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pythonic

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Pythonic

English

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WOTD – 16 February 2025

Pronunciation

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A Burmese python (Python bivittatus). Something is said to be pythonic (etymology 1) if it pertains to or resembles a python.

Etymology 1

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From python (“snake of the family Pythonidae”) +‎ -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).[1] Python is derived from Latin Pȳthōn, from Ancient Greek Πῡ́θων (Pū́thōn, “Python, mythical serpent which lived at Delphi”), from Πῡθώ (Pūthṓ, “Pytho, ancient name of Delphi; Python, the mythical serpent”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“deep; dark (?); unclear (?)”) or *puH- (“foul, rotten”)) + -ων (-ōn, suffix forming possessives).

Adjective

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pythonic (comparative more pythonic, superlative most pythonic)

  1. Of or pertaining to, or resembling, a python (“large constricting snake of the family Pythonidae”); pythonlike.
Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Late Middle English phitonic, phithonice (“of a possessing spirit: oracular, prophetic”),[2] from Medieval Latin phitōnicus, a variant of Late Latin pȳthōnicus (“of or pertaining to divination, prophetic; magical”), from Byzantine Greek πυθωνικός (puthōnikós), from Koine Greek πύθων (púthōn, “spirit possessing a person, especially one with the power of prophecy”) + Ancient Greek -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).[3] Πύθων (Púthōn) is derived from Πῡθώ (Pūthṓ, “Pytho, ancient name of Delphi; Python, the monstrous snake said to have been slain by Apollo at Delphi”) (see further at etymology 1) + -ων (-ōn, suffix forming possessives). In ancient times, Pytho, later Delphi, was the location of a Temple of Apollo where the high priestess, or Pythia, was a well-known oracle or prophetess.

cognates

Adjective

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pythonic (comparative more pythonic, superlative most pythonic)

  1. Of or pertaining to an oracle or prophet, or to the telling of prophecies; oracular, prophetic.
    Synonyms: augural, panomphean, Pythian, Pythic, pythonical
    • 1724, John Beaumont, “A Discourse of the Oracles Deliver’d at Delphos, and the Other Temples of the Gentiles; and of the Cessation of Them, both among the Jews and Gentiles”, in Gleanings of Antiquities. […], London: […] J. Roberts, […], →OCLC, page 147:
      And if it be his [Andreas Schott's] Opinion there vvas no ſuch Thing as a Pythonick Spirit, I vviſh he vvould read the Anſvver Father [Jean-François] Baltus has vvrit to Mr. [Bernard Le Bovier de] Fontenelle’s Book of Oracles, […]
    • 1750, The Holy Bible  […] Newly reviſed, and corrected according to the Clementin Edition of the Scriptures. (Douay–Rheims Bible, Challoner Revision), Deuteronomy 18:10–11, pages 364–365:
      [Verse 10] Neither let there be found among you any one that ſhall expiate his ſon or daughter, making them to paſs through the fire: or that conſulteth ſoothſayers, or obſerveth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard, / [Verse 11] Nor charmer, nor any one that conſulteth pythonick ſpirits, or fortune-tellers or that ſeeketh the truth from the dead.
    • 1792, William Spence, “Concerning His Gracious Majesty’s Lately Distressing Illness, It’s Cause and Cure; with Some Account of Talking with Spirits, Magic and Magnetism”, in Essays in Divinity and Physic, Proving the Divinity of the Person of Jesus Christ, and the Spiritual Sense of Scripture: […], London: […] R[obert] Hindmarsh, […] [a]nd sold by H. D. Symonds, […]; and R. Faulder, […], →OCLC, page 66:
      [T]he ſpirit from ſimilar affection favours the thoughts or principles of the man, […] The Pythonic ſpirits of old vvere ſuch, as alſo the Magi in Egypt and Babel, vvho vvere called vviſe men, on account of their talking vvith ſpirits, and plainly feeling their operation upon them.
      A translation of a passage from Apocalypsis Revelata (Apocalypse Revealed, 1766) by the Swedish theologian and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772).
    • 1858, Warren Goddard [et al.], “Summing Up and Application of the Evidence, and Conclusions Drawn therefrom”, in The Pythonism of the Present Day. The Response of the Ministers of the Massachusetts Association of the New Jerusalem to a Resolution of that Association Requesting Their Consideration of What is Usually Known as Modern Spiritualism. […], Boston, Mass.: George Phinney, […] [for the Massachusetts Association of the New Jerusalem], →OCLC, page 37:
      There may be those who will here ask, Why are these necromantic or pythonic practices ever permitted? […] [T]o those who know nothing of the Word, these evils may not be sins at all. […] To such, and for the same reason, the Pythonic oracles at Delphi, at Dodona, and at the temple of Ammon in Lybia, were means of good.
    • 1919, W[illiam] R[ichard] Harris, “Demoniacal Possession”, in Essays in Occultism, Spiritism, and Demonology, St. Louis, Mo.; London: B[artholomäus] Herder Book Co. […], →OCLC, page 137:
      Here is what we read in Deuteronomy, Chap. XVIII: "Neither let there be found among you any one that … consulteth soothsayers … or pythonic spirits, or fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them."
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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See Pythonic (etymology 1).

Adjective

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pythonic (comparative more pythonic, superlative most pythonic)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Pythonic (“of or pertaining to, or resembling, the Python in Ancient Greek mythology, a serpent which lived at Delphi (regarded as the centre of the Earth) until it was killed by Apollo; (figurative) enormous; monstrous”)

Etymology 4

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See Pythonic (etymology 2).

Adjective

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pythonic (not comparable)

  1. (programming) Alternative letter-case form of Pythonic (“using the idioms of the Python programming language”)
    Antonym: unpythonic

References

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  1. ^ “pythonic, adj.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “pythonic, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “phitōnic, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ “pythonic, adj.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2024.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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