See Also: termagant(dictionary)

termagant (iou)



termagant noun & adjective. ME.
[Old French Tervagan(t from Italian Trivigante, -vag-, explained as if from Latin TRI- + vagant-, pres. ppl stem of vagari wander: see -ANT1.]
A. noun.
(Termagant.) A god imagined in medieval Christendom to be worshipped esp. by Muslims and represented in mystery plays as a violent overbearing personage. Long arch. ME.
A violent, boisterous, overbearing, or quarrelsome person; a blusterer, a bully. Now usu. spec., a violent, overbearing, or quarrelsome woman. E16.
b. attrib. or as adjective. Having the character of a termagant. L16.
C. Stead Saul (who only in fishing found peace from his termagant wife).
termagancy noun termagant quality, violence of temper or disposition E18.