Wiktionary

Termagant

See also: termagant

English

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Etymology

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PIE word
*tréyes

From Middle English Termagaunt (“fictitious deity represented as being worshipped by Muslims; any pagan god”),[1] from Anglo-Norman Tervagant, Tervagaunt, Tervagan, and Old French Tervagant, Tervagan (possibly with the addition of Anglo-Norman -aunt, Old French -ant (suffix forming past 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.[2][3]

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Termagant

  1. (archaic, historical) A fictitious deity with a violent temperament who featured in medieval mystery plays, represented as being worshipped by Muslims or (less commonly) other non-Christians.
    Coordinate terms: Apollin, Mahound

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “Termagaunt, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “termagant, n. and adj.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
  3. ^ “termagant, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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