Virago vs Beldame - What's the difference?
virago | beldame |
(said of a woman) Given to undue belligerence or ill manner at the slightest provocation; a shrew, a termagant.
*, chapter=22
, title= (said of a woman) Scolding, domineering, highly opinionated; a fishwife, a nag.
(said of a woman) Rough, loud, and aggressive.
Pertaining to a virago.
* 1964', Joan was all Arden, grinning there, siding with her '''virago mother. — Anthony Burgess, ''Nothing Like the Sun
(obsolete) A grandmother.
An old woman, particularly an ugly one.
* 1847 , (Charlotte Bronte), Jane Eyre :
*:... have a curiosity to hear my fortune told: therefore, Sam, order the beldame forward.
* 1982 , (TC Boyle), Water Music , Penguin 2006, p. 6:
As nouns the difference between virago and beldame
is that virago is (said of a woman) Given to undue belligerence or ill manner at the slightest provocation; a shrew, a termagant while beldame is a grandmother.As an adjective virago
is pertaining to a virago.virago
English
Noun
(en noun)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago . Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.}}
Adjective
(-)Derived terms
* viraginity * viraginous ----beldame
English
Noun
(en noun)- Suddenly the beldam shrieks as if she's been stuck with a dagger, long rasping insuck of breath: ‘Eeeeeeeee!’