Monday, September 21, 2009

Such are the ways of religion

My A Word A Day subscription informed me about the etymology of the word 'termagant':

Termagant

MEANING:
noun: A quarrelsome or overbearing woman.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Old French Tervagant. The term originates after an imaginary deity that Christians in medieval Europe erroneously believed was worshiped by Muslims. It was represented in morality plays as a violent, overbearing personage. Over time, the term became generalized to apply to any brawling person, and eventually only to women.

Imaginary, did you say? Ha ha ha.

No comments: