Xanthippe

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English

WOTD – 28 October 2020
Reyer van Blommendael, Xantippe Dousing Socrates (c. 1655).[n 1] It depicts an angry Xanthippe dumping the contents of a chamber pot over Socrates, who is supposed to have responded, “After thunder comes the rain.” Her name is now used to refer to an ill-tempered woman.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Xanthippē or its etymon Ancient Greek Ξανθίππη (Xanthíppē), the name of Socrates’ wife, from ξανθός (xanthós, “blond; golden, yellow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱas- (“blond; grey; white”)) + ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eḱ- (“horse; swift (?)”)). She is described as shrewish in Xenophon’s Symposium, though the same work states that Socrates chose her precisely because of her argumentative spirit. In Xenophon’s Memorabilia and Phaedo by Plato she is depicted as a devoted wife and mother.

Pronunciation

Noun

Xanthippe (plural Xanthippes)

  1. (literary, derogatory, dated) An ill-tempered woman.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:shrew
    • (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 213, column 1:
      Be ſhe as foule as was Florentius Loue, / As old as Sibell, and as curſt and ſhrow'd / As Socrates Zentippe, or a worſe: / She moues me not, or not remoues at leaſt / Affections edge in me.]
    • 1691, [Anthony Wood], “RICHARD HOOKER”, in Athenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the Fifteenth Year of King Henry the Seventh, Dom. 1500, to the End of the Year 1690. , volume I (Extending to the 16th Year of King Charles I. Dom. 1640), London: Tho Bennet , →OCLC, column 262:
      RICHARD HOOKER, that rare and admirable Theologiſt, [...] married a clowniſh ſilly Woman and withal a meer Xantippe, [...]
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, “In which the Man of the Hill Begins to Relate His History”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A Millar, , →OCLC, book VIII, pages 235–236:
      [page 235] He was prudent and induſtrious, and ſo good a Huſbandman, that he might have led a very eaſy and comfortable Life, had not an errant Vixen of a Wife ſoured his domeſtic Quiet. [...] [page 236] By this Xantippe (ſo was the Wife of Socrates called, ſaid Partridge) By this Xantippe he had two Sons, of which I was the younger.
    • 1850 September, W. C. Goldthwait, “Power of Expression”, in W. W. Mitchell, editor, The Massachusetts Teacher, volume III, number 9, Boston, Mass.: Samuel Coolidge, , →ISSN, →OCLC, page 286:
      Who has not seen the cross looks and peevish temper of the teacher and parent copied, as by a mirror (though we should say without reflection), in the face and disposition of the child? [...] From an unbroken course of such treatment, who would expect any thing but an unbroken line of Nabals and Xanthippes?
    • 1858, Anthony Trollope, “Louis Scatcherd”, in Doctor Thorne. , volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, , →OCLC, pages 185–186:
      What have we seen in our own personal walks through life to make us believe that women are devils? There may possibly have been a Xantippe here and there, but Imogenes are to be found under every bush.
    • 1870 July, “Socrates. Part I.”, in Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal, volume LXXVI, number CCCCLI, Dublin: George Herbert, ; London: Hurst & Blackett, →OCLC, page 114, column 1:
      The use he [Socrates] made of his domestic trial may be profitably remembered by any that have a Xanthippe to deal with.
    • 1884 January–February, Arthur H[enderson] Smith, “The Proverbs and Common Sayings of the Chinese. Puns and Other Linguistic Diversion.—Parodies.”, in The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal, volume XV, number 1, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, →OCLC, footnote *, page 14:
      The 'kneeling punishment' (罰跪) would seem to be a well recognized mode of enforcing their authority, in use by Chinese Xanthippes, for the proverb says: 'The Henpecked man is obliged to kneel with a lamp on his head [to make it certain that he does not stir] until the morning watch.'

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Translations

Notes

  1. ^ From the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France.

References

  1. ^ “Xantippe, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1921.

Further reading

German

Pronunciation

Noun

Xanthippe f (genitive Xanthippe, plural Xanthippen)

  1. Xanthippe

Declension

Declension of Xanthippe
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative eine die Xanthippe die Xanthippen
genitive einer der Xanthippe der Xanthippen
dative einer der Xanthippe den Xanthippen
accusative eine die Xanthippe die Xanthippen

Further reading

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ξανθίππη (Xanthíppē).

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Xanthippē f sg (genitive Xanthippēs); first declension

  1. A name, notably that of the philosopher Socrates' wife.

Declension

First-declension noun (Greek-type), singular only.

Case Singular
Nominative Xanthippē
Genitive Xanthippēs
Dative Xanthippae
Accusative Xanthippēn
Ablative Xanthippē
Vocative Xanthippē

Descendants

  • Italian: Santippe

References

  • “Xanthippe”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • Xanthippe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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