| 词源 |
termagant. Trivegant or Tervagent was a violent, noisy, over- bearing character in old morality plays, in which he was erro- neously called “a Mohammedan deity.” Careless pronunciation changed the name to termagant, which became our word for a violent, turbulent, or brawling woman, as well as an adjective for “violent; turbulent; brawling; and shrewish.” The term ap- plied to men until about the 17th century, when it was applied to both men and women. |