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)

A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.
- 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 13:
  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?

Synonyms

(vicious and scolding woman): See Thesaurus:shrew

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 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)
Japanese: 鬼女 (ja) (きじょ, gijo), 鬼婆 (ja) (おにばば, onibaba), 悪婆 (ja) (あくば, akuba)
Polish: jędza 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 f

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