myrmidon

See also: Myrmidon

English

Etymology

From Myrmidon, from Latin Myrmidones, from Ancient Greek Μυρμιδόνες (Murmidónes).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɜː.mɪˌdɒn/, /ˈmɜː.mɪ.dən/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɝ.mɪˌdɑn/, /ˈmɝ.mɪ.dən/

Noun

myrmidon (plural myrmidons)

1. A soldier or a subordinate civil officer who executes orders of a superior without protest or pity (sometimes applied to bailiffs, constables, etc).

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:loyal follower

   • 1847, George Dibdin Pitt, The String of Pearls; or, The Fiend of Fleet Street (play), act III, scene II:

     Tobias (to Jonas Fogg, manager of a madhouse): "I will die ere I submit to you or your vile myrmidons."

   • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XII, in Great Expectations […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC:

     When the day came round for my return to the scene of the deed of violence, my terrors reached their height. Whether myrmidons of Justice, especially sent down from London, would be lying in ambush behind the gate; […]

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     He cared no more for the Devil and all his myrmidons, for he kenned brawly he was damned.

   • 1912, Alexander Berkman, chapter 6, in Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist:

     My heart wells up in admiration of the man, as I think of his participation in the memorable struggle of Homestead. He fought the Pinkertons, the myrmidons of Capital.

   • 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam edition, published 1992, →ISBN, pages 177–178:

     […] headed for a revelation to the District Attorney that would probably result in my having the pleasure of meeting H. R. Corbett or some other flatfooted myrmidon […]

See also

• catchpole, catchpoll

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

myrmidon m (plural myrmidons)

1. myrmidon

Further reading

• “myrmidon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.