Tartar. 1993 1 Nov. 90/3 The biggest problem with Act Two is the reassignment of the Magnolia–Ravenal duet..to the termagantish Parthy as a solo lullaby to her brand-new granddaughter. society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [adverb] > noisily or angrily the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [adverb] > specifically of woman the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > ill nature in woman or shrewishness > [adverb] 1686 F. Spence in tr. C. de Saint-Évremond Pref. sig. A11v The great Duellists in Religion, who, tho Chaplains to the Prince of Peace, are evermore termagantly mad. 1706 tr. J. B. Morvan de Bellegarde 383 To see..how termagantly they treat their Husbands. 1834 July 67 She asks Job very termagantly, ‘Did I ever spare the brazen battery of my tongue?’ 1938 June 174/2 ‘Where be ye goin'?’ he inquired a little termagantly. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.adj.c1275 |
