truculent

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtɹʌk.jʊ.lənt/ (UK); /ˈtɹʌk.jə.lənt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin truculentus (“fierce, savage, cruel”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from trux (genitive trucis) “fierce, wild”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} which is of uncertain origin.^[4] Merriam-Webster compares Middle Irish trú “doomed person”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fierce, cruel, savage (about 1540).^[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

From 1850 the word was used of harsh, scathing speech or writing,^[7] and in modern use it most often means aggressively hostile or belligerent.^[2][5][6][1] The OED records a confused 19th-century use meaning “mean, mercenary”, by association with truckle.^[7]

Timeline

• about 1540 – fierce, savage.^[7][3][4][5]
• 1665 – of a disease, deadly, now obsolete.^[7]
• 1727 – truculence.^[3]
• 1850 – of speech, scathing.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Eager to fight or argue; belligerent or pugnacious.
2. Harshly critical; scathing.
3. Fierce, cruel or violent.

Word family

• truculently
• truculence

Related words

• truculency

Usage notes

Random House refers to fierce for a discussion of synonyms and gives amiable and gentle as antonyms.^[6]

References

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