diatribe

English

WOTD – 29 January 2006

Etymology

First attested 1581, borrowed from French diatribe, from Latin diatriba (“learned discussion or discourse”), from Ancient Greek διατριβή (diatribḗ, “way of spending time, lecture”), from διά (diá, “through”) + τρίβω (tríbō, “I waste, wear out”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdaɪ.əˌtɹaɪb/

Noun

diatribe (plural diatribes)

1. An abusive, bitter, attack or criticism: denunciation.
   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎^[1]:

     “… No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it. If this long diatribe bores you, just say so, and I’ll cut it short.”

   • 1991, Bill Crow, Jazz Anecdotes‎^[2], Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 316:

     You know, it’s all this racial diatribe, and very strong language, screaming at the top of his lungs into the telephone.

   • 2000, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Scholastic Press, →ISBN, page 41:

     Aunt Petunia wasn’t eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed, and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at Harry.

2. A prolonged discourse.
3. A speech or writing which bitterly denounces something.

   The senator was prone to diatribes which could go on for more than an hour.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:diatribe

Derived terms

• diatribal

Translations

bitter denunciation

• Czech: jízlivost f, (slovní) výpad m, diatriba f
• French: diatribe (fr)
• German: gehässiger Angriff m, Hetze (de) f, Hetzrede (de) f, Hetzschrift (de) f, Ausfall (de) m
• Greek: καταγγελία (el) f (katangelía)

  Ancient: διατριβή f (diatribḗ)

• Hungarian: gyalázkodás
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: diatriba (it) f
• Portuguese: diatribe (pt) f
• Romanian: diatriba
• Russian: диатриба f (diatriba), обличительная речь f (obličitelʹnaja rečʹ)
• Spanish: diatriba (es)

prolongued discourse

• Czech: diatriba f
• French: diatribe (fr)
• Greek: διατριβή (el) f (diatriví)

  Ancient: διατριβή f (diatribḗ)

• Ido: diatribo (io)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: diatriba (it) f, concione (it) f, arringa (it) f
• Portuguese: diatribe (pt) f
• Romanian: diatriba
• Russian: диатриба f (diatriba)
• Spanish: diatriba (es)

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French

Etymology

From Latin diatriba (“learned discussion or discourse”), from Ancient Greek διατριβή (diatribḗ, “way of spending time, lecture”), from διά (diá, “through”) + τρίβω (tríbō, “I waste, wear out”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dja.tʁib/

Noun

diatribe f (plural diatribes)

1. diatribe (abusive, bitter discourse)

Descendants

• English: diatribe
• Portuguese: diatribe
• Spanish: diatriba

Further reading

• “diatribe”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Italian

Noun

diatribe f

1. plural of diatriba

Anagrams

• ibridate
• ribadite

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French diatribe.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: di‧a‧tri‧be

Noun

diatribe f (plural diatribes)

1. diatribe (bitter denunciation)

   Synonyms: catilinária, injúria

2. diatribe (prolongued discourse)