This week’s theme
People with multiple eponyms coined after them

This week’s words
Socratic irony
Midas-eared
philippize
hermeneutic
achillize


This week’s comments
AWADmail 886

Next week’s theme
Words originating in horses

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(UH-ki-lyz)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To harass or chase.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Achilles, a hero in the Greek mythology. When his close friend Patroclus is killed by Hector, a vengeful Achilles chases Hector around the wall of Troy three times. Also, he causes great carnage among Trojans. Earliest documented use: 1672. Also see Achilles’ heel.

NOTES:

Achilles is better known for his heel, but his anger is so prominent that it’s a popular subject in paintings. For example, The Wrath of Achilles (1630-1635) by Peter Paul Rubens, The Rage of Achilles (1757) by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and La Colère d’Achille (1847) by Léon Benouville.

USAGE:

“Parker ‘hectors and achillizes all the noncomformists’.”
Martin Dzelzainis & Edward Holberton; The Oxford Handbook of Andrew Marvell; Oxford University Press; May 28, 2019.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: