Pharaohn.
/ˈfɛːrəʊ/, U.S. /ˈfɛroʊ/, /ˈfeɪroʊ/ 1.
a. A king of ancient Egypt; spec. any of those mentioned in the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures, under whom Joseph flourished and in whose time the oppression and Exodus of the Israelites took place (in this use, frequently without article as if a proper name).
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society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > other independent rulers > [noun] > Pharaoh
PharaohOE
OE tr. Orosius Hist. (Tiber.) (1980) i. v. 24 Wæs se hunger on þæs cyninges dagum on Egyptum þe mon hæt Amoses, þeah ðe hiora þeaw wære þæt hi ealle hiora cyningas hetan Pharaon.
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 2 Moyses..ferde..mid þam israelitiscan folce þa ðe he hit alysde of pharaones hæfdnæde.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) 584 (MED) Ioseph..wes þe ȝungeste..i pharaones halle.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xli. 1 Pharao [a1425 L.V. Farao] seeyȝ a sweuen.
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. viii. 147 It befel..in faraos [v.rr. haraoes, pharaoys, faraonis, pharo, pharoo his, fargos; c1400 C text v.r. pharoes] tyme Þat Iosep was Iustice, Egipt to kepe.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 22 Thanne regned þei cleped Diapolitani—xviii of hem—and þei were clepid Pharaones.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cccxcix. 691 Sermons made..figurynge them to the people of Israell, whome kynge Pharaon kepte long in seruytude.
a1555 H. Latimer Frutefull Serm. (1572) ii. f. 199v After that he came at the red sea, Pharao wyth his power followed at his back.
1614 J. Selden Titles of Honor 73 The Egyptian Kings in holy writ vntill Salomons time are all calld Pharaoh's. It was no proper name, but a title which euery one of them had.
1671 J. Webster Metallographia i. 7 Moses after his nursing was brought to Pharaoh's daughter.
1773 Gentleman's Mag. 43 Suppl. 635/2 Amenophis..is supposed to be the very Pharaoh that afterwards was drowned in the Red-Sea.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 782/1 In this sense Joseph was the Nazir of the court of Pharaoh.
1816 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. 79 472 A synonymic table of the geography of Egypt under the Pharaohs.
1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile xiv. 385 Rameses the Second..remains to this day the representative Pharaoh of a line of monarchs whose history covers a space of fifty centuries.
1928 N. I. White Amer. Negro Folk-Songs iii. 146 I seen King Pharoe's daughter seeking Moses on the water.
1988 Oxf. Illustr. Encycl. III. 2 Aleydos in Upper Egypt was..venerated... The earliest pharaohs built funerary monuments there.
2002 N. Drury Dict. Esoteric 146/2 The sphinx, which combined a lion's body with a man's head, represented the mystical power of the Pharaoh.
b. In extended use: an oppressive ruler, a tyrant; a severe taskmaster.
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society > authority > rule or government > oppression > [noun] > tyranny, despotism, or autocracy > one who
tyrantc1290
Turk1536
Pharaoh1565
tyrannizer1602
domineerer1641
Corsican1739
Napoleon1821
Ozymandias1878
big-sticker1905
Mussolini1926
Hitler1930
1565 W. Alley Πτωχομυσεῖον iii. f. 124 A Cardinals hate was sent to him from Paul the third, the Romish Pharao.
1578 A. Parkhurst in Writings & Corr. Two R. Hakluyts (1935) 128 To redeeme the people of Newfoundland and those parts from out of the captivitie of that spirituall Pharao, the divell.
c1630 R. Sanderson Serm. II. xix. 21 §34 Scattering such proud Pharaohs in the imagination of their hearts.
1645 D. Featley Καταβάπτισται Κατάπτυστοι: Dippers Dipt 81 Their parents passed through the red sea, (which was an embleme of Christs blood, in which the spirituall Pharoah and all our ghostly enemies are destroyed).
a1762 Lady M. W. Montagu in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems (1763) I. xiii. 80 If the Gallic Pharaoh's stubborn heart Grows fresh for punishment, and hardens still.
1846 C. G. F. Gore Sketches Eng. Char. (1852) 69 The Sundays..by permission of his Pharaoh of the mill, were usually spent in wandering with his sisters about the green lanes by Gadesbridge, or Gaddesden.
1975 Times 15 Dec. 3/2 The visitor [to S. Wales] will find..coal waste, mining scars..and the statues of the coal pharaohs who financed the havoc.
2000 JazzTimes Mar. 120/3 But I do feel that getting involved with these greedy money people, these slave masters, these pharaohs, can be very damaging to your health.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > [noun] > strong ale or beer
Old Pharaoh1648
stingo1651
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > games of chance played with cards > [noun] > faro
Pharaoh1648
faro1717
tiger1851
1648 J. Cooke Unum Necessarium 32 The Hollanders call their Strong beere great Pharaoh, their middle beer little Pharaoh, and their smallest beere Israell, finding by experience (which is the best learning) that the Stronger beere men generally drinke, the more they rebell against God.
1683 G. Meriton Praise Yorks. Ale (1685) 3 Lac'd Coffee, Twist, Old Pharoh, and Old Hoc, Juniper, Brandy and Wine de Langue-Dock.
a1704 T. Brown Lett. from Dead (new ed.) in Wks. (1707) II. ii. 217 A Mornings draught of Three-Threads and Old Pharoah.
1705 E. Ward Satyr against Wine 14 Now Stout, Old Nog, and Pharaoh, came in play, Whose Dregs in Drunken Stomachs broiling lay.
1839 W. H. Ainsworth Jack Sheppard ii. v Don't muddle your brains with any more of that Pharaoh.
1860 W. W. Reade Liberty Hall, Oxon. II. 136 Many's the horn of old Pharoah ale have I mopped up in their brick floor kitchens, I warrant 'ee.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
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1899 Westm. Gaz. 23 Nov. 3/1 For a while he shows a Pharaoh stubbornness.
C2. In the names of plants, animals, etc., associated with Egypt.
a.
Pharaoh hound n. a breed of short-coated, tan-coloured hunting dog with large, pointed ears; a dog of this breed, which closely resembles the Ibizan hound.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > unspecified or other types of
talbot1562
kibble1590
saluki1809
redbone1886
Plott1904
blue-tick1922
blue-tick coonhound1922
Basenji1933
Illyrian hound1964
Pharaoh hound1967
1967 R. Glyn Champion Dogs of World 191/2 The Ibizan Hound. Also known as the Pharaoh Hound.
1974 A. G.-I. Browne Hamlyn Guide to Dogs 180 Pharaoh Hound... Although in the opinion of many people they belong to one and the same breed, the FCI [sc. Fédération Cynologique Internationale] recognizes the Pharaoh Hound as well as the Podenco Ibicenco [or Ibizan hound]... It is supposed that the Pharaoh Hound came to Gozo and Malta with the seafaring Phoenicians.
1994 Dog World June 93/2 The Pharaoh Hound is medium-sized, of noble bearing with hard clean-cut lines.
b. Compounds with Pharaoh's.† Pharaoh's corn n. Obsolete rare an ancient cultivar of wheat ( Triticum) found in Egyptian tombs.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.† Pharaoh's pence n. Obsolete rare = Pharaoh's beans n.† Pharaoh's worm n. [after German Pharaonswurm (1855 in the passage translated in quot. a1856 for Pharaoh's beans n.)] Obsolete rare the Guinea worm, Dracunculus medinensis.
Pharaoh's ant n. (also Pharaoh ant) a small, yellowish-red ant, Monomorium pharaonis, native to Africa, which has become a pest in other parts of the world, esp. in heated buildings.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > ant > monomorium pharaonis (Pharaoh's ant)
red anteOE
Pharaoh's ant1890
1890 Cent. Dict. at Pharaoh Pharaoh's ant.
1910 W. M. Wheeler Ants i. 10 Some of them [sc. tropical ants], like Pharaoh's ant.., have been carried by commerce to all the inhabited regions of the globe.
1939 C. L. Metcalf & W. P. Flint Destructive & Useful Insects (ed. 2) xxi. 770 Pharaoh's ant, Monomorium pharaonis... This tiny, slender, yellowish-red ant..generally nests in inaccessible places about the foundations and in the walls of buildings, from which it forages indoors the year round in search of food.
2001 Independent on Sunday 8 July (Review Suppl.) 45/1 Nor does he flinch from telling the truth about problems with vermin—the West End's less-salubrious nightlife includes mice, cockroaches and invasive Pharaoh ants.
Pharaoh's beans n. [compare slightly earlier Pharaoh's pence n.] now rare nummulites, occurring in the stones of the pyramids and other Egyptian monuments.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > protozoa > class Sarcodina > order Rhizopoda > [noun] > suborder Foraminifera > member of > genus Nummulite > nummulites found in rock of pyramids
Pharaoh's beansa1856
Pharaoh's pence1872
a1856 H. Miller Testimony of Rocks (1857) 421 The stones of the pyramids are charged with nummulites, known to the Arabs as ‘Pharaoh's beans’; and these organisms stand out in high relief on the weathered portions of the Great Sphinx.
1884 Leisure Hour 236/1 Those round discs..known as Nummulites, and which Strabo was informed were petrified beans—‘Pharaoh's beans’.
1924 J. A. Thomson Sci. Old & New xlviii. 284 The nummulites, so common as fossils in some parts of Egypt, are called Pharaoh's beans but that is just a little joke.
Pharaoh's chicken n. [compare earlier Pharaoh's hen n. and its French and Arabic models] the Egyptian vulture, Neophron percnopterus.
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the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > vultures or a vulture > genus Neophron > species percnopterus (Egyptian vulture)
ossifrage1572
geir-eagle1611
Pharaoh's hen1757
Maltese vulture1781
Pharaoh's chicken1799
neophron1833
scavenger-vulture1885
1799 H. Hunter tr. C. S. Sonnini Trav. Upper & Lower Egypt I. xx. 345 A flock of the vultures of Egypt, to which has been given, rather improperly, the name of Pharaoh's chickens [Fr. poules de Pharaon], were feasting on the putrid carcase of a dead animal cast upon the sand.
1904 G. Stratton-Porter Freckles iii. 63 You have perfectly described our nearest equivalent to a branch of these birds called in Europe Pharaoh's chickens.
1994 Independent (Nexis) 26 Aug. 13 They're not eagles. They're a shit-eating vulture known as the Pharaoh's chicken.
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1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants 30/2 Pharaoh's Corn, Triticum compositum.
Pharaoh's fig n. (also †Pharaoh fig) [compare Middle French, French †figuier de Pharaon (late 14th–early 15th cent. or earlier), Middle French figue de Pharaon (1579 or earlier), Italian fico di Faraone (second half of the 14th cent.), all in sense ‘sycamore’] now rare (a) the sycamore fig, Ficus sycomorus (cf. figs of Pharaoh at fig n.1 1a); †(b) some species of the genus Musa (obsolete).
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tropical or exotic fruit-tree or -plant > banana tree > types of
Pharaoh's fig?a1425
ensete1790
pisang1812
Lacatan1894
sucrier1911
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tropical or exotic fruit-tree or -plant > fig-tree > types of
sycamore13..
sycamore-tree13..
sycamore-fig1615
Moreton Bay fig1849
Port Jackson fig1875
Pharaoh's fig1884
Illawarra1904
adam's fig1907
Moreton Bay1953
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 26 Þer er also fige treezse þat beres neuer lefes; bot þai bere fruyte on þe bare braunches. And þai er called Pharao fyges.
?c1590 J. Sanderson in S. Purchas Pilgrimes (1625) II. ix. xvi. 1617 There are about Cairo, a kind of tree called Pharohs figge trees.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. App. (at cited word) Pharaoh's Fig,..a genus of plants called by authors musa.
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Sycomorus antiquorum, Pharaoh's Fig.
1995 Canad. Jrnl. Afr. Stud. 29 228 The sycamore (Ficus sycomorus, or commonly Pharaoh's fig) is also renowned for the fine fig-fruits it produces.
Pharaoh's hen n. [after French poule de Pharaon (1755 in the passage translated in quot. 1757), itself after Arabic dijajat Firʿawn] = Pharaoh's chicken n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > vultures or a vulture > genus Neophron > species percnopterus (Egyptian vulture)
ossifrage1572
geir-eagle1611
Pharaoh's hen1757
Maltese vulture1781
Pharaoh's chicken1799
neophron1833
scavenger-vulture1885
1757 P. Templeman tr. F. L. Norden Trav. Egypt & Nubia II. 185 I remarked that a great quantity of Pharaoh's hens followed the little camp of the cacheff.
1860 R. F. Burton in Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 1859 29 67 This indigen of Africa and Arabia..is called khángá by the people, and dijájat Firaun (Pharaoh's hen) by the Arabs of the Upper Nile.
1956 Rev. Eng. Stud. 7 397 The gier-eagle..is the Egyptian vulture or Pharaoh's hen.
Pharaoh's mouse n. now rare = Pharaoh's rat n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Carnivora > [noun] > family Herpestidae > genus Herpestes (mongoose)
ichneumon1572
rat of Inde1601
Pharaoh's rat1605
Indian mouse1607
Pharaoh's mouse1607
Indian rat1613
mongoose1673
mungo1752
vansire1774
yellow mongoose1917
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 550 The Indian mouse, or Pharoes mouse (as some learned later writers doe write) is no other then the Ichneumon.
1737 J. Ozell tr. F. Rabelais Wks. V. xl. 171 The Nile with its Crocodiles, Marmosets,..Ichneumons, or Pharaoh's Mice, Hippopotami, or Sea-Horses.
1947 W. R. Benét Stairway of Surprise vii. 215 For this Pharaoh's Mouse would then, like thief invading house, steal down his [sc. a crocodile's] throat.
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1872 Chambers's Encycl. VII. 6/2 In Egypt, where the whole of the Mokkadam Mountains, from the stone of which the pyramids were built, is formed of them, they are called by the natives ‘Pharaoh's Pence’.
Pharaoh's rat n. [after French †rat de pharaon (1564 in Middle French in this sense; earlier in Old French (1298 in Marco Polo) as rat de Fareon, probably denoting a Mongolian species of marmot or a similar rodent)] the Egyptian mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Carnivora > [noun] > family Herpestidae > genus Herpestes (mongoose)
ichneumon1572
rat of Inde1601
Pharaoh's rat1605
Indian mouse1607
Pharaoh's mouse1607
Indian rat1613
mongoose1673
mungo1752
vansire1774
yellow mongoose1917
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. vi. 200 So Pharaohs Rat yer he begin the fray 'Gainst the blinde Aspick.
1742 C. Owen Nat. Hist. Serpents i. iii. 10 In form it resembles an over-grown Rat, and is called the Indian-Rat, and Pharaoh's Rat.
1884 Standard Nat. Hist. V. 442 Pharaoh's Rat..feeds to a great extent upon the eggs of the crocodile.
1935 M. Moore Sel. Poems 9 Pharaoh's rat, the rustbacked mongoose... Its restlessness was its excellence.
1954 M. K. Wilson tr. K. Lorenz Man meets Dog i. 15 The Ichneumon, also called Pharaoh's rat, was a native of Egypt.
Pharaoh's serpent n. [with allusion to the story in Exodus 7:9] a chemical toy composed of mercury thiocyanate, which, when ignited, burns slowly, leaving a brown ash residue which forms a snakelike trail.
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society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > optical and scientific toys > [noun]
multiplying-glass1639
Cartesian devil1731
kaleidoscope1817
myriorama1823
thaumatrope1827
bottle imp1833
phantasmascope1833
phenakistoscope1834
stroboscope1836
anorthoscope1842
tantalus-cup1842
phantascope1851
phantoscope1861
Pharaoh's serpent1863
phosphoroscope1866
zoetrope1866
wheel of life1872
praxinoscope1878
zoopraxiscope1881
phantoscope1894
Newton's cradle1971
1863 W. Allingham Jrnl. 3 Oct. in H. Tennyson Alfred Ld. Tennyson: Mem. (1897) I. App. 513 Mrs Cameron showed a small firework toy called ‘Pharaoh's Serpents’, a kind of pastille which when lighted twists about in a wormlike shape.
1938 R. Hum Chem. for Engin. Students xxii. 589 Mercuric Thiocyanate..is used in making ‘Pharaoh's Serpents’, for which purpose it is mixed with gum, formed into cones, and dried.
2003 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch (Nexis) 3 July b1 Only sparklers, pharaoh's serpents, fountains, pistol caps or pinwheels are considered ‘permissible fireworks’ under the code of Virginia.
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1790 S. Shaw Trav. J. Bruce into Abyssinia v. 157 The next complaint Mr. Bruce mentions, as common in these countries, is called Farenteit, a corruption of an Arabic word, which signifies the worm of Pharaoh.]
1857 E. Lankester tr. G. F. Küchenmeister On Animal & Veg. Parasites Human Body I. 398 Amongst the Germans, it is known as..the skin-worm.., leg-worm.., and Pharaoh's-worm.
Derivatives
ˈPharaoh-like adv. and adj.
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a1639 W. Whatley Prototypes (1640) i. xix. 194 If any of you have beene stoute against God Pharaoh-like, let him [etc.].
1647 T. Fuller Good Thoughts in Worse Times i. ix. 22 I may seosonably drowne this Pharaoh-like procrastination in the Sea of repentance.
1875 E. P. W. Packard Mod. Persecution 275 And now, Pharaoh like, he has sinned away his day of grace, so that repentance cannot now be accepted and pardon secured.
1998 Scotsman (Nexis) 10 Aug. 4 Those..who suspect him of harbouring pharaoh-like dictatorial tendencies will be more than a little suspicious.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.OE