heroicadj.n.

Brit.

/hᵻˈrəʊɪk/, U.S.

/hᵻˈroʊɪk/

Forms: 1500s herroicke, 1500s herroike, 1500s–1600s heroicke, 1500s–1600s heroik, 1500s–1600s heroike, 1500s–1600s heroique, 1500s–1600s heroyck, 1500s–1600s heroycke, 1500s–1600s heroyick, 1500s–1600s heroyicke, 1500s–1600s heroyke, 1500s–1700s heroick, 1500s– heroic, 1600s heroïck, 1600s heroijck, 1600s heroijcke, 1600s heroyique, 1600s heroyque, 1600s herroick, 1700s heroïc; also Scottish pre-1700 heroyque.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French heroïque; Latin hērōicus.

Etymology: < (i) Middle French heroïque, heroÿque (French héroïque ) of or relating to a hero or heroes (c1370, originally with reference to the heroes of classical mythology), (of poetry) having mythological heroes as subject, epic (c1370), characteristic of a hero (second half of the 15th cent.), (of verse or metre) suitable for epic poetry (a1560, originally designating decasyllabic verse), remarkably large or intense, vast (1724 or earlier), designating medical treatment involving measures which are potentially life-saving but risk further injury (1800), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin hērōicus of or belonging to a hero or heroes, typical of a hero, (of poetry) describing the deeds of heroes, epic, (of poetic metre) suitable for epic poetry (i.e. hexameter), in post-classical Latin also (of a statue) colossal (1702 in the passage translated in quot. 1712 at sense A. 5) < ancient Greek ἡρωϊκός of or belonging to a hero or heroes, (of poetic metre) suitable for epic poetry (i.e. hexameter) < ἥρως hero n. + -ικός -ic suffix. Compare Catalan heroic (1531), Spanish heroico (15th cent.), Portuguese heróico (15th cent.), Italian eroico (late 14th cent.), and also German heroisch (17th cent.). Compare earlier heroical adj.With the use as noun compare post-classical Latin heroicus (masculine) line of epic poetry (4th or 5th cent. in Jerome), epic poet (5th cent.), Middle French heroïque , French héroïque hero (c1370), epic poet (1579 in the passage translated in quot. 1594 at sense B. 1b, or earlier). Compare the following earlier, apparently isolated, occurrence of the Latin adjective in a Middle English context:c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Linc. Cathedral 103) 10 Þe worthy noble Symachus Þat was a man full grounded al in grace, Þat as in vertu was heroycus.

A. adj.

1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a hero or heroine; characterized by heroism; brave, courageous, noble; admirable for great qualities or achievements.

a. Of an action, quality, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > courage > heroism > [adjective]

heroical?a1475

heroicc1550

heroic1592

Argonautic1794

paladin1845

Bunyanesque1888

society > morality > virtue > morally elevated quality > [adjective]

kindly1340

heroical?a1475

heroicc1550

high-set1597

fine1598

unbase1601

exalteda1616

noblea1616

spiritful1631

raised1662

high-toned1770

lofty1776

etherealized1846

upward1850

unsordid1857

high-tone1864

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > famous or eminent person > [adjective]

mereeOE

athelOE

couthOE

brightOE

namecundc1175

outnumenc1175

noble?c1225

ketec1275

sheenc1275

tirfulc1275

glorious13..

losedc1305

of great renownc1330

glorifieda1340

worthly or worthy in wonea1350

clearc1374

nameda1382

solemna1387

renomeda1393

famous?a1400

renomé?a1400

renowneda1400

notedc1400

of (great, high, etc.) name?c1430

celebrate?1440

namely1440

famosec1449

honourable?c1450

notedc1450

parent?c1450

glorificatec1460

heroical?a1475

insignite?a1475

magnific1490

well-fameda1492

exemie1497

singular1497

preclare1503

magnificential1506

laureate1508

illustre?a1513

illustred1512

magnificent1513

preclared1530

grand1542

celebrated1549

heroicc1550

lustrantc1550

magnifical1557

illustrate1562

expectablec1565

ennobled1571

laurel1579

nominated1581

famosed1582

perspicuous1582

big1587

famed1595

uplifted1596

illustrious1598

celebrousc1600

luculent1600

celebrious1604

fameful1605

famoused1606

renownful1606

bruitful1609

eminent1611

insignious1620

clarousa1636

far-fameda1640

top1647

grandee1648

signalized1652

noscible1653

splendid1660

voiced1661

gloried1671

laurelled1683

distinguished1714

distinct1756

lustrious1769

trumpeted1775

spiry1825

world-famous1832

galactic1902

tycoonish1958

mega1987

c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) 1 Ȝour heroyque vertu, is of mair admiratione, nor vas of valeria the dochtir of the prudent consul publicola.

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. i. sig. M6 But euermore some of the vertuous race Rose vp, inspired with heroicke heat.

1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 75 Requested..his death might be giuen him, by such a Heroicke hand as his, rather then perish by the rascall multitude.

1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1711 Samson hath quit himself Like Samson, and heroicly hath finish'd A life Heroic .

1713 R. Steele in Guardian 3 Apr. 2/1 There is something Sublime and Heroic in true Meekness and Humility.

a1766 F. Sheridan Hist. Nourjahad (1767) 202 He received the blow with such an heroic firmness, that thou wouldst have thought he rather enjoyed a triumph, than suffered an ignominious death.

1807 W. Wordsworth Poems I. 140 The heroic wealth of hall and bower.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 167 The heroic death of his father.

1889 Nature 11 Apr. 500 Anyone who has it in him to do heroic deeds.

1954 J. Masters Bhowani Junction II. xxv. 209 He stood in a heroic posture, his legs braced and his revolver arm steady.

2001 Times 14 Sept. 5/3 Many offered heroic help to fellow victims struggling in stairwells and burning offices.

b. Of a person, number of people, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > courage > heroism > [adjective]

heroical?a1475

heroicc1550

heroic1592

Argonautic1794

paladin1845

Bunyanesque1888

1592 A. Munday tr. L. T. A. Masque of League sig. P3^v The most worthy, heroyick & valiant personages kilde, massacred or banished.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. v. 78 Whereas hee, From Iohn of Gaunt doth bring his Pedigree, Being but fourth of that Heroick Lyne.

1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 67 The Decans turn back, leaving their heroick Captaine Godgee slaine in the field.

1721 J. Dart Westminster-Abbey 37 Daring the Death, fell each Heroick Brave.

1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 8 This would be to act over again the scene of the criminals condemned to the gallies, and their heroic deliverer.

1834 J. Shipp Private Soldier xii. 120 His lips articulated the sounds of ‘brave boy !’ ‘heroic boy !’

1878 J. Morley Carlyle in Crit. Misc. 196 The distinction between the truly heroic ruler of the stamp of Cromwell, and the arbitrary enthusiast for external order, like Frederick.

1889 Wisconsin State Reg. 21 Dec. 1/6 (heading) Rescued by a heroic dog.

1927 S. Lewis Elmer Gantry xxv. 357 He had forgotten the children and their need of an heroic exemplar.

1962 G. Murchie Music of Spheres ii. 24 Inevitably the fish suffered frightful losses as their heroic pioneers were stranded by receding tides and suffocated or baked alive in marshy deltas.

1992 N.Y. Times 13 Mar. c16/4 Those first heroic female astronauts.

a. Of verse or metre: traditionally used in poetry with mythological or historical heroes as its subject matter; characteristic of heroic poetry (see sense A. 2b).The metre associated with the heroic form varies according to the context. Classical heroic poetry uses the hexameter; in English, German, and Italian, iambic pentameter is used (cf. heroic couplet n. at Compounds 2); and the alexandrine, of twelve syllables, is used in French.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [adjective] > pentameter > heroic

heroical?a1475

heroic?1585

?1585 W. Phiston tr. S. de Voyon Testimonie True Church of God 75 Hee translated into Heroick verses the most parte of the Hebrewe writings.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 91 Andrew Morosini, who wrote the History of his time in Heroique Verse.

1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. lii The English Verse, which we call Heroique, consists of no more than Ten Syllables.

1765 J. Elphinston Princ. Eng. Lang. Digested II. 341 We see that english heroic verse is quinarian or pentameter iambic, that is, iambic of five feet.

1774 T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry I. i. 12 The heroic Alexandrine of the French poetry.

1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. 267 In English we could commonly render one Greek heroic line in a line and a half of our common heroic metre.

1861 F. Hall in Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. (1863) 7 23 The third hemistich of the heroic measure.

1902 Mod. Lang. Q. 5 16/1 The contested point is as to the occurrence of the heroic metre before Chaucer.

1948 D. L. Clark John Milton at St. Paul's School 135 The grammar explains the feet of classical metrics, with directions and diagrams for scanning the various types of verse, as heroic, elegiac, sapphic, phaleuciac, and iambic.

2007 Res. in Afr. Lit. 38 82 Lastly, the heroic meter..suits this genre best.

b. Of a poet, poetry, etc.: having mythological or historical heroes as subject matter (cf. sense A. 3); epic. Cf. mock-heroic adj.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > narrative poem > [adjective] > epic or heroic

heroical?1521

heroica1586

epic1589

epical1694

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. C3^v The most notable [kinds of poets] bee the Heroick, Lirick, Tragick [etc.].

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xi. 19 Such therefore as gaue them selues to write long histories of the noble gests of kings & great Princes entermedling the dealings of the gods, halfe gods or Heroes..they called Poets Heroick, whereof Homer was chief and most auncient among the Greeks, Virgill among the Latines.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 25 This Subject for Heroic Song.

1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xv An Heroique Poem is certainly the greatest Work of Human Nature.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. viii. 168 This Nobleman had the same gallant Disposition with those renowned Knights, of whom we read in heroic Story.

1772 W. Jones Ess. Poetry Eastern Nations in Poems 195 In comparing Homer with the heroick poets, who have succeeded him.

1838 T. Arnold Hist. Rome (1846) I. vi. 100 The old heroic lays of Rome.

1840 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Mar. 278 The opera buffa, or comic opera, is indeed more universally performed, and more copiously produced than the opera seria or heroic.

1898 Folk-lore 9 46 Until 300 years ago there was practical identity between the mythical and heroic literature of the two main divisions of Gaeldom—Ireland and Scotland.

1927 E. V. Gordon Introd. Old Norse p. xxxiii It is a great virtue of the heroic sagas that they are sober and matter-of-fact.

1950 Mod. Lang. Rev. 45 380 Milton, the last successful heroic poet.

1991 Lang. in Society 20 638 The heroic poem Beowulf unquestionably comes from an oral tradition.

c. Designating or expressed in the grand or elevated style or language of heroic poetry; (also somewhat depreciative) bombastic, pompous, high-flown.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > [adjective] > other specific style

judicial1532

heroic1590

judiciary1603

wild1645

heroi-comic1708

mock-heroic1708

heroi-comical1712

flebilea1734

prosai-comi-epic1749

lusory1779

sulphureous1791

harlequinic1804

mock-heroical1825

newspaperish1825

marmoreal1892

kailyard1895

freestyle1906

paperback1921

nouny1926

Time-ese1947

nounal1952

kitchen sink1959

effectist1961

writerly1974

dirty realist1984

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > lofty or grandiloquent

magnificenta1460

statelya1525

magnifical1533

tragical1533

lofty1565

tragic1566

sublime1586

over-high1587

magnific1589

heroic1590

buskina1593

grandiloquous1593

full-mouthed1594

high-pitched1594

buskined1595

full-mouth1595

high-borne1596

altisonant1612

Roman1619

high-sounding1624

transcendent1631

magniloquent1640

loud1651

altiloquent1656

grandiloquent1656

largiloquent1656

altisonous1661

tall1670

elevate1673

grandisonous1674

sounding1683

exalted1684

grandisonant1684

grandific1727

magniloquous1727

orotund1799

superb1825

spread eagle1839

grandiose1840

magnisonanta1843

togated1868

elevated1875

mandarin1959

1590 E. Spenser To Ld. Buckhurst in Faerie Queene sig. Qq3^v In loftie numbers and heroicke stile.

1626 J. Kennedy Hist. Calanthrop & Lucilla To Rdr. sig. A3 This Poeme..is voyd of ornate or elegant phrase, and not of an Heroicke stile.

1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. Itrod. Pref. sig. a5^v The Style of his Georgicks, as well Noble (if not strictly Heroick) as that of his Æneids.

1734 A. Pope Epist. to Arbuthnot 109 One dedicates, in high Heroic prose, And ridicules beyond a hundred foes.

a1797 H. Walpole Mem. George III (1848) I. viii. 111 Glover..uttered a speech in most heroic fustian.

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. xiii. 320 To see..whether the heroes of the day are, in the heroic language of insurgent tailors, flints or dunghills.

1888 F. M. Peard His Cousin Betty I. v. 106 John's prowess was painted in heroic colours.

1897 Westm. Gaz. 26 Aug. 3/1 We publish this..because it expresses in inflamed and heroic language a theory which..is becoming quite undeservedly popular among a certain class of politicians.

1983 A. Bullock Ernest Bevin ii. 55 In place of Churchill's heroic style, his speeches were dry, matter of fact and often banal.

2010 M. T. Bernath Confederate Minds vi. 222 The heroic language with which he celebrated his poets and the clearly nationalistic message he imparted through his work.

a. Of or relating to the heroes of Greek mythology or history; designating a hero (hero n. 1). Also in extended use, with reference to non-classical myths or legends.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > courage > heroism > [adjective] > relating to heroes of antiquity

heroical1535

heroic1594

1594 R. Carew tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne ii. 89 A murmur soft of that Heroicke race.

?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads i. 98 Up..Heroic Agamemnon rose.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 388 Here found they Teucer's old Heroick Race.

1778 tr. Pindar Pythian, Nemean & Isthmian Odes 256 Fleets usurp'd the Trojan soil, Rich Object of heroïc toil.

1837 J. M. Kemble in tr. Beowulf Pref. p. ix So may the old god Beówulf, after passing through the form of the heroic Beówulf, the Scylding and father of the Northern tribes, have sunk a step further into Beówulf the Wægmunding.

1850 J. Leitch tr. K. O. Müller Ancient Art (new ed.) §410. 553 The heroic-ideal is expressed with highest force in Hercules..pre-eminently an Hellenic national hero.

1900 J. M. Robertson Christianity & Mythol. ii. xix. 281 It is not easily to be believed that a piece of writing in which Krishna is..represented as the Supreme Deity..can belong originally to the epic in which he is a heroic demigod.

1996 F. M. Dunn Tragedy's End viii. 120 The heroic Heracles, son of Zeus, is replaced at the end by a humble and mortal hero.

b. spec. Chiefly in heroic age, heroic times. Designating the period of Greek history and legend preceding the Trojan War and its aftermath, in which the myths of the Greek heroes are set. Also in extended use: designating a period in the history of any nation or region in which legends of heroes are set.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > relative time > the past > historical period > [noun] > of Greek antiquity or mythology

antiquityc1375

golden age?a1439

silver age1565

heroic age1654

heroic times1654

brazen age1841

mundane era1892

1654 P. English Surv. Policy ii. 137 In the heroick age men did much dote upon Kingly Government. Then men were extream haughty and arrogant, and could not be governed by equals.

1669 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. I iii. ii. 27 The ancient Mythologie, conteining fabulous narrations of the ancient Heroic times.

1740 tr. A. Banier Mythol. & Fables Ancients III. ii. xi. 528 Here begin the Fables of the Poets, for the Events of those Heroic Times are always wrapped up in Fictions.

1776 J. Beattie Ess. 68 Those philosophers who recommend the manners of the heroic period, or even the savage state, as better..than those of our own time.

1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. v. 123 The period included between the first appearance of the Hellenes in Thessaly, and the return of the Greeks from Troy, is commonly known by the name of the heroic age, or ages.

1869 G. Rawlinson Man. Anc. Hist. 124 The simple hereditary monarchy of the heroic times.

1897 W. P. Ker Epic & Romance i. 7 What the ‘heroic age’ of the modern nations really was, may be learned from what is left of their heroic literature, especially from three groups or classes,—the old Teutonic alliterative poems on native subjects; the French Chansons de Geste; and the Icelandic Sagas.

1927 E. V. Gordon Introd. Old Norse p. xxix The Germanic heroic age of the fourth to seventh centuries.

1965 K. Sisam Struct. Beowulf 7 The doors of Heorot opened into the Heroic Age.

1991 P. James et al. Cent. of Darkness (1992) i. 13 Homer's account of the Heroic Age of the Trojan War had been dramatically confirmed.

c. Designating the period of greatest achievement, success, or prosperity in any country, field, or area of human activity. Cf. golden age n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > prosperity > [adjective] > characterized by prosperity > of times or places

golden?a1439

wealthyc1460

Saturnian1592

silver1659

millenary1700

heroic1793

Pericleana1822

flush1840

millennial1859

belle époque1957

1793 A. Maclaine Religion 23 We are destroyed, if we are divided.—This is the motto which we find inscribed on one of those medals which mark the virtuous and heroic period of this republic.

1827 P. S. Du Ponceau Eulogium W. Tilghman 7 We are now in the heroic age of our country... What wonders have not been achieved during this short space of time?

1854 Harper's Mag. Mar. 557/1 We all feel that in the birth struggle of our heroic age, caucuses and platforms, and platform-men, would have been sadly out of place.

1901 Pall Mall 25 60/1 We are still living in the heroic period of motorism.

1938 G. Stein Picasso 9 Then commenced the long period which Max Jacob has called the Heroic Age of Cubism.

1986 H. Ritter Dict. Concepts Hist. 296 The years between 1918 and 1945 were the ‘heroic’ phase of historical thinking on the subject [sc. nationalism], when the key works of Hayes..and Kohn..were conceived and published.

2012 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 9 Dec. mm 36 The sheer quantity of movies in theaters has now reached a level not seen since the heroic age of Classical Hollywood.

a. Ambitious, bold; grand in scope or intent; involving great effort or extreme measures.

ΚΠ

1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ii. 48 An vnresolued man, in high and heroyicke designes.

1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. Concl. 191 'Tis a Noble resolution to begin there where all the world has ended; and an Heroick attempt to salve those difficulties.

1757 D. Hume Hist. Great Brit. II. 20 It was merely by an heroic effort of duty, that he brought his mind, impatient of superiority and even of equality, to pay such unlimited submission to the will of his sovereign.

1763 Curious Mem. late Peace between Rooks & Jackdaws 26 A noble and most heroic plan; but the king's advisers were of a different opinion.

1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xvii. 90 An appeal which might have moved the most languid and effeminate natures to heroic exertion.

1887 G. Smith in Times 3 Dec. 10/3 Common-place reforms, which heroic legislation has overlooked.

1936 A. J. Ayer Lang., Truth & Logic i. 23 Some positivists have adopted the heroic course of saying that these general propositions are indeed pieces of nonsense.

1986 Your Business Mar. 11/3 There are the small businesses; the heroic little start-ups in their garages and garden sheds.

2003 M. Abley Spoken Here vi. 107 Heroic efforts have been made in recent years to revive the Wampanoag language.

b. Designating medical and surgical treatment involving aggressive measures which are potentially life-saving but risk further injury to the patient.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > types of treatment generally > [adjective] > other miscellaneous treatments

sublimate1585

heroical1769

Perkinean1798

Perkinistic1803

heroic1818

adjuvant1834

aggressive1837

calmative1871

bacteriotherapeutic1886

mechanotherapeutic1915

inhalational1944

non-invasive1968

invasive1972

vegetablized1974

multidisciplinarian1985

1818 London Med. & Physical Jrnl. 40 236 The actual cautery, employed by the French.., M. Roux calls an heroic remedy.

1836 J. M. Gully tr. F. Magendie Formulary (ed. 2) 117 Dr. Andrew Buchanan..has..shown how iodine may be given in most heroic doses without producing any of the disagreeable effects..on the digestive mucous membrane.

1874 H. C. Wood Treat. Therapeutics 134 By the aid of opiates and careful dilution a species of tolerance was often obtained for these heroic doses.

1907 J. W. S. Gouley Surg. Genito-urinary Organs vi. 103 There are still very many angustiæ due to neglect or to the heroic treatment of urethritis..to occupy much of the physician's time.

a1929 G. Scott tr. W. van Tuyll van Serooskerken Let. in F. A. Pottle Boswell in Holland (1952) 357 I have been obliged to undergo heroic treatment. I was very ill.

1976 National Observer (U.S.) 24 Jan. 9/2 The woman says physicians abided by her request that no heroic measures be used.

2006 Independent 30 Dec. 6/2 The Safer Patients Initiative is not about hi-tech equipment, powerful drugs or heroic surgery but good hygiene, accurate prescribing and the avoidance of errors.

5. Of a statue: larger than life-size but smaller than colossal.In quot. 1712: (apparently) = colossal adj. 2a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > huge > specifically of statues

colossian1601

colossic1607

colossean1644

colossal1712

heroic1712

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [adjective] > kind or size of statue

pedestrial1611

colossean1644

iconic1656

colossal1712

heroic1712

pedestrian1722

Persian1728

heroical1770

Hermaean1813

Hermaic1820

lifelike1836

polylithic1839

stolated1856

life-size1859

Heraclean1883

1712 J. Henley tr. B. de Montfaucon Trav. Italy xiii. 212 In Colossal, or as they call them, Heroick Statues [L. in statuis colosseis, & ut vocant, heroicis], they allow eight Times the Height of the Head.

1794 T. Taylor tr. Pausanias Descr. Greece III. 76 But in Haliartus there is..an heroic monument of Cecrops, the son of Pandion.

1854 Illustr. Mag. Art 3 210/2 The heroic statue of ‘America’..is, of course, a personification—a female figure—and is monumental in its character.

1892 New Outlook 27 Feb. 398/1 He has just finished the model for a heroic statue of Ericsson, to be erected by the city of New York in the Central Park.

1909 Times 1 Dec. 3/6 An heroic size portrait bust of Canova by himself.

1992 Holiday Which? May 154/2 A heroic statue of Bismarck guards the steps from just off Leopoldsplatz.

6. Chiefly humorous. Remarkably large or intense; enormous, vast.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > very great

swappingc1440

bumping1566

thumping1576

swingeinga1592

knocking1598

gigantical1604

gigantine1605

gigantean1611

gigantal?1614

thundering1618

whoppinga1625

humming1654

rapping1657

whisking1673

threshing1707

sousing1735

nation1765

heroic1785

runaway1790

spanking1791

gigantic1797

whacking1797

cracking1834

ringing1834

bouncing1842

walloping1847

stavingc1850

banging1864

howling1865

whooping1866

smacking1888

God almighty1913

Christ almighty1961

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > vast, immense, or huge

un-i-fohOE

ormeteOE

hugea1275

un-i-feiec1275

infinitec1385

ponderousa1400

hugeful1413

hugyc1420

thrice1470

felon?a1500

hugeousa1529

enormous1544

enormc1560

fell1586

prodigious1601

immensive1604

colossic1607

monumental1632

vast1637

unfathomed1659

colossal1664

ponderose1680

heroic1785

colossian1794

pyramidal1849

astronomical1871

astronomic1923

stratospheric1932

cosmic1935

ginormous1942

galactic1960

mega1968

humongous1970

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > huge

unmeeteOE

unmeetlyOE

hugea1275

hideousc1330

infinitec1385

unmeasureda1398

unmeasurablec1405

hugyc1420

immeasurable1440

ingentc1450

unmeetlyc1450

giant1480

immense1490

monstrous?a1513

unmeasurely1513

hugeousa1529

unportable1537

enormous1544

enormc1560

giantly1561

immensible1579

rouncival1582

dismeasured1584

vast1585

immeasured1590

gargantuan1596

omnipotent1596

colossian1601

immane1601

prodigious1601

Polyphemian1602

Titanian1603

titanical1603

gigantical1604

immensive1604

gigantine1605

colossic1607

gigantean1611

Gogmagotical1612

gigantal?1614

Babylonian1617

leviathan1625

titanic1628

elephantine1631

gigantive1638

colossean1644

decumanal1652

immensurate1654

gigant1658

decuman1659

colossal1664

abnormous1710

Brobdingnagian1728

Brobdingnag1731

Pantagruelian1737

heroic1785

Patagonian1786

seven-league1787

Titan1793

gigantic1797

seven-leagued1799

mammoth1801

dimensionless1813

tremendous1813

gigantesque1821

monster1837

titanesque1838

monstre1840

giantlike1847

leviathanic1848

pythonic1851

Babylonic1853

supercolossal1871

giantesque1909

behemothian1910

supergiant1919

ginormous1942

big-ass1945

Ozymandian1961

fuck-off1962

mega1968

humongous1970

monstro1970

big-assed1972

big-arsed1996

1785 Morning Herald 14 Nov. Mr. Theatricus..took some pains to make a lapse of the immortal Garrick's, appear singularly glaring, by an injudicious defence of a self-evident error in heroic quantity.

1850 L. Hunt Autobiogr. II. xvii. 240 The men shaved themselves elaborately, cultivating heroic whiskers.

1875 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (ed. 2) i. iii. 20 His usual allowance was sixteen cups [of tea], all of heroic strength.

1920 L. Van Slyke Little Miss By-the-Day vi. 234 The Cartoonist stopped with an heroic sneeze.

1976 C. James in Observer 20 June 21/4 A flyover of heroic ugliness..was built over Circular Quay.

2000 Wall St. Jrnl. 16 May a24/5 And they [sc. wild hogs] are bad news for agriculture, snuffling up heroic amounts of corn, soybeans and other crops.

B. n.

a. In singular (with the) or plural. Heroic verse or poetry. Cf. sense A. 2a, A. 2b.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > [noun] > blank verse

heroic1573

blank1589

blank verse1589

stage-blanks1636

1573 Life Virgil in T. Phaer & T. Twyne tr. Virgil Whole .xii. Bks. Æneidos sig. CDij A Bucolike is but a stender verse, and so farre differyng from the stile of the Heroike.

1588 J. Harvey Discoursiue Probl. conc. Prophesies 92 Virgils owne Heroicks.

1633 H. Hawkins Partheneia Sacra xiii. 146 She chants forth longer verses, as they were Heroicks.

1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xlix I wou'd prefer the Verse of ten Syllables, which we call the English Heroique, to that of Eight.

1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. ii. 7 When this Heroicks only deigns to praise, Sharp Satire that, and that Pindaric Lays.

1781 S. Johnson Pope in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VII. 285 In heroicks, that may be admitted which ennobles, though it does not illustrate.

1814 L. Hunt Feast of Poets Pref. p. xiv The various and legitimate harmony of the English heroic.

1895 W. D. Howells My Lit. Passions 55 I..hammered away at my blessed Popean heroics till nine, when I went regularly to bed, to rise again at five.

1907 Mod. Philol. 4 12 In 1729 James Ralph published a poem in heroics called ‘An Imitation of Spenser's Fairy Queen, by a Young Gentleman of Twenty’.

2006 Huntington Libr. Q. 3 386 This eclipsing of the heroic by the mock-heroic..is in line with the general ambience of Charles II's London.

†b. A writer of heroic verse, a heroic poet. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > poet by kind of poem > [noun] > epic or heroic poet

heroic1594

epic1607

epo-poet1800

epicist1820

epopœist1840

epoist1842

1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course 69 The Heroicks [Fr. Heroïques]..haue written of diuers matters; of warres; of naturall philosophie, Astrologie, Physick, Bucolicks, and Georgicks.

a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 172 Virgil..To whom th' Heroics ever since Have sworn Allegiance as their Prince.

c. In plural. Somewhat depreciative. Grand, high-flown, or bombastic speech or writing. Cf. sense A. 2c. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [noun] > inflated or bombastic style > bombast

thundering1564

bombast1589

fustiana1593

taratantara1599

bombard-phrasea1637

heroics1638

bombacea1661

rant1662

Lexiphanicism1767

streperosity1772

puff1821

taffeta1821

polyphloisboioism1823

flabbergast1831

highfalutin1847

highfalutination1858

carmagnole1860

Barnumism1862

ballyhoo1901

1638 H. Adamson Muses Threnodie vii. 80 There we took some little recreation; Where in Heroicks Gall fell to declaring All circumstances of that dayes wayfairing.

1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison I. xiv. 82 Miss Barnevelt took a tilt in heroics.

1788 J. Cobb Doctor & Apothecary i. 11 Carlos. Kind Cupid light us on our way. Juan. Psha! Zounds! a lantern would light us much better. So rot your heroics, and follow me.

1862 J. Skelton Nugæ Criticæ vii. 308 Women, it is said, can write powerfully, but they cannot write moderately. They are always in hysterics or heroics.

1907 W. James in Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 4 vi. 154 Your genuine truth-lover must discourse in Huxleyan heroics, and feel as if truth ought to bring eventual messages of death to all our satisfactions.

1964 P. Adam-Smith Hear Train Blow 138 He spoke simply, with no heroics, and used the great Australian adjective whenever he became distressed.

†2.

a. A hero, esp. one from classical mythology. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > demigod or hero

kingeOE

half-godc1374

semigoda1464

heroa1522

demigod1530

indigetec1550

petty god1581

under-god1583

heroic1586

godling1596

semi-deity?1624

goddikin1675

medioxumus1677

godkin1765

man-god1826

godlet1884

the mind > emotion > courage > heroism > [noun] > hero

Hectora1387

worthy1552

Brutea1556

hero1578

heroic1586

Argonaut1596

Argonautic1614

1586 in W. A. Craigie Maitland Quarto MS (1920) 160 Treuth sall try sa far above The auntient heroicis love.

1613 T. Jackson Eternall Truth Script. i. xi. §3 Many other particular circumstances of his [sc. Homer's] gods assisting the ancient heroics.

1667 E. Waterhouse Short Narr. Fire London 143 O Lord..raise up the spirit of the Nehemiahs and such other Heroicks.

1765 H. Walpole Castle of Otranto (ed. 2) Pref. p. ix Let me ask if..Hamlet and Julius Cesar would not lose a considerable share of their spirit and wonderful beauties, if the humour of the grave-diggers,..and the clumsy jests of the Roman citizens were omitted, or vested in heroics?

b. A Royalist in the English Civil War; = cavalier n. 3. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > [noun] > cavalier or royalist cause > supporter of

rattle-head1641

cavalier1642

delinquent1642

long head1642

malignant1642

Cab1644

cavy1645

kebc1645

rattlepate1646

cave1661

heroic1682

1682 A. Behn Roundheads i. i. 5 Gill. Heav'ns, Madam, I'll warrant they were Heroicks. La. Lam. Heroicks! Gill. Cavaliers, Madam, of the Royal Party.

3. With the. Heroic people as a class; (also) that which is heroic.

ΚΠ

1664 Duchess of Newcastle CCXI Sociable Lett. xxxiii. 70 Onely the Heroick, Wise, Good, and Generous, are the Soul and Body of Mankind.

1799 Scots Mag. Apr. 260/1 Does not Savoy, once the residence of the heroic and the brave, now depend for existence on the breath of France?

1828 Gentleman's Mag. July 43/2 Nothing but the heroic will brave danger and death.

1864 Daily Tel. 30 Sept. 5/4 Some prodigious caricature, in which the heroic and the absurd, the sublime and the vulgar, are inharmoniously but audaciously blended.

1911 A. E. K. Lane Talk of Town 84 It may..be that it is only in fairy tales that..the Good are always heroic, while the Heroic are always good.

1969 Guardian 22 Sept. 15/3 The police have managed, by exercising restraint that sometimes verges on the heroic, to improve their old, tough image.

1988 E. Peters Inquisition (1989) viii. 236 Its victims are..no longer the foolish and imprudent, but the innocent, the wise, and the heroic.

2010 H. Hoock Empires of Imagination ix. 375 It has been suggested that the uncommonly long period of peace in Europe from 1815 to 1854 demanded an adjustment of notions of the heroic.

4. In plural. Heroism; (extravagantly or recklessly) bold or dramatic behaviour.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > courage > valour > deed of valour > [noun] > heroic feat

chivalry1297

bountyc1330

vassalagec1330

feata1400

turnc1400

pointc1440

valiance1470

valiantise1513

valiancy1627

gallantry1652

heroism1740

heroics1873

1873 ‘J. Hering’ Truth Will Out xv. 194 Don't be a fool—this is no time for heroics.

1905 F. M. Crawford Salve Venetia II. i. 4 They [sc. Venetians] could be heroes when driven to extremities, but they never liked heroics.

1976 M. Machlin Pipeline xxviii. 333 For Christ sake, don't think about pulling any movie-type heroics.

1984 A. MacLean San Andreas x. 218 The only thing that heroics will get us is an early and watery grave.

2005 Scotsman (Nexis) 7 Mar. 13 The knockout phase..is a time for heroics, for champions' performances in the face of adversity.

Compounds

C1. Parasynthetic, as heroic-built, heroic-minded adjs.

ΚΠ

1646 J. Vicars Burning-bush not Consumed 44 That heroick-hearted Gentleman, and famously suffering servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 485 Her Husband..of limb Heroic built, though of terrestrial mould.

1678 S. Butler Hudibras: Third Pt. iii. i. 79 Condemn'd to Whipping but declin'd it, By being more Heroick-minded.

1842 J. O'Donovan tr. Banquet of Dun Na N-Gedh 215 The active, vain-hearted, satin-bannered, heroic-deeded host of the Saxons.

1903 G. Overton Anne Carmel 32 A young, heroic-built priest, who went canoeing all night up and down black and silent waterways.

1921 Printers' Ink 24 Nov. 80/2 Heroic-proportioned hinges..serve as a background for miniature buildings.

2008 Pittsburgh Tribune Rev. (Nexis) 28 Aug. Jizo, on the other hand, is another beloved divinity in Japan. They are..heroic-minded figures, who work to ease the suffering and shorten the sentence of those serving time in hell.

C2.

heroic couplet n. Prosody a rhyming couplet in iambic pentameter; the verse form consisting of such couplets; cf. sense A. 2a.Associated particularly with Chaucer and the poets of the late 17th and 18th centuries (such as Dryden and Pope).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > stanza > couplet > heroic couplet

riding rhyme1573

heroic couplet1706

Popean couplet1892

1706 J. Browne Royal Prophetess Pref. Nor has any Nation had so good success in the use of Heroick Couplets, as the English.

1828 T. B. Macaulay Dryden in Edinb. Rev. Jan. 26 In the management of the heroic couplet Dryden has never been equalled.

1911 B. Matthews Study of Versification x. 200 The heroic couplet has served not only for narrative, but also for contemplative, philosophic, descriptive and satiric expression.

2007 T. Eagleton How to read Poem iv. 88 There is a balance and symmetry about these heroic couplets which reflect the reason, order and logic flouted by the apostles of Dullness.

heroic fantasy n. (a) a daydream or fantasy centring on imagined heroic acts or accomplishments; cf. hero fantasy n. at hero n. Compounds 2b; (b) a work of fiction which deals with the adventures of a heroic figure; (now) spec. a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy literature featuring the adventures of a hero in a (more or less) imaginary world.

ΚΠ

1779 W. Combe Lett. Yorick & Eliza II. 55 The men seem to have raised themselves from their heroic fantasies.

1869 Appleton's Jrnl. 23 Oct. 315/1 He [sc. Byron] had to set out on his journey sick, worn out, and especially out of sorts at that heroic fantasy which has not a little contributed to render his name immortal.

1907 Cambr. Mod. Hist. X. xxxii. 724 Passing into England, through the novels of the Earl of Orrery, the heroic fantasy gradually reduced itself to modern form in the Sir Charles Grandison of Richardson.

1921 Lit. Digest 27 Aug. 14/2 This mood of exaltation..may have its dangers if it carries away the statesmen and strategists who have to deal with stern facts rather than with heroic fantasies.

1963 L. S. de Camp Heroic Fantasy in Swords & Sorcery 7 ‘Heroic fantasy’ is the name of a class of stories laid, not in the world as it is or was or will be, but as it ought to have been to make a good story.

1997 Bangor (Maine) Daily News (Nexis) 6 Nov. He could be Walter Mitty, lost in his heroic fantasies while she natters on and on.

2010 R. Duncan in M. K. Booker Encycl. Comic Bks. & Graphic Novels I. 205 The 1930s pulp magazine stories of Robert E. Howard are the wellspring of heroic fantasy in comic books.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	heroic
释义	heroicadj.n. Brit. /hᵻˈrəʊɪk/, U.S. /hᵻˈroʊɪk/ Forms: 1500s herroicke, 1500s herroike, 1500s–1600s heroicke, 1500s–1600s heroik, 1500s–1600s heroike, 1500s–1600s heroique, 1500s–1600s heroyck, 1500s–1600s heroycke, 1500s–1600s heroyick, 1500s–1600s heroyicke, 1500s–1600s heroyke, 1500s–1700s heroick, 1500s– heroic, 1600s heroïck, 1600s heroijck, 1600s heroijcke, 1600s heroyique, 1600s heroyque, 1600s herroick, 1700s heroïc; also Scottish pre-1700 heroyque. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French heroïque; Latin hērōicus. Etymology: < (i) Middle French heroïque, heroÿque (French héroïque ) of or relating to a hero or heroes (c1370, originally with reference to the heroes of classical mythology), (of poetry) having mythological heroes as subject, epic (c1370), characteristic of a hero (second half of the 15th cent.), (of verse or metre) suitable for epic poetry (a1560, originally designating decasyllabic verse), remarkably large or intense, vast (1724 or earlier), designating medical treatment involving measures which are potentially life-saving but risk further injury (1800), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin hērōicus of or belonging to a hero or heroes, typical of a hero, (of poetry) describing the deeds of heroes, epic, (of poetic metre) suitable for epic poetry (i.e. hexameter), in post-classical Latin also (of a statue) colossal (1702 in the passage translated in quot. 1712 at sense A. 5) < ancient Greek ἡρωϊκός of or belonging to a hero or heroes, (of poetic metre) suitable for epic poetry (i.e. hexameter) < ἥρως hero n. + -ικός -ic suffix. Compare Catalan heroic (1531), Spanish heroico (15th cent.), Portuguese heróico (15th cent.), Italian eroico (late 14th cent.), and also German heroisch (17th cent.). Compare earlier heroical adj.With the use as noun compare post-classical Latin heroicus (masculine) line of epic poetry (4th or 5th cent. in Jerome), epic poet (5th cent.), Middle French heroïque , French héroïque hero (c1370), epic poet (1579 in the passage translated in quot. 1594 at sense B. 1b, or earlier). Compare the following earlier, apparently isolated, occurrence of the Latin adjective in a Middle English context:c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Linc. Cathedral 103) 10 Þe worthy noble Symachus Þat was a man full grounded al in grace, Þat as in vertu was heroycus. A. adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a hero or heroine; characterized by heroism; brave, courageous, noble; admirable for great qualities or achievements. a. Of an action, quality, etc. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > courage > heroism > [adjective] heroical?a1475 heroicc1550 heroic1592 Argonautic1794 paladin1845 Bunyanesque1888 society > morality > virtue > morally elevated quality > [adjective] kindly1340 heroical?a1475 heroicc1550 high-set1597 fine1598 unbase1601 exalteda1616 noblea1616 spiritful1631 raised1662 high-toned1770 lofty1776 etherealized1846 upward1850 unsordid1857 high-tone1864 the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > famous or eminent person > [adjective] mereeOE athelOE couthOE brightOE namecundc1175 outnumenc1175 noble?c1225 ketec1275 sheenc1275 tirfulc1275 glorious13.. losedc1305 of great renownc1330 glorifieda1340 worthly or worthy in wonea1350 clearc1374 nameda1382 solemna1387 renomeda1393 famous?a1400 renomé?a1400 renowneda1400 notedc1400 of (great, high, etc.) name?c1430 celebrate?1440 namely1440 famosec1449 honourable?c1450 notedc1450 parent?c1450 glorificatec1460 heroical?a1475 insignite?a1475 magnific1490 well-fameda1492 exemie1497 singular1497 preclare1503 magnificential1506 laureate1508 illustre?a1513 illustred1512 magnificent1513 preclared1530 grand1542 celebrated1549 heroicc1550 lustrantc1550 magnifical1557 illustrate1562 expectablec1565 ennobled1571 laurel1579 nominated1581 famosed1582 perspicuous1582 big1587 famed1595 uplifted1596 illustrious1598 celebrousc1600 luculent1600 celebrious1604 fameful1605 famoused1606 renownful1606 bruitful1609 eminent1611 insignious1620 clarousa1636 far-fameda1640 top1647 grandee1648 signalized1652 noscible1653 splendid1660 voiced1661 gloried1671 laurelled1683 distinguished1714 distinct1756 lustrious1769 trumpeted1775 spiry1825 world-famous1832 galactic1902 tycoonish1958 mega1987 c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) 1 Ȝour heroyque vertu, is of mair admiratione, nor vas of valeria the dochtir of the prudent consul publicola. 1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. i. sig. M6 But euermore some of the vertuous race Rose vp, inspired with heroicke heat. View more context for this quotation 1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 75 Requested..his death might be giuen him, by such a Heroicke hand as his, rather then perish by the rascall multitude. 1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1711 Samson hath quit himself Like Samson, and heroicly hath finish'd A life Heroic . View more context for this quotation 1713 R. Steele in Guardian 3 Apr. 2/1 There is something Sublime and Heroic in true Meekness and Humility. a1766 F. Sheridan Hist. Nourjahad (1767) 202 He received the blow with such an heroic firmness, that thou wouldst have thought he rather enjoyed a triumph, than suffered an ignominious death. 1807 W. Wordsworth Poems I. 140 The heroic wealth of hall and bower. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 167 The heroic death of his father. 1889 Nature 11 Apr. 500 Anyone who has it in him to do heroic deeds. 1954 J. Masters Bhowani Junction II. xxv. 209 He stood in a heroic posture, his legs braced and his revolver arm steady. 2001 Times 14 Sept. 5/3 Many offered heroic help to fellow victims struggling in stairwells and burning offices. b. Of a person, number of people, etc. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > courage > heroism > [adjective] heroical?a1475 heroicc1550 heroic1592 Argonautic1794 paladin1845 Bunyanesque1888 1592 A. Munday tr. L. T. A. Masque of League sig. P3^v The most worthy, heroyick & valiant personages kilde, massacred or banished. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. v. 78 Whereas hee, From Iohn of Gaunt doth bring his Pedigree, Being but fourth of that Heroick Lyne. 1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 67 The Decans turn back, leaving their heroick Captaine Godgee slaine in the field. 1721 J. Dart Westminster-Abbey 37 Daring the Death, fell each Heroick Brave. 1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 8 This would be to act over again the scene of the criminals condemned to the gallies, and their heroic deliverer. View more context for this quotation 1834 J. Shipp Private Soldier xii. 120 His lips articulated the sounds of ‘brave boy !’ ‘heroic boy !’ 1878 J. Morley Carlyle in Crit. Misc. 196 The distinction between the truly heroic ruler of the stamp of Cromwell, and the arbitrary enthusiast for external order, like Frederick. 1889 Wisconsin State Reg. 21 Dec. 1/6 (heading) Rescued by a heroic dog. 1927 S. Lewis Elmer Gantry xxv. 357 He had forgotten the children and their need of an heroic exemplar. 1962 G. Murchie Music of Spheres ii. 24 Inevitably the fish suffered frightful losses as their heroic pioneers were stranded by receding tides and suffocated or baked alive in marshy deltas. 1992 N.Y. Times 13 Mar. c16/4 Those first heroic female astronauts. 2. a. Of verse or metre: traditionally used in poetry with mythological or historical heroes as its subject matter; characteristic of heroic poetry (see sense A. 2b).The metre associated with the heroic form varies according to the context. Classical heroic poetry uses the hexameter; in English, German, and Italian, iambic pentameter is used (cf. heroic couplet n. at Compounds 2); and the alexandrine, of twelve syllables, is used in French. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [adjective] > pentameter > heroic heroical?a1475 heroic?1585 ?1585 W. Phiston tr. S. de Voyon Testimonie True Church of God 75 Hee translated into Heroick verses the most parte of the Hebrewe writings. 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 91 Andrew Morosini, who wrote the History of his time in Heroique Verse. 1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. lii The English Verse, which we call Heroique, consists of no more than Ten Syllables. 1765 J. Elphinston Princ. Eng. Lang. Digested II. 341 We see that english heroic verse is quinarian or pentameter iambic, that is, iambic of five feet. 1774 T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry I. i. 12 The heroic Alexandrine of the French poetry. 1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. 267 In English we could commonly render one Greek heroic line in a line and a half of our common heroic metre. 1861 F. Hall in Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. (1863) 7 23 The third hemistich of the heroic measure. 1902 Mod. Lang. Q. 5 16/1 The contested point is as to the occurrence of the heroic metre before Chaucer. 1948 D. L. Clark John Milton at St. Paul's School 135 The grammar explains the feet of classical metrics, with directions and diagrams for scanning the various types of verse, as heroic, elegiac, sapphic, phaleuciac, and iambic. 2007 Res. in Afr. Lit. 38 82 Lastly, the heroic meter..suits this genre best. b. Of a poet, poetry, etc.: having mythological or historical heroes as subject matter (cf. sense A. 3); epic. Cf. mock-heroic adj. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > narrative poem > [adjective] > epic or heroic heroical?1521 heroica1586 epic1589 epical1694 a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. C3^v The most notable [kinds of poets] bee the Heroick, Lirick, Tragick [etc.]. 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xi. 19 Such therefore as gaue them selues to write long histories of the noble gests of kings & great Princes entermedling the dealings of the gods, halfe gods or Heroes..they called Poets Heroick, whereof Homer was chief and most auncient among the Greeks, Virgill among the Latines. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 25 This Subject for Heroic Song. View more context for this quotation 1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xv An Heroique Poem is certainly the greatest Work of Human Nature. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. viii. 168 This Nobleman had the same gallant Disposition with those renowned Knights, of whom we read in heroic Story. View more context for this quotation 1772 W. Jones Ess. Poetry Eastern Nations in Poems 195 In comparing Homer with the heroick poets, who have succeeded him. 1838 T. Arnold Hist. Rome (1846) I. vi. 100 The old heroic lays of Rome. 1840 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Mar. 278 The opera buffa, or comic opera, is indeed more universally performed, and more copiously produced than the opera seria or heroic. 1898 Folk-lore 9 46 Until 300 years ago there was practical identity between the mythical and heroic literature of the two main divisions of Gaeldom—Ireland and Scotland. 1927 E. V. Gordon Introd. Old Norse p. xxxiii It is a great virtue of the heroic sagas that they are sober and matter-of-fact. 1950 Mod. Lang. Rev. 45 380 Milton, the last successful heroic poet. 1991 Lang. in Society 20 638 The heroic poem Beowulf unquestionably comes from an oral tradition. c. Designating or expressed in the grand or elevated style or language of heroic poetry; (also somewhat depreciative) bombastic, pompous, high-flown. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > [adjective] > other specific style judicial1532 heroic1590 judiciary1603 wild1645 heroi-comic1708 mock-heroic1708 heroi-comical1712 flebilea1734 prosai-comi-epic1749 lusory1779 sulphureous1791 harlequinic1804 mock-heroical1825 newspaperish1825 marmoreal1892 kailyard1895 freestyle1906 paperback1921 nouny1926 Time-ese1947 nounal1952 kitchen sink1959 effectist1961 writerly1974 dirty realist1984 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > lofty or grandiloquent magnificenta1460 statelya1525 magnifical1533 tragical1533 lofty1565 tragic1566 sublime1586 over-high1587 magnific1589 heroic1590 buskina1593 grandiloquous1593 full-mouthed1594 high-pitched1594 buskined1595 full-mouth1595 high-borne1596 altisonant1612 Roman1619 high-sounding1624 transcendent1631 magniloquent1640 loud1651 altiloquent1656 grandiloquent1656 largiloquent1656 altisonous1661 tall1670 elevate1673 grandisonous1674 sounding1683 exalted1684 grandisonant1684 grandific1727 magniloquous1727 orotund1799 superb1825 spread eagle1839 grandiose1840 magnisonanta1843 togated1868 elevated1875 mandarin1959 1590 E. Spenser To Ld. Buckhurst in Faerie Queene sig. Qq3^v In loftie numbers and heroicke stile. 1626 J. Kennedy Hist. Calanthrop & Lucilla To Rdr. sig. A3 This Poeme..is voyd of ornate or elegant phrase, and not of an Heroicke stile. 1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. Itrod. Pref. sig. a5^v The Style of his Georgicks, as well Noble (if not strictly Heroick) as that of his Æneids. 1734 A. Pope Epist. to Arbuthnot 109 One dedicates, in high Heroic prose, And ridicules beyond a hundred foes. a1797 H. Walpole Mem. George III (1848) I. viii. 111 Glover..uttered a speech in most heroic fustian. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. xiii. 320 To see..whether the heroes of the day are, in the heroic language of insurgent tailors, flints or dunghills. 1888 F. M. Peard His Cousin Betty I. v. 106 John's prowess was painted in heroic colours. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 26 Aug. 3/1 We publish this..because it expresses in inflamed and heroic language a theory which..is becoming quite undeservedly popular among a certain class of politicians. 1983 A. Bullock Ernest Bevin ii. 55 In place of Churchill's heroic style, his speeches were dry, matter of fact and often banal. 2010 M. T. Bernath Confederate Minds vi. 222 The heroic language with which he celebrated his poets and the clearly nationalistic message he imparted through his work. 3. a. Of or relating to the heroes of Greek mythology or history; designating a hero (hero n. 1). Also in extended use, with reference to non-classical myths or legends. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > courage > heroism > [adjective] > relating to heroes of antiquity heroical1535 heroic1594 1594 R. Carew tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne ii. 89 A murmur soft of that Heroicke race. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads i. 98 Up..Heroic Agamemnon rose. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 388 Here found they Teucer's old Heroick Race. 1778 tr. Pindar Pythian, Nemean & Isthmian Odes 256 Fleets usurp'd the Trojan soil, Rich Object of heroïc toil. 1837 J. M. Kemble in tr. Beowulf Pref. p. ix So may the old god Beówulf, after passing through the form of the heroic Beówulf, the Scylding and father of the Northern tribes, have sunk a step further into Beówulf the Wægmunding. 1850 J. Leitch tr. K. O. Müller Ancient Art (new ed.) §410. 553 The heroic-ideal is expressed with highest force in Hercules..pre-eminently an Hellenic national hero. 1900 J. M. Robertson Christianity & Mythol. ii. xix. 281 It is not easily to be believed that a piece of writing in which Krishna is..represented as the Supreme Deity..can belong originally to the epic in which he is a heroic demigod. 1996 F. M. Dunn Tragedy's End viii. 120 The heroic Heracles, son of Zeus, is replaced at the end by a humble and mortal hero. b. spec. Chiefly in heroic age, heroic times. Designating the period of Greek history and legend preceding the Trojan War and its aftermath, in which the myths of the Greek heroes are set. Also in extended use: designating a period in the history of any nation or region in which legends of heroes are set. ΘΚΠ the world > time > relative time > the past > historical period > [noun] > of Greek antiquity or mythology antiquityc1375 golden age?a1439 silver age1565 heroic age1654 heroic times1654 brazen age1841 mundane era1892 1654 P. English Surv. Policy ii. 137 In the heroick age men did much dote upon Kingly Government. Then men were extream haughty and arrogant, and could not be governed by equals. 1669 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. I iii. ii. 27 The ancient Mythologie, conteining fabulous narrations of the ancient Heroic times. 1740 tr. A. Banier Mythol. & Fables Ancients III. ii. xi. 528 Here begin the Fables of the Poets, for the Events of those Heroic Times are always wrapped up in Fictions. 1776 J. Beattie Ess. 68 Those philosophers who recommend the manners of the heroic period, or even the savage state, as better..than those of our own time. 1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. v. 123 The period included between the first appearance of the Hellenes in Thessaly, and the return of the Greeks from Troy, is commonly known by the name of the heroic age, or ages. 1869 G. Rawlinson Man. Anc. Hist. 124 The simple hereditary monarchy of the heroic times. 1897 W. P. Ker Epic & Romance i. 7 What the ‘heroic age’ of the modern nations really was, may be learned from what is left of their heroic literature, especially from three groups or classes,—the old Teutonic alliterative poems on native subjects; the French Chansons de Geste; and the Icelandic Sagas. 1927 E. V. Gordon Introd. Old Norse p. xxix The Germanic heroic age of the fourth to seventh centuries. 1965 K. Sisam Struct. Beowulf 7 The doors of Heorot opened into the Heroic Age. 1991 P. James et al. Cent. of Darkness (1992) i. 13 Homer's account of the Heroic Age of the Trojan War had been dramatically confirmed. c. Designating the period of greatest achievement, success, or prosperity in any country, field, or area of human activity. Cf. golden age n. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > [adjective] > characterized by prosperity > of times or places golden?a1439 wealthyc1460 Saturnian1592 silver1659 millenary1700 heroic1793 Pericleana1822 flush1840 millennial1859 belle époque1957 1793 A. Maclaine Religion 23 We are destroyed, if we are divided.—This is the motto which we find inscribed on one of those medals which mark the virtuous and heroic period of this republic. 1827 P. S. Du Ponceau Eulogium W. Tilghman 7 We are now in the heroic age of our country... What wonders have not been achieved during this short space of time? 1854 Harper's Mag. Mar. 557/1 We all feel that in the birth struggle of our heroic age, caucuses and platforms, and platform-men, would have been sadly out of place. 1901 Pall Mall 25 60/1 We are still living in the heroic period of motorism. 1938 G. Stein Picasso 9 Then commenced the long period which Max Jacob has called the Heroic Age of Cubism. 1986 H. Ritter Dict. Concepts Hist. 296 The years between 1918 and 1945 were the ‘heroic’ phase of historical thinking on the subject [sc. nationalism], when the key works of Hayes..and Kohn..were conceived and published. 2012 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 9 Dec. mm 36 The sheer quantity of movies in theaters has now reached a level not seen since the heroic age of Classical Hollywood. 4. a. Ambitious, bold; grand in scope or intent; involving great effort or extreme measures. ΚΠ 1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ii. 48 An vnresolued man, in high and heroyicke designes. 1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. Concl. 191 'Tis a Noble resolution to begin there where all the world has ended; and an Heroick attempt to salve those difficulties. 1757 D. Hume Hist. Great Brit. II. 20 It was merely by an heroic effort of duty, that he brought his mind, impatient of superiority and even of equality, to pay such unlimited submission to the will of his sovereign. 1763 Curious Mem. late Peace between Rooks & Jackdaws 26 A noble and most heroic plan; but the king's advisers were of a different opinion. 1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xvii. 90 An appeal which might have moved the most languid and effeminate natures to heroic exertion. 1887 G. Smith in Times 3 Dec. 10/3 Common-place reforms, which heroic legislation has overlooked. 1936 A. J. Ayer Lang., Truth & Logic i. 23 Some positivists have adopted the heroic course of saying that these general propositions are indeed pieces of nonsense. 1986 Your Business Mar. 11/3 There are the small businesses; the heroic little start-ups in their garages and garden sheds. 2003 M. Abley Spoken Here vi. 107 Heroic efforts have been made in recent years to revive the Wampanoag language. b. Designating medical and surgical treatment involving aggressive measures which are potentially life-saving but risk further injury to the patient. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > types of treatment generally > [adjective] > other miscellaneous treatments sublimate1585 heroical1769 Perkinean1798 Perkinistic1803 heroic1818 adjuvant1834 aggressive1837 calmative1871 bacteriotherapeutic1886 mechanotherapeutic1915 inhalational1944 non-invasive1968 invasive1972 vegetablized1974 multidisciplinarian1985 1818 London Med. & Physical Jrnl. 40 236 The actual cautery, employed by the French.., M. Roux calls an heroic remedy. 1836 J. M. Gully tr. F. Magendie Formulary (ed. 2) 117 Dr. Andrew Buchanan..has..shown how iodine may be given in most heroic doses without producing any of the disagreeable effects..on the digestive mucous membrane. 1874 H. C. Wood Treat. Therapeutics 134 By the aid of opiates and careful dilution a species of tolerance was often obtained for these heroic doses. 1907 J. W. S. Gouley Surg. Genito-urinary Organs vi. 103 There are still very many angustiæ due to neglect or to the heroic treatment of urethritis..to occupy much of the physician's time. a1929 G. Scott tr. W. van Tuyll van Serooskerken Let. in F. A. Pottle Boswell in Holland (1952) 357 I have been obliged to undergo heroic treatment. I was very ill. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 24 Jan. 9/2 The woman says physicians abided by her request that no heroic measures be used. 2006 Independent 30 Dec. 6/2 The Safer Patients Initiative is not about hi-tech equipment, powerful drugs or heroic surgery but good hygiene, accurate prescribing and the avoidance of errors. 5. Of a statue: larger than life-size but smaller than colossal.In quot. 1712: (apparently) = colossal adj. 2a. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > huge > specifically of statues colossian1601 colossic1607 colossean1644 colossal1712 heroic1712 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [adjective] > kind or size of statue pedestrial1611 colossean1644 iconic1656 colossal1712 heroic1712 pedestrian1722 Persian1728 heroical1770 Hermaean1813 Hermaic1820 lifelike1836 polylithic1839 stolated1856 life-size1859 Heraclean1883 1712 J. Henley tr. B. de Montfaucon Trav. Italy xiii. 212 In Colossal, or as they call them, Heroick Statues [L. in statuis colosseis, & ut vocant, heroicis], they allow eight Times the Height of the Head. 1794 T. Taylor tr. Pausanias Descr. Greece III. 76 But in Haliartus there is..an heroic monument of Cecrops, the son of Pandion. 1854 Illustr. Mag. Art 3 210/2 The heroic statue of ‘America’..is, of course, a personification—a female figure—and is monumental in its character. 1892 New Outlook 27 Feb. 398/1 He has just finished the model for a heroic statue of Ericsson, to be erected by the city of New York in the Central Park. 1909 Times 1 Dec. 3/6 An heroic size portrait bust of Canova by himself. 1992 Holiday Which? May 154/2 A heroic statue of Bismarck guards the steps from just off Leopoldsplatz. 6. Chiefly humorous. Remarkably large or intense; enormous, vast. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > very great swappingc1440 bumping1566 thumping1576 swingeinga1592 knocking1598 gigantical1604 gigantine1605 gigantean1611 gigantal?1614 thundering1618 whoppinga1625 humming1654 rapping1657 whisking1673 threshing1707 sousing1735 nation1765 heroic1785 runaway1790 spanking1791 gigantic1797 whacking1797 cracking1834 ringing1834 bouncing1842 walloping1847 stavingc1850 banging1864 howling1865 whooping1866 smacking1888 God almighty1913 Christ almighty1961 the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > vast, immense, or huge un-i-fohOE ormeteOE hugea1275 un-i-feiec1275 infinitec1385 ponderousa1400 hugeful1413 hugyc1420 thrice1470 felon?a1500 hugeousa1529 enormous1544 enormc1560 fell1586 prodigious1601 immensive1604 colossic1607 monumental1632 vast1637 unfathomed1659 colossal1664 ponderose1680 heroic1785 colossian1794 pyramidal1849 astronomical1871 astronomic1923 stratospheric1932 cosmic1935 ginormous1942 galactic1960 mega1968 humongous1970 the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > huge unmeeteOE unmeetlyOE hugea1275 hideousc1330 infinitec1385 unmeasureda1398 unmeasurablec1405 hugyc1420 immeasurable1440 ingentc1450 unmeetlyc1450 giant1480 immense1490 monstrous?a1513 unmeasurely1513 hugeousa1529 unportable1537 enormous1544 enormc1560 giantly1561 immensible1579 rouncival1582 dismeasured1584 vast1585 immeasured1590 gargantuan1596 omnipotent1596 colossian1601 immane1601 prodigious1601 Polyphemian1602 Titanian1603 titanical1603 gigantical1604 immensive1604 gigantine1605 colossic1607 gigantean1611 Gogmagotical1612 gigantal?1614 Babylonian1617 leviathan1625 titanic1628 elephantine1631 gigantive1638 colossean1644 decumanal1652 immensurate1654 gigant1658 decuman1659 colossal1664 abnormous1710 Brobdingnagian1728 Brobdingnag1731 Pantagruelian1737 heroic1785 Patagonian1786 seven-league1787 Titan1793 gigantic1797 seven-leagued1799 mammoth1801 dimensionless1813 tremendous1813 gigantesque1821 monster1837 titanesque1838 monstre1840 giantlike1847 leviathanic1848 pythonic1851 Babylonic1853 supercolossal1871 giantesque1909 behemothian1910 supergiant1919 ginormous1942 big-ass1945 Ozymandian1961 fuck-off1962 mega1968 humongous1970 monstro1970 big-assed1972 big-arsed1996 1785 Morning Herald 14 Nov. Mr. Theatricus..took some pains to make a lapse of the immortal Garrick's, appear singularly glaring, by an injudicious defence of a self-evident error in heroic quantity. 1850 L. Hunt Autobiogr. II. xvii. 240 The men shaved themselves elaborately, cultivating heroic whiskers. 1875 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (ed. 2) i. iii. 20 His usual allowance was sixteen cups [of tea], all of heroic strength. 1920 L. Van Slyke Little Miss By-the-Day vi. 234 The Cartoonist stopped with an heroic sneeze. 1976 C. James in Observer 20 June 21/4 A flyover of heroic ugliness..was built over Circular Quay. 2000 Wall St. Jrnl. 16 May a24/5 And they [sc. wild hogs] are bad news for agriculture, snuffling up heroic amounts of corn, soybeans and other crops. B. n. 1. a. In singular (with the) or plural. Heroic verse or poetry. Cf. sense A. 2a, A. 2b. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > [noun] > blank verse heroic1573 blank1589 blank verse1589 stage-blanks1636 1573 Life Virgil in T. Phaer & T. Twyne tr. Virgil Whole .xii. Bks. Æneidos sig. CDij A Bucolike is but a stender verse, and so farre differyng from the stile of the Heroike. 1588 J. Harvey Discoursiue Probl. conc. Prophesies 92 Virgils owne Heroicks. 1633 H. Hawkins Partheneia Sacra xiii. 146 She chants forth longer verses, as they were Heroicks. 1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xlix I wou'd prefer the Verse of ten Syllables, which we call the English Heroique, to that of Eight. 1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. ii. 7 When this Heroicks only deigns to praise, Sharp Satire that, and that Pindaric Lays. 1781 S. Johnson Pope in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VII. 285 In heroicks, that may be admitted which ennobles, though it does not illustrate. 1814 L. Hunt Feast of Poets Pref. p. xiv The various and legitimate harmony of the English heroic. 1895 W. D. Howells My Lit. Passions 55 I..hammered away at my blessed Popean heroics till nine, when I went regularly to bed, to rise again at five. 1907 Mod. Philol. 4 12 In 1729 James Ralph published a poem in heroics called ‘An Imitation of Spenser's Fairy Queen, by a Young Gentleman of Twenty’. 2006 Huntington Libr. Q. 3 386 This eclipsing of the heroic by the mock-heroic..is in line with the general ambience of Charles II's London. †b. A writer of heroic verse, a heroic poet. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > poet by kind of poem > [noun] > epic or heroic poet heroic1594 epic1607 epo-poet1800 epicist1820 epopœist1840 epoist1842 1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course 69 The Heroicks [Fr. Heroïques]..haue written of diuers matters; of warres; of naturall philosophie, Astrologie, Physick, Bucolicks, and Georgicks. a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 172 Virgil..To whom th' Heroics ever since Have sworn Allegiance as their Prince. c. In plural. Somewhat depreciative. Grand, high-flown, or bombastic speech or writing. Cf. sense A. 2c. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [noun] > inflated or bombastic style > bombast thundering1564 bombast1589 fustiana1593 taratantara1599 bombard-phrasea1637 heroics1638 bombacea1661 rant1662 Lexiphanicism1767 streperosity1772 puff1821 taffeta1821 polyphloisboioism1823 flabbergast1831 highfalutin1847 highfalutination1858 carmagnole1860 Barnumism1862 ballyhoo1901 1638 H. Adamson Muses Threnodie vii. 80 There we took some little recreation; Where in Heroicks Gall fell to declaring All circumstances of that dayes wayfairing. 1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison I. xiv. 82 Miss Barnevelt took a tilt in heroics. 1788 J. Cobb Doctor & Apothecary i. 11 Carlos. Kind Cupid light us on our way. Juan. Psha! Zounds! a lantern would light us much better. So rot your heroics, and follow me. 1862 J. Skelton Nugæ Criticæ vii. 308 Women, it is said, can write powerfully, but they cannot write moderately. They are always in hysterics or heroics. 1907 W. James in Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 4 vi. 154 Your genuine truth-lover must discourse in Huxleyan heroics, and feel as if truth ought to bring eventual messages of death to all our satisfactions. 1964 P. Adam-Smith Hear Train Blow 138 He spoke simply, with no heroics, and used the great Australian adjective whenever he became distressed. †2. a. A hero, esp. one from classical mythology. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > demigod or hero kingeOE half-godc1374 semigoda1464 heroa1522 demigod1530 indigetec1550 petty god1581 under-god1583 heroic1586 godling1596 semi-deity?1624 goddikin1675 medioxumus1677 godkin1765 man-god1826 godlet1884 the mind > emotion > courage > heroism > [noun] > hero Hectora1387 worthy1552 Brutea1556 hero1578 heroic1586 Argonaut1596 Argonautic1614 1586 in W. A. Craigie Maitland Quarto MS (1920) 160 Treuth sall try sa far above The auntient heroicis love. 1613 T. Jackson Eternall Truth Script. i. xi. §3 Many other particular circumstances of his [sc. Homer's] gods assisting the ancient heroics. 1667 E. Waterhouse Short Narr. Fire London 143 O Lord..raise up the spirit of the Nehemiahs and such other Heroicks. 1765 H. Walpole Castle of Otranto (ed. 2) Pref. p. ix Let me ask if..Hamlet and Julius Cesar would not lose a considerable share of their spirit and wonderful beauties, if the humour of the grave-diggers,..and the clumsy jests of the Roman citizens were omitted, or vested in heroics? b. A Royalist in the English Civil War; = cavalier n. 3. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > [noun] > cavalier or royalist cause > supporter of rattle-head1641 cavalier1642 delinquent1642 long head1642 malignant1642 Cab1644 cavy1645 kebc1645 rattlepate1646 cave1661 heroic1682 1682 A. Behn Roundheads i. i. 5 Gill. Heav'ns, Madam, I'll warrant they were Heroicks. La. Lam. Heroicks! Gill. Cavaliers, Madam, of the Royal Party. 3. With the. Heroic people as a class; (also) that which is heroic. ΚΠ 1664 Duchess of Newcastle CCXI Sociable Lett. xxxiii. 70 Onely the Heroick, Wise, Good, and Generous, are the Soul and Body of Mankind. 1799 Scots Mag. Apr. 260/1 Does not Savoy, once the residence of the heroic and the brave, now depend for existence on the breath of France? 1828 Gentleman's Mag. July 43/2 Nothing but the heroic will brave danger and death. 1864 Daily Tel. 30 Sept. 5/4 Some prodigious caricature, in which the heroic and the absurd, the sublime and the vulgar, are inharmoniously but audaciously blended. 1911 A. E. K. Lane Talk of Town 84 It may..be that it is only in fairy tales that..the Good are always heroic, while the Heroic are always good. 1969 Guardian 22 Sept. 15/3 The police have managed, by exercising restraint that sometimes verges on the heroic, to improve their old, tough image. 1988 E. Peters Inquisition (1989) viii. 236 Its victims are..no longer the foolish and imprudent, but the innocent, the wise, and the heroic. 2010 H. Hoock Empires of Imagination ix. 375 It has been suggested that the uncommonly long period of peace in Europe from 1815 to 1854 demanded an adjustment of notions of the heroic. 4. In plural. Heroism; (extravagantly or recklessly) bold or dramatic behaviour. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > courage > valour > deed of valour > [noun] > heroic feat chivalry1297 bountyc1330 vassalagec1330 feata1400 turnc1400 pointc1440 valiance1470 valiantise1513 valiancy1627 gallantry1652 heroism1740 heroics1873 1873 ‘J. Hering’ Truth Will Out xv. 194 Don't be a fool—this is no time for heroics. 1905 F. M. Crawford Salve Venetia II. i. 4 They [sc. Venetians] could be heroes when driven to extremities, but they never liked heroics. 1976 M. Machlin Pipeline xxviii. 333 For Christ sake, don't think about pulling any movie-type heroics. 1984 A. MacLean San Andreas x. 218 The only thing that heroics will get us is an early and watery grave. 2005 Scotsman (Nexis) 7 Mar. 13 The knockout phase..is a time for heroics, for champions' performances in the face of adversity. Compounds C1. Parasynthetic, as heroic-built, heroic-minded adjs. ΚΠ 1646 J. Vicars Burning-bush not Consumed 44 That heroick-hearted Gentleman, and famously suffering servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 485 Her Husband..of limb Heroic built, though of terrestrial mould. View more context for this quotation 1678 S. Butler Hudibras: Third Pt. iii. i. 79 Condemn'd to Whipping but declin'd it, By being more Heroick-minded. 1842 J. O'Donovan tr. Banquet of Dun Na N-Gedh 215 The active, vain-hearted, satin-bannered, heroic-deeded host of the Saxons. 1903 G. Overton Anne Carmel 32 A young, heroic-built priest, who went canoeing all night up and down black and silent waterways. 1921 Printers' Ink 24 Nov. 80/2 Heroic-proportioned hinges..serve as a background for miniature buildings. 2008 Pittsburgh Tribune Rev. (Nexis) 28 Aug. Jizo, on the other hand, is another beloved divinity in Japan. They are..heroic-minded figures, who work to ease the suffering and shorten the sentence of those serving time in hell. C2. heroic couplet n. Prosody a rhyming couplet in iambic pentameter; the verse form consisting of such couplets; cf. sense A. 2a.Associated particularly with Chaucer and the poets of the late 17th and 18th centuries (such as Dryden and Pope). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > stanza > couplet > heroic couplet riding rhyme1573 heroic couplet1706 Popean couplet1892 1706 J. Browne Royal Prophetess Pref. Nor has any Nation had so good success in the use of Heroick Couplets, as the English. 1828 T. B. Macaulay Dryden in Edinb. Rev. Jan. 26 In the management of the heroic couplet Dryden has never been equalled. 1911 B. Matthews Study of Versification x. 200 The heroic couplet has served not only for narrative, but also for contemplative, philosophic, descriptive and satiric expression. 2007 T. Eagleton How to read Poem iv. 88 There is a balance and symmetry about these heroic couplets which reflect the reason, order and logic flouted by the apostles of Dullness. heroic fantasy n. (a) a daydream or fantasy centring on imagined heroic acts or accomplishments; cf. hero fantasy n. at hero n. Compounds 2b; (b) a work of fiction which deals with the adventures of a heroic figure; (now) spec. a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy literature featuring the adventures of a hero in a (more or less) imaginary world. ΚΠ 1779 W. Combe Lett. Yorick & Eliza II. 55 The men seem to have raised themselves from their heroic fantasies. 1869 Appleton's Jrnl. 23 Oct. 315/1 He [sc. Byron] had to set out on his journey sick, worn out, and especially out of sorts at that heroic fantasy which has not a little contributed to render his name immortal. 1907 Cambr. Mod. Hist. X. xxxii. 724 Passing into England, through the novels of the Earl of Orrery, the heroic fantasy gradually reduced itself to modern form in the Sir Charles Grandison of Richardson. 1921 Lit. Digest 27 Aug. 14/2 This mood of exaltation..may have its dangers if it carries away the statesmen and strategists who have to deal with stern facts rather than with heroic fantasies. 1963 L. S. de Camp Heroic Fantasy in Swords & Sorcery 7 ‘Heroic fantasy’ is the name of a class of stories laid, not in the world as it is or was or will be, but as it ought to have been to make a good story. 1997 Bangor (Maine) Daily News (Nexis) 6 Nov. He could be Walter Mitty, lost in his heroic fantasies while she natters on and on. 2010 R. Duncan in M. K. Booker Encycl. Comic Bks. & Graphic Novels I. 205 The 1930s pulp magazine stories of Robert E. Howard are the wellspring of heroic fantasy in comic books. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † heroicv. Forms: 1500s heroiqut (past participle). Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymon: heroic adj. Etymology: < either heroic adj. or heroic n. Obsolete. transitive with it. To write heroic verse.Apparently an isolated use. ΚΠ 1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 23 Homer of rats and frogs hath heroiqut it. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2020). < adj.n.c1550v.1599
随便看	to give to reflect to give to suck to give to the public to give to the world to give to think to give to warison to give to wife to give tongue to give two a hoot to give two hoots to give umbrage to give under gage, upon gage to give up to give up for to give up for lost to give up friendship with to give up or cross the cudgels to give up the ghost to give up the girdle to give up the ship to give up with to go upon the streets to go upon the town to go upside head to go upside someone's head

heroicadj.n.

Compounds

† heroicv.