A Termagant is a quarrelsome, scolding woman; a shrew. Interestingly, the word is from Middle English Termagaunt, an imaginary Muslim
deity portrayed as a violent and overbearing character in medieval mystery
plays.
I came across the word in Tyerman's Life and Times of Samuel Wesley ("This lawless mob was headed by a furious, termagant woman,called Popplewell")
It comes up in The Two Destinies by Wilkie Collins "The magic of money transformed this termagant and terrible person into a docile and attentive nurse--so eager to follow my instructions exactly that she begged me to commit them to writing before I went away."
PS Not to be confused with the game bird the Ptarmigan.
It comes up in The Two Destinies by Wilkie Collins "The magic of money transformed this termagant and terrible person into a docile and attentive nurse--so eager to follow my instructions exactly that she begged me to commit them to writing before I went away."
PS Not to be confused with the game bird the Ptarmigan.
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