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Parthian

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English

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Etymology

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From Parthia +‎ -an; in the sense of "delivered as if in retreat", an allusion to the Parthian battle tactic of firing arrows backwards from horseback while apparently in retreat.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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Parthian (not comparable)

  1. Relating to Parthia or Parthians.
    • 1828, Frederic Shoberl, Persia, Part 4, Chapter XII: Amusements and Exercises,
      The king’s cavalry are also trained to an exercise called the keykaj, which consists in turning about on the saddle at full speed and firing a carbine backward. This they learn from their childhood, and it gives them great confidence and dexterity on horseback. It is probably a remnant of the old Parthian custom so frequently alluded to in ancient authors; with this difference, that fire-arms are now used instead of bows and arrows.
    • 1911, Babylonia and Assyria: Modern Discovery, article in Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition,
      Midway in the mound is a platform of large bricks stamped with the names of Sargon of Akkad and his son Naram-Sin (3800 B.C.); as the débris above them is 34 ft. thick, the topmost stratum being not later than the Parthian era (H. V. Hilprecht, The Babylonian Expedition, i. 2, p. 23), it is calculated that the débris underneath the pavement, 30 ft. thick, must represent a period of about 3000 years, more especially as older constructions had to be levelled before the pavement was laid.
  2. Delivered as if in retreat.
    a Parthian shot
    • 1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter VII, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume I (The Bastille), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book VII (The Insurrection of Women), page 266:
      So that poor Brunout has nothing for it but to retreat with accelerated nimbleness, through rank after rank; Parthian-like, fencing as he flies
    • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter VII, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 69:
      She was tired of dancing; it was getting very late; she must go to mamma;—and, without another word, she sprang away from Harry Foker’s arm, and seized upon Pen’s, who was swaggering about the dancing-room, and again said, “Mamma, mamma!—take me to mamma, dear, Mr. Pendennis!” transfixing Harry with a Parthian shot, as she fled from him.
    • 1863, Theodore Winthrop, Life in the Open Air, Chapter I:
      Finally the blue dells and gorges of a wooded mountain, for two hours our landmark, rose between us and the sun. But the sun’s Parthian arrows gave him a splendid triumph, more signal for its evanescence. A storm was inevitable, and sunset prepared a reconciling pageant.
    • 1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, chapter III, in A Study in Scarlet. A Detective Story, 3rd edition, London, New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock, Bowden, and Co., […], published 1892, →OCLC, part I (Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), page 53:
      With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals open-mouthed behind him.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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Parthian (plural Parthians)

  1. A native or inhabitant of Parthia.
    • [c. 2nd c. AD], Justin, “History of the World, Extracted from Trogus Pompeius”, in J[ohn].S[elby]. Watson, transl., Justin, Cornelius Nepos, and Eutropius, tr. with notes by J.S. Watson, published 1853, page 272:
      The Parthians, in whose hands the empire of the east now is, having divided the world, as it were, with the Romans, were originally exiles from Scythia. This is apparent from their very name; for in the Scythian language exiles are called Parthi.
  2. An extinct Western Iranian language that was spoken in Parthia.

Translations

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See also

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