termagant
Part of speech: noun
adj
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: PIE word
 *tréyes
The noun is derived from Termagant (“fictitious deity with a violent temperament represented as being worshipped by Muslims or other non-Christians”), from Middle English Termagaunt (“fictitious deity represented as being worshipped by Muslims; any pagan god”), from Anglo-Norman Tervagant, Tervagaunt, Tervagan, and Old French Tervagant, Tervagan (possibly with the addition of Anglo-Norman -aunt, Old French -ant (suffix forming present participles of verbs, some of which were used as nouns); modern French Tervagant (historical)); further etymology uncertain, one common suggestion being that it is from Latin ter (“three times, thrice”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”)) + vagāns (“rambling, wandering”) (the present active participle of vagor (“to ramble, roam, wander”), from vagus (“rambling, roaming, wandering”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hwogos) + -or (inflected form of -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)). Medieval French chansons de geste named Termagant as one of three deities supposedly worshipped by Muslims, the others being Apollin and Mahound, and the name may allude to the wandering of the moon (the crescent moon being a common symbol of Islam) in the form of the mythological goddesses Selene in heaven, Diana on earth, and Proserpina in the underworld.
The reason for the shift in meaning from the fictitious deity to a brawling and turbulent person is unclear.
The adjective is derived from the noun.
Inflected forms:
form: termagants
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: termigant
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: more termagant
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most termagant
pos: adj
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: A brawling, boisterous, and turbulent person or thing.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
examples: […] I do not find hovv his E[xcellenc]y can be juſtly cenſured for favouring none but High-Church, High-flyers, Termagants, Laudiſts, Sacheverellians, Tip-top-gallon-men, Jacobites, Tantivyes, Anti-Hannoverians, Friends to Popery and the Pretender, and to Arbitrary Povver, […]
[T]wo raw lads from a certain great manufacturing town […] were in the act of seeking for the speediest exit from the gardens; rather choosing to resign their share of the dinner, than to abide the farther consequences that might follow from the displeasure of his Highland Termagaunt.
No person who had a natural interest in the Princess [Anne, Queen of Great Britain] could observe without uneasiness the strange infatuation which made her the slave of an imperious and reckless termagant [Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough].
Yonder is Sarah Marlborough's palace, just as it stood when that termagant occupied it.
'Mrs Kane has been filling us in on some background information on Owen.' The woman nodded, drumming her nicotined fingers. 'And I have been assuring her that the boys who arrive here thimbleriggers and termagants are the least of our worries. But we do not send them out that way. Do we, Brother?'
gloss: A censorious, nagging, and quarrelsome woman; a scold, a shrew.
pos: noun
tags: derogatory
specifically
examples: They [authors] would not suffer the stout'st Dame, / To swear by Hercules his Name, / Make feeble Ladies, in their Works, / To fight like Termagants and Turks; […]
This Girl is ſo exceſſively ill-bred, and ſuch an arrant Termagant, that I cou'd as ſoon fall in love vvith a Tigreſs. She hath a handſom Face, 'tis true, but in her Temper ſhe is a very Fury.
[T]he Widow Chupin […] poured forth a torrent of invective upon Gevrol and his agents, accusing them of persecuting her family […] At first the General tried to impose silence upon the terrible termagant; but he soon discovered that he was powerless; besides all his subordinates were laughing.
The name of Xanthippe, the wife of Socrates, has become proverbial for a termagant.
Easier divorce, equal pay for equal work as between men and women, no discrimination between the sexes in employment—these were her causes, and in promoting them she was no comic-strip feminist termagant, but reasonable, logical, and untiring.
gloss: Having the temperament of a termagant (noun sense 1); bad-tempered, brawling, boisterous, turbulent.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
examples: [R]idiculous ſenſeles ſentences, finicall, flaunting phraſes, and termagant inkhorne tearmes throughout his booke, […]
O Cupid vvhat a Termagant tyrant art thou / Over poore ſubjects of ſixteene! There is not one / Among a hundred of thoſe tickliſh Trifles / But is more taken vvith a Toy at ſixteene / Then ſix and tvventy: […]
What if I stayed on at the University of Nottingham in Malaysia as the Head of School of English? The remuneration was not something to be sneeze at, but I had to remain cheerful and composed even in the face of a hostile dean, spoiled students and termagant parents.
gloss: Of a woman, her behaviour, etc.: censorious, nagging, and quarrelsome; scolding, shrewish.
pos: adj
tags: derogatory
specifically
examples: [F]earing his Father ſhould knovv of it, and his VVife, vvho is a Termagant Lady: but vvhen he finds the Coaſt is clear, and his late ruffling knovvn to none but you, he vvill be drunk vvith joy.
But this Lady is ſo Termagant an Empreſs! and he ſo ſubmiſſive, ſo tame, ſo led a Keeper, and as proud of his Slavery, as a French man: I am confident he dares not find her falſe, for fear of a quarrel vvith her; […]
He answered Phillis a little abruptly at supper the same evening, upon which she threw his periwig into the fire. 'Well,' said he 'thou art a brave termagant jade: do you know, hussy, that fair wig cost forty guineas?'
The Eldeſt vvas a termagant, imperious, prodigal, levvd, profligate VVench, as ever breath'd; ſhe uſed to Rantipole about the Houſe, pinch the Children, kick the Servants, and torture the Cats and the Dogs; […]
But the eldeſt daughter vvas alvvays her darling, vvho I underſtand is pretty much of her mother's ovvn caſt; and makes a very termagant vvife to a very turbulent huſband.
"That's as muckle as till say, Bark, Bawtie, and be dune wi't!—I tell ye," raising her termagant voice, "I want my bairn! is na that braid Scots?"
[Lamprocles] is introduced in Xen[ophon] Mem[orabilia] ii. 2, holding a conversation with his father [Socrates] touching his filial duty to his termagant mother [Xanthippe].
These bishops with their termagant wives throw the book at us and say believe because I demand belief and by God I will burn or hang and quarter you if you do not.
Derived words: termagancy
termagantish
termagantism
termagantly
Translations: