harridan

harridan

English

WOTD – 6 August 2010

Etymology

Perhaps a modification of French haridelle (“old horse, nag”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhæɹ.ɪ.dən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhæɹ.ɪ.dən/, /ˈhɛɹ.ɪ.dən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

harridan (plural harridans)

1. A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:shrew

   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 13, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, OCLC 3174108:

     Why is that tattling old harridan, Peggy O'Dowd, to make free with my name at her d—d supper-table, and advertise my engagement over the three kingdoms?

   • 1916 December 29, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, OCLC 1881984, page 37:

     Well there was one old lady, and a drunken old harridan she was surely, that paid all her attention to me.

Translations

vicious and scolding woman

Armenian: ջադու (hy) (ǰadu), վհուկ (hy) (vhuk) Bulgarian: зла старица f (zla starica), вещица (bg) (veštica) Chinese: Mandarin: 老太婆 (zh) (lǎotàipó), 老潑婦, 老泼妇 (lǎopōfù) Dutch: viswijf (nl) f, harpij (nl) f, helleveeg (nl) f, Finnish: äkäpussi (fi) French: harpie (fr) f, dragon (fr) m, virago (fr) f, haridelle (fr) f, mégère (fr) f, xanthippe f, casse-couilles (fr) f German: Drache (de) m (alter Drachen (de) m), Xanthippe (de) f, Hexe (de) f, Vettel (de) f Hungarian: banya (hu) Italian: arpìa f Japanese: 鬼女 (ja) (きじょ, gijo), 鬼婆 (ja) (おにばば, onibaba), 悪婆 (ja) (あくば, akuba) Macedonian: ве́штерка f (véšterka) Polish: jędza (pl) f, wiedźma (pl) f Russian: ве́дьма (ru) f (védʹma), карга́ (ru) f (kargá), мы́мра (ru) f (mýmra), гры́мза (ru) f (grýmza), меге́ра (ru) f (megéra) Spanish: vieja gruñona f, arpía (es) f Swedish: surtant (sv), argbigga (sv) c, huskors (sv) n, satkärring (sv) c, morrhoppa c, ragata (sv), rivjärn (sv) n