haemony

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word haemony. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word haemony, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say haemony in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word haemony you have here. The definition of the word haemony will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofhaemony, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Coined by John Milton for the play Comus around 1634 (see quotation below). Various scholars suggest that the word comes from a classical source such as Latin Haemonia (“Thessaly”, a place associated with magic),[1] Ancient Greek αἷμα (haîma, “blood”), or Ancient Greek αἵμων (haímōn, “skillful”).[2]

Pronunciation

Noun

haemony (uncountable)

  1. (rare) A magical plant mentioned by John Milton, said to be good against enchantments.
    • 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634:  [Comus], London: [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, , published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus:  (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC, page 20, lines 638–641:
      He call’d it Hæmony, and gave it me / And bad me keepe it as of ſoveraine uſe / Gainſt all inchantments, mildew blaſt, or damp / Or gaſtly furies apparition; / […]
    • 1809, Henry John Todd, The Poetical Works of John Milton, page 342:
      It is not agreed whether Milton’s Hæmony is a real or poetical plant.
    • 1970, Sacvan Bercovitch, “Milton's ‘Haemony’: Knowledge and Belief”, in Huntington Library Quarterly, page 351:
      In a recent study of Thyris' magical herb in Comus, John M. Steadman concludes that “haemony means knowledge” from Greek haimon “skillful.”
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:haemony.

References

  1. ^ “Hæmony”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
  2. ^ John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “haemony, n.”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Anagrams

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia