WORD FOR THE DAY: NIMROD

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Your word for today is: Nimrod, n.

Nimrod, n.

[‘A tyrannical ruler; a tyrant. Obs.’]

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈnɪmrɒd/,  U.S. /ˈnɪmˌrɑd/

Forms:   15 Nemrod,   15 Nemroth,   15– Nimrod;   Sc.  pre-17 Nembroith. 

Etymology: < the name of Nimrod (Hebrew Nimrōḏ, lit. ‘we will rebel’ or ‘let us rebel’, probably a polemical distortion of the name of the Mesopotamian war-god Ninurta, a mighty hunter and warrior), great grandson of Noah and traditional founder of the Babylonian dynasty, described in Genesis 10:8–9 as ‘a mighty one in the earth’ and ‘a mighty hunter before the Lord’.

The name is attested in Middle English as Nembrot or Nembroth (also Nemroth, Nemeroth).

†1.  A tyrannical ruler; a tyrant. Obs.

?1548  J. Bale Image Bothe Churches (new ed.) i. Pref. sig. B^v, The boystuouse tyrauntes of Sodoma wyth their great Nemroth Winchester,..wyll sturre abought them.

a1597  R. Wrag in  R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1599) II. i. 309 These mighty Nimrods fled some into holes & some into mountaines.

1607  S Hieron Remedie for Securitie in Wks. (1620) I. 430 The griping Nimrods of the world reioyce in their taking men vpon aduantages.

1652  J. Owen Serm. Parl. Oct. 13 13 Powring forth sundry vialls of his wrath, upon great Nimrods and oppressors.

1697  J. Collier Ess. Moral Subj. (1703) i. 55 These Nimrods, say they, grew great by the strength of their limbs and their vices.

 2.  A great or skilful hunter (freq. ironic); any person who likes to hunt. Also fig.

1623  W. Drummond Flowres of Sion 20 The Nimrod fierce is Death, His speedie Grayhounds are, Lust, Sicknesse, Enuie, Care.

1678  W. Winstanley Four for a Penny 7 These are the Nimrods, the private Hunters in this vast Forest of Chimneys, that draw the Poor into their Nets.

1712  J. Addison Spectator No. 371. ¶9, I look upon you to be the greatest Sportsman, or, if you please, the Nimrod among this Species of Writers.

1774 Westm. Mag. 2 657 The honest buckskin..Our modern Nimrod turns to satin breeches.

1780  W. Cowper Progress of Error 86 The sportsman and his train.., the Nimrod of the neighbouring lairs.

1835  W. Irving Tour Prairies 139 The deer started up..and our young Nimrods dash off in pursuit.

1863  G. Kearley Links in Chain xii. 261 That modern nimrod Captain Gordon Cumming.

1937  E. Pyle Nimrod's Teeth in  D. Nichols Ernie's Amer. (1980) 195 Nimrod, instead of being an uncouth creature of the wilds, is a cultured gentleman from Maine.

1994 Denver Post Oct. b9/1 Towns such as Eagle, Glenwood Springs..and Gunnison throw out the welcome mat for this horde of nimrods.

 3.  N. Amer. slang. A stupid or contemptible person; an idiot.

1933  B. Hecht  & G. Fowler Great Magoo iii. i. 183 He's in love with her. That makes about the tenth. The same old Nimrod. Won't let her alone for a second.

1963 Newsweek 1 Apr. 6 The advertisers' use of the masculine, ear-ringed scrubwoman Mr. Clean... If [Aunt Jemima's]..image slights the Negroes, what does the aforementioned nimrod do for whites?

1988  M. Brooks Paradise Cafe 97 Neil pushed his glasses back on his nose and said that sounded very sexy. Graham laughed..and said, ‘You nimrod.’

2002 Time Out N.Y. 5 Sept. 151/2 Obviously, you don't want to waste your time with some patronizing nimrod who's only interested in how you can help him act out his porno fantasies.

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