scourge
pronunciation
How to pronounce scourge in British English:
UK [skɜ:dʒ]
How to pronounce scourge in American English:
US [skɜrdʒ]
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- Noun:
- a whip used to inflict punishment (often used for pedantic humor)
- something causes misery or death
- a person who inspires fear or dread
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- Verb:
- punish severely; excoriate
- whip
- devastate or ravage
Word Origin
- scourge
- scourge: [13] Scourge comes ultimately from a Latin word for a ‘long strip of leather’, corrigio, which itself was borrowed from Celtic. It had a number of specific applications, including ‘shoelace’, ‘rein’, and ‘whip’, and it was the last that formed the basis of the Vulgar Latin verb *excorrigiāre ‘whip’, which passed into English via Old French escorgier and its derived noun escorge.
- scourge (n.)
- c. 1200, "a whip, lash," from Anglo-French escorge, back-formation from Old French escorgier "to whip," from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiare, from Latin ex- "out, off" (see ex-) + corrigia "thong, shoelace," in this case "whip," probably from a Gaulish word related to Old Irish cuimrech "fetter," from PIE root *reig- "to bind" (see rig (v.)). Figurative use from late 14c. Scourge of God, title given by later generations to Attila the Hun (406-453 C.E.), is attested from late 14c., from Latin flagellum Dei.
- scourge (v.)
- c. 1300, "to whip," from Old French escorgier and from scourge (n.). Figurative meaning "to afflict" (often for the sake of punishment or purification) is from late 14c. Related: Scourged; scourging.
Example
- 1. As a scourge of the modern world , obesity has an image problem .
- 2. Moore , 55 , is widely celebrated - and reviled - as a left-wing scourge of big business .
- 3. Worse , mr zuma has failed to tackle the scourge of corruption .
- 4. Smallpox was probably the single biggest scourge to hit north america .
- 5. The local media responded with a bout of soul-searching over the scourge of racism .