Philistine
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɪlɪstaɪn/
ipa: /ˈfɪlɪˌstaɪn/
ipa: /-lə-/
ipa: /-stin/
ipa: /fɪˈlɪstin/
Forms: form: Philistines
form: Philistim
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English Philistyne, Philisten [and other forms], from Old English Filistina (genitive plural), from Old French Philistin (modern French Philistin) and Late Latin Philistinus, from Koine Greek Φυλιστῖνοι (Phulistînoi), a variant of Φυλιστιίμ (Phulistiím), Φυλιστιείμ (Phulistieím) (compare Koine Greek Παλαιστῖνοι (Palaistînoi)), from Hebrew פְּלִשְׁתִּים (p'lishtím, plural noun), from פְּלִשְׁתִּי (p'lishtí, “Philistine”, adjective), from פְּלֶשֶׁת (p'léshet, “Philistia”). An Anatolian origin should be considered, compare Hittite 𒁄𒄭𒅖 (pal-ḫi-iš /⁠palḫis⁠/, “wide, broad”), nominalized as lowland, plain + 𒊭𒀀𒆠𒄑𒍣 (ša-a-ki-ez-zi /⁠šākizzi⁠/, “seeks out”), nominalized as explorer, colonist, which would yield something like palḫis-sak or palḫis-sku.
In light of the Philistines’ likely Aegean origins, several scholars have proposed Greek etymologies for the ethnonym:
* Thomas Schneider proposes that it is derived from an archaic Greek term πλωϝιστοι (plōwistoi, “sailors,seafarers”) (cf. Mycenaean Greek 𐀡𐀫𐀹𐀵 (po-ro-wi-to /⁠plōwistos⁠/)).
* Jan Driessen connects the Philistines with the people of the settlement of Pyla, yielding the term Πυλαϝαστοι (Pulawastoi, “inhabitants of Pyla”). Furthermore, Driessen suggests a link between the Philistine migration to the Levant and the abandonment of Pyla which occurred within the timespan described in the Medinet Habu reliefs.
The English word is cognate with Akkadian 𒆳𒉿𒇺𒋫 (ᴷᵁᴿpi-lis-ta, “Pilistu”), 𒆳𒉺𒆷𒊍𒌓 (ᴷᵁᴿpa-la-as-tu₂ /⁠Palastu⁠/), 𒆳𒉿𒇺𒋫𒀀𒀀 (ᴷᵁᴿpi-liš-ta-a-a /⁠Pilištayu⁠/, “(people) of the Pilištu lands”), and is a doublet of Palestine.
The archaic noun plural form Philistim is from Middle English Philistiim [and other forms], from Late Latin Philisthiim, from Koine Greek Φυλιστιίμ (Phulistiím), Φυλιστιείμ (Phulistieím); see further above.
The adjective is derived from the noun. For the etymology of the "ignorant person" sense, see philistine.
Senses: examples: text: Then the lords of the Philiſtines gathered them together, for to offer a great ſacrifice vnto Dagon their god, and to reioyce; for they ſaid, Our god hath deliuered Samſon our enemy into our hand.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 16:23, column 1:
text: Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 15:
synonyms: word: Philistee
word: Philistian
word: Palestine
glosses: A non-Semitic person from ancient Philistia, a region in the southwest Levant in the Middle East.
examples: text: In very truth what could poor old Abbot Hugo do? A frail old man; and the Philistines were upon him,—that is to say, the Hebrews.
ref: 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “Abbot Hugo”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk), page 44:
qualifier: frequently humorous
glosses: An opponent (of the speaker, writer, etc); an enemy, a foe.
synonyms: word: philister
word: Philister
qualifier: university slang
glosses: In German universities: a person not associated with the university; a non-academic or non-student; a townsperson.
examples: text: It is Shakespearean, you Philistine!
text: [W]hen he [Christoph Friedrich Nicolai] wrote against [Immanuel] Kant's philosophy, without comprehending it; and judged of poetry as he judged of Brunswick mum, by its utility, many people thought him wrong. A man of such spiritual habilitudes is now by the Germans called a Philister, Philistine: Nicolai earned for himself the painful pre-eminence of being Erz-Philister, Arch-Philistine. [...] At present the literary Philistine seldom shows, never parades, himself in Germany; and when he does appear, he is in the last stage of emaciation.
ref: 1824, Thomas Carlyle, “Goethe”, in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, edited by H[enry] D[uff] Traill, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship and Travels: Translated from the German of Goethe […] (The Works of Thomas Carlyle; XXIII), centenary edition, volume I, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, footnote 1, page 22:
text: Not only was he [Heinrich Heine] not one of Mr. [Thomas] Carlyle's "respectable" people, he was profoundly disrespectable; and not even the merit of not being a Philistine can make up for a man's being that.
ref: 1865, Matthew Arnold, “Heinrich Heine”, in Essays in Criticism, London: Macmillan and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 184–185:
text: If it were not for this purging effect wrought upon our minds by culture, the whole world, the future as well as the present, would inevitably belong to the Philistines.
ref: 1867 July, Matthew Arnold, “Culture and Its Enemies”, in The Cornhill Magazine, volume XVI, number 91, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 42:
text: Even the most pig-headed vestry-man feels that something unpleasant has been said about him when he has been called a Philistine, though he may have the vaguest possible conception of its precise meaning. [...] It is used so vaguely by people who are themselves Philistines of the deepest dye, that it is in danger of losing its meaning.
ref: 1868 July 18, “Nicknames”, in Every Saturday: A Journal of Choice Reading, Selected from Foreign Current Literature, volume VI, number 133, Boston, Mass.: Fields, Osgood, & Co., successors to Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 92, column 1:
text: Mr. [Matthew] Arnold has no patience with the middle-class ‘Philistines’ the dullards and haters of light, who care only for what is material and practical.
ref: 1880, “MATTHEW ARNOLD”, in Robert Chambers, Robert Carruthers, editors, Chambers’s Cyclopædia of English Literature […], 3rd edition, volume VII, New York, N.Y.: American Book Exchange, […], →OCLC, page 155:
text: "Oh, the Philistine! The boorish Philistine!" he murmured; [...]
ref: 1905 July 1, F. H. Bolton, “That Poetic Johnny”, in The Boy’s Own Paper, volume XXVII, number 1381, London: “Boy’s Own Paper” Office, […], →OCLC, page 635, column 2:
text: Colored Pencils: 'I'm sick and tired of Philistines like you ERASING all of my hard work, man.'
ref: 2020 July 17, Intelligent Systems, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Nintendo, level/area: Overlook Tower:
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of philistine (“a person who is ignorant or uneducated; specifically, a person who lacks appreciation of or is antagonistic towards art or culture, and who has pedestrian tastes”).
Related terms: Palestine
Philistia