Xanthippe
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Latin Xanthippē or its etymon Ancient Greek Ξανθίππη (Xanthíppē), the name of Socrates’ wife,[1] from ξανθός (xanthós, “blond; golden, yellow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱas- (“blond; grey; white”)) + ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eḱ- (“horse; swift (?)”)). She is described as shrewish in Xenophon’s Symposium, though the same work states that Socrates chose her precisely because of her argumentative spirit. In Xenophon’s Memorabilia and Phaedo by Plato she is depicted as a devoted wife and mother.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /zænˈθɪpi/
Audio (Received Pronunciation): (file) - Rhymes: -ɪpi
- Hyphenation: Xan‧thip‧pe
Noun
[edit]Xanthippe (plural Xanthippes)
- (literary, derogatory, dated) An ill-tempered woman.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:shrew
- [c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 213, column 1:
- 1691, [Anthony Wood], “RICHARD HOOKER”, in Athenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the Fifteenth Year of King Henry the Seventh, Dom. 1500, to the End of the Year 1690. […], volume I (Extending to the 16th Year of King Charles I. Dom. 1640), London: […] Tho[mas] Bennet […], →OCLC, column 262:
- RICHARD HOOKER, that rare and admirable Theologiſt, [...] married a clowniſh ſilly Woman and withal a meer Xantippe, [...]
- 1749, Henry Fielding, “In which the Man of the Hill Begins to Relate His History”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VIII, pages 235–236:
- [page 235] He was prudent and induſtrious, and ſo good a Huſbandman, that he might have led a very eaſy and comfortable Life, had not an errant Vixen of a Wife ſoured his domeſtic Quiet. [...] [page 236] By this Xantippe (ſo was the Wife of Socrates called, ſaid Partridge) By this Xantippe he had two Sons, of which I was the younger.
- 1850 September, W. C. Goldthwait, “Power of Expression”, in W. W. Mitchell, editor, The Massachusetts Teacher, volume III, number 9, Boston, Mass.: Samuel Coolidge, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 286:
- Who has not seen the cross looks and peevish temper of the teacher and parent copied, as by a mirror (though we should say without reflection), in the face and disposition of the child? [...] From an unbroken course of such treatment, who would expect any thing but an unbroken line of Nabals and Xanthippes?
- 1858, Anthony Trollope, “Louis Scatcherd”, in Doctor Thorne. […], volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 185–186:
- What have we seen in our own personal walks through life to make us believe that women are devils? There may possibly have been a Xantippe here and there, but Imogenes are to be found under every bush.
- 1870 July, “Socrates. Part I.”, in Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal, volume LXXVI, number CCCCLI, Dublin: George Herbert, […]; London: Hurst & Blackett, →OCLC, page 114, column 1:
- The use he [Socrates] made of his domestic trial may be profitably remembered by any that have a Xanthippe to deal with.
- 1884 January–February, Arthur H[enderson] Smith, “The Proverbs and Common Sayings of the Chinese. [...] Puns and Other Linguistic Diversion.—Parodies.”, in The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal, volume XV, number 1, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, →OCLC, footnote *, page 14:
- The 'kneeling punishment' (罰跪) would seem to be a well recognized mode of enforcing their authority, in use by Chinese Xanthippes, for the proverb says: 'The Henpecked man is obliged to kneel with a lamp on his head [to make it certain that he does not stir] until the morning watch.'
Alternative forms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ From the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France.
References
[edit]- ^ “Xantippe, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1921.
Further reading
[edit]- Xanthippe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “Xanthippe, proper n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “Xanthippe”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
German
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]Xanthippe f (genitive Xanthippe, plural Xanthippen)
Declension
[edit]singular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
indef. | def. | noun | def. | noun | |
nominative | eine | die | Xanthippe | die | Xanthippen |
genitive | einer | der | Xanthippe | der | Xanthippen |
dative | einer | der | Xanthippe | den | Xanthippen |
accusative | eine | die | Xanthippe | die | Xanthippen |
Further reading
[edit]- “Xanthippe” in Duden online
- “Xanthippe” in Duden online
- “Xanthippe” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Latin
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek Ξανθίππη (Xanthíppē).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ksanˈtʰip.peː/, [ks̠än̪ˈt̪ʰɪpːeː]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ksanˈtip.pe/, [ksän̪ˈt̪ipːe]
Proper noun
[edit]Xanthippē f sg (genitive Xanthippēs); first declension
Declension
[edit]First-declension noun (Greek-type), singular only.
singular | |
---|---|
nominative | Xanthippē |
genitive | Xanthippēs |
dative | Xanthippae |
accusative | Xanthippēn |
ablative | Xanthippē |
vocative | Xanthippē |
Descendants
[edit]- Italian: Santippe
References
[edit]- “Xanthippe”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- Xanthippe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱas-
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eḱ-
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms borrowed from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɪpi
- Rhymes:English/ɪpi/3 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English literary terms
- English derogatory terms
- English dated terms
- English terms with quotations
- English eponyms
- en:Women
- German 3-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German feminine nouns
- German eponyms
- Latin terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Latin 3-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin proper nouns
- Latin first declension nouns
- Latin feminine nouns in the first declension
- Latin feminine nouns