pismire n.

"ant," late 14c., pisse-mire (early 14c. as a surname, Henricus pessemere), from pyss "urine" (said to be in reference to the acrid smell of an anthill) + mire "an ant" (mid-13c., early 13c. as a surname), perhaps from an unattested Old English word or from Old Norse maurr "ant" (cognate with Swedish myra, Danish myre, Middle Dutch miere, Dutch mier, Crimean Gothic miera "ant"), from PIE *morwi- (see Formica (2)). Compare pissant, also Old Frisian pis-imme, Norwegian migemaur (first element from Latin mingere); early Dutch mierseycke (with seycke "urine"), Finnish kusiainen (with kusi "urine").

He is as angry as a pissemyre,

Though þat he haue al that he kan desire.

[Chaucer]

Applied contemptuously to persons from 1560s.

词汇	pismire
词源	pismire n. "ant," late 14c., pisse-mire (early 14c. as a surname, Henricus pessemere), from pyss "urine" (said to be in reference to the acrid smell of an anthill) + mire "an ant" (mid-13c., early 13c. as a surname), perhaps from an unattested Old English word or from Old Norse maurr "ant" (cognate with Swedish myra, Danish myre, Middle Dutch miere, Dutch mier, Crimean Gothic miera "ant"), from PIE morwi- (see Formica (2)). Compare pissant, also Old Frisian pis-imme, Norwegian migemaur (first element from Latin mingere); early Dutch mierseycke (with seycke "urine"), Finnish kusiainen (with kusi "urine"). He is as angry as a pissemyre, Though þat he haue al that he kan desire. [Chaucer] Applied contemptuously to persons from 1560s. Entries linking to pismire* Formica 2 ant genus, 1843, from Latin formica "an ant," a dissimilation from PIE *morwi- "ant" (source also of Sanskrit vamrah "ant," Greek myrmex, Old Church Slavonic mraviji, Old Irish moirb, Old Norse maurr, Welsh myrion; and compare second element in pismire). pissant n. 1660s, "an ant," from first element of pismire (q.v.) + ant. Meaning "contemptible, insignificant person" is from 1903. [B]y sun-down [the gals] come pourin out of the woods like pissants out of an old log when tother end's afire. ["Dick Harlan's Tennessee Frolic," in collection "A Quarter Race in Kentucky," Philadelphia, 1846] updated on June 22, 2020
随便看	grandame grandchild grand-daughter grandee grandeur grandfather grandfatherly grandiloquence grandiloquent grandiose grandiosity grandly grandma grand mal grand marnier grandmaster grandmother grandmotherly grandness grand old party grandpa grandparent grand prix grandsire grandson

pismire n.

Entries linking to pismire