cantankerous

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kænˈtæŋkəɹəs/, /kənˈtæŋkəɹəs/^[1]

Etymology

It is probably an alteration of Middle English contakour or conteckour “troublemaker” (about 1300),^[2][3] influenced by words such as rancorous and cankerous.^[4][2] The Middle English word comes through Anglo-French contec “discord, strife”, perhaps from Old French contechier.^[3][2] Merriam-Webster derives the adjective from obsolete contack “contention”,^[5] and Random House suggests the influence of contentious and rancorous.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ill-natured and quarrelsome (1772).^[7][3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The lexicographer Francis Grose called it a Wiltshire word.^[3] It has kept its first meaning, and it is often applied to elderly people, though also to animals and machines that are hard to handle.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 1772 – ill-natured and quarrelsome.^[7][3][2][5]
• 1868 – cantankerously, cantankerousness.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Bad-tempered and quarrelsome.
2. Difficult to deal with or handle.

Word family

• cantankerously
• cantankerousness

Related words

• rancorous
• contentious

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press