choleric
Meanings
- Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- Of or relating to choler.
- Of a person: having an excess of choler, and thus having a tendency to become angry easily; also, of a person's complexion or temperament: dominated by choler.
- Of a planet or zodiac sign, season, etc.: affecting people having an excess of choler, causing anger or irritability.
- Of a body organ: affected by or containing choler, especially when abnormal or excessive.
- Of a disease or symptom: caused by choler, especially when abnormal or excessive.
- Of food: causing an excess of choler in the body.
- Of a person: having a tendency to become angry easily; bad-tempered, irritable; also, feeling or showing anger; angry, enraged.
- Of an act, feeling, words, etc.: arising from or showing anger.
- hot; also, hot and dry.
- Senses relating to cholera (“any of several acute infectious diseases caused by certain strains of the Vibrio cholerae bacterium”).
- Synonym of choleraic (“of or relating to cholera; also, affected by cholera”).
- Senses relating to choler.
- A person having an excess of choler, and thus having a tendency to become angry easily; preceded by the: such people collectively.
- A person having a tendency to become angry easily; preceded by the: such people collectively.
- Senses relating to cholera.
- Synonym of choleraic (“a person suffering from cholera”).
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Middle English colerik (“(adjective) of or relating to, or dominated by, choler; of diseases: caused by excessive or toxic choler; of persons or their temperament: dominated by choler, irascible, quick to anger, choleric; of weather or zodiac signs: favourable to choler; (noun) person dominated by choler, person who is irascible or quick to anger; etc.”), from Anglo-Norman coleric, colerik, colerique, Middle French colerique, and Old French colerique (“(adjective) of or relating to choler; of persons or their temperament: dominated by choler, irascible, quick to anger; angry, enraged; (noun) person dominated by choler; person who is irascible”) (modern French cholérique), and from their etymon Late Latin cholericus (“quick to anger”), Latin cholericus (“person having cholera”), from Ancient Greek χολερικός (kholerikós, “of or relating to cholera”), from χολέρᾰ (kholéră, “cholera”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’). Χολέρᾰ (Kholéră) is possibly from Pre-Greek, or from χολή (kholḗ, “bile; gall”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green; yellow”). By surface analysis, choler + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’). Piecewise doublet of choleraic. Adjective sense 2.1 (“of or relating to cholera; affected by cholera”) and noun sense 2.1 (“person suffering from cholera”) are probably influenced by French cholérique (“(adjective) of or relating to cholera; affected by cholera; (noun) person with cholera”).