gorgon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡɔːrɡən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin Gorgō, genitive Gorgonis,^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek Γοργώ (Gorgṓ),^[2][3][5][6] from γοργός (gorgós, “grim, fierce, terrible”),^[2][3][5][6] a word of unknown origin.^[5] Partridge compares Old Irish garg (“wild, fierce”) and Old Armenian կարծր (karcr, “hard”),^[7] connections that Beekes's sources reject.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Greek myth, one of three sisters with snakes for hair, whose look turned the beholder to stone (1398 in the OED; before 1398 in Barnhart; late 14th century in Etymonline).^[8][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The three Gorgons were Stheno, Euryale and the mortal Medusa,^[2][9] whom Perseus beheaded;^[10] the Gorgon's head appeared on Athena's shield.^[11] By transfer, gorgon meant a very terrible or ugly person, especially a repulsive woman (before 1529).^[8][6] In the 17th century it was also used of a petrifying influence (1646)^[8] and of an African animal, perhaps the gnu (1607).^[8] Tennyson's gorgonize, to petrify, comes from the same name.^[11]

Timeline

• 1398 – one of the mythical sisters.^[8]
• before 1529 – a terrible or ugly person.^[8]
• 1575 – attributive, petrifying.^[8]
• 1646 – a petrifying influence (obsolete).^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (Greek mythology) Any of three sisters, Stheno, Euryale and the mortal Medusa, who had snakes for hair and eyes that turned anyone who looked into them to stone; usually capitalized.
2. A woman regarded as ugly, repulsive or terrifying.

Word family

• Gorgonian
• gorgonize

Related words

• Medusa

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray