Wednesday, September 7, 2011

philippic



philippic [fɪˈlɪpɪk] n.

1.) Name for the orations of Demosthenes against Philip king of Macedon in defence of Athenian liberty; hence applied to Cicero's orations against Antony, and generally to any discourse of the nature of a bitter attack, invective, or denunciation.
2.) Used to render Greek ϕιλίππειον, "a gold coin coined by Philip of Macedon, worth £1 3s. 5d. of our money" (Liddell & Scott). Obs.

philippic a.

1.) Of or pertaining to any person called Philip (e.g. Sir Philip Sidney); of Philippi; of the nature of a philippic or invective.

—Hence Philippicize (-saɪz) v. intr., to utter a philippic or invective; also trans., to bring or put into some condition by doing this (Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition).

Etymology: adaptation of Latin Philippicus, adopted from Greek ϕιλιππικός, from Φίλιππος Philip (of Macedon). Compare modern French philippique.

"After spending the first day in seeking on every side some hole to get out at, like an animal first put into a cage, they gave up their resource. Yesterday they came forward boldly, and openly combated the proposition. Mr. Harper and Mr. Pinckney pronounced bitter philippics against France, selecting such circumstances and aggravations as to give the worst picture they could present" (The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence, Henry Augustine Washington (ed.), 1859).

(Démosthène s'exerçant à la parole, Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ, 1870)
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Credit to Lemons Don't Make Lemonade for bringing this word to my attention. Thanks for reading!

24 comments:

Zombie said...

Lemons don't make lemonade is pretty dang awesome. :)

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Isn't "bitter" in "bitter philippics" redundant?

PeaceLoveandSharpies said...

I am cracking up for reasons that would take forever to explain.
But I think you deserve to know that you just made me laugh until I cried.

Another thought: it would be so cute if you illustrated your words. I'm sure you've got banging art skills. :D

coneforce said...

I realy didnt know about philippic!! interesting

Life, Liberty and Accountability said...

Hmm, thats interesting. Is that Philip, as in Alexander the Great's father?

Jennifer Fabulous said...

Well la dee da for all the Philips out there. Hmph. I hope your next word is Jennific. For all the Jennifers out there. Just sayin.

Unknown said...

I read the entry and at the mention of Demosthenes thought of "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. It was from that book that I started to learn about philosophy (and Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder).

MRanthrope said...

HA. I like Jennifer Fabulous' comment.

D4 said...

This one is strange, but I like it.

Unknown said...

'bitter philippics'? hmmmm

mamtc said...

Yep. would prefer Peterific, Willific, Billific or more common name.
Can I use this for Filipinos?[ Natives of Philippines?]

GMSoccerPicks said...

Do you have any spare philippic by chance? I haven't eaten in 5 days.

Unknown said...

Now I have a word to say to my friend Philip. Thanks!!

Mai Yang said...

re you comment: I think it was a mistake :)

Mark wanted to give you that award..

sorry. hehe.

themajessty said...

I am so flattered that I inspired you. WHOOHOOO.

PeaceLoveandSharpies said...

Definitely a 'it was funnier in person' kinda story.
Still interested?

A Beer for the Shower said...

I know it's not related to this post, but I've just started Walden. Will report back later...

Shutterbug said...

Philippic- that's a fun word to say!

nowaysj said...

Lemons, which way did that inspiration run?

Anonymous said...

I had wondered about the origin of this word once or twice, but now my curiosity is sated. Thank you.

Natasha said...

Hadn't heard of this one before - interesting. Thanks for sharing as always, and I'm glad you liked the stop motion videos! xxx

Viitoebe said...

it sounds really nice, but i dont know if i´ll use it so much.
but its still nice.

PeaceLoveandSharpies said...

Thanks for that. I wanted to cry. -_-

Ummm...Robert Plant was the lead singer of Led Zeppelin.
...and he's British.

Jenny Woolf said...

£1 3s 5d! What edition of Liddell & Scott is that in?

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