different between termagant vs ptarmigan

English

Alternative forms

• termigant

Etymology

From Termagant.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?t??m???nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?t?m???nt/

Noun

termagant (plural termagants)

1. A quarrelsome, scolding woman, especially one who is old and shrewish.
   • 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1, canto 2

     [...] Make feeble ladies, in their works, / To fight like termagants and Turks; [...]
2. (obsolete) A boisterous, brawling, turbulent person, whether male or female.
   • 1903, [unknown translator], Monsieur Lecoq (originally by Émile Gaboriau)

     At first the General tried to impose silence upon the terrible termagant: but he soon discovered that he was powerless

   • 1980, Bernard MacLaverty, 'Lamb' (novel), (Chapter 6, at page 50 in the 1981 King Penguin paperback edition):

     "Mrs Kane has been filling us in on some background information on Owen." The woman nodded, drumming her nicotined fingers. "And I have been assuring her that the boys who arrive here thimbleriggers and termagants are the least of our worries. But we do not send them out that way. Do we, Brother?"

Synonyms

• (quarrelsome woman): See Thesaurus:shrew

Translations

Adjective

termagant (comparative more termagant, superlative most termagant)

1. Quarrelsome and scolding or censorious; shrewish.

Anagrams

• target man

English

Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic tarmachan, of unknown origin. The pt- comes from a mistaken belief in a Greek origin, as if related to ptero- (“wing”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?t??m???n/

Noun

ptarmigan (plural ptarmigan or ptarmigans)

1. Any of three species of small grouse in the genus Lagopus found in subarctic tundra areas of North America and Eurasia.

Synonyms

• (species of small grouse): lagopus (obsolete)

Derived terms

• rock ptarmigan, Lagopus muta
• white-tailed ptarmigan, Lagopus leucura
• willow ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus

Translations