irenic

English

WOTD – 21 September 2023

Etymology

From Ancient Greek εἰρηνικός (eirēnikós, “characterized by peace, peaceful”) + English -ic (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’). Εἰρηνικός (Eirēnikós) is derived from εἰρήνη (eirḗnē, “peace”)[1] (possibly from εἴρω (eírō, “to fasten together”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“(verb) to bind, tie together; (noun) thread”)), or εἴρω (eírō, “to say, speak”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- (“to say, speak”))) + -ῐκός (-ikós, suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /aɪˈɹiːnɪk/, /-ˈɹɛ-/
  • (file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /aɪˈɹinɪk/, /-ˈɹɛ-/
  • Rhymes: -iːnɪk, -ɛnɪk
  • Hyphenation: iren‧ic

Adjective

irenic (comparative more irenic, superlative most irenic)

  1. (chiefly theology) Promoting or fitted to promote peace, especially over disputes; conciliatory, non-confrontational, peaceful.
    Synonyms: irenical, nonpolemic, nonpolemical, pacific
    Antonyms: contentious, disputatious, polemic, polemical, unirenic; see also Thesaurus:quarrelsome

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. “irenic, adj. and n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “irenic, adj. and n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Anagrams

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