strife

English

WOTD – 9 January 2016

Etymology

From Middle English strif, stryf, striffe, from Old French estrif, from Frankish *strīban; compare Dutch strijd (“fight, battle, conflict”), German Streit (“quarrel, dispute”), and Icelandic stríð (“war”). More at strive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɹaɪf/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

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• Rhymes: -aɪf

Noun

strife (countable and uncountable, plural strifes)

1. Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work.
2. Exertion or contention for superiority, either by physical or intellectual means.
   • Template:RQ:Authorized Version
3. Bitter conflict, sometimes violent.

   Synonyms: altercation, contention, discord, wrangle

   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xvii:

     A few observations about the interpretation of vows or pledges may not be out of place here. Interpretation of pledges has been a fruitful source of strife all the world over. No matter how explicit the pledge, people will turn and twist the text to suit their own purposes.

4. (colloquial) A trouble of any kind.
5. (obsolete) That which is contended against; occasion of contest.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene^[1]:

     He ſpide lamenting her unlucky ſtrife,

Derived terms

• strifeful
• strifeless
• strife-ridden
• trouble and strife

Related terms

• strive

Translations

violent conflict

• Arabic: فِتْنَة (ar) f (fitna)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 衝突／冲突 (zh) (chōngtū), 冲突 (zh) (chōngtū, chōngtú)

• Czech: svár (cs) m, konflikt (cs) m, potyčka (cs) f
• Dutch: geschil (nl) n, vijandige rivaliteit, strijd (nl), conflict (nl)
• Egyptian: (ḫrwyw)
• Esperanto: malpaco
• Finnish: selkkaus (fi), yhteenotto (fi), konflikti (fi)
• French: différends m plural, dispute (fr) f, querelle (fr) f
• Galician: desputa (gl) f, rifa f, rixa f, tarapuxa f, learaza f, gurra f, liorta (gl) f, liorna f, esganifa f, baralla (gl) f, duia f, trepe f, enxerga f, cotifada f, arretío m, entirquinencia f, derriza f, barata f, brego (gl) m
• German: Streit (de) m
• Greek: διαμάχη (el) f (diamáchi), διαπάλη (el) f (diapáli), αλληλοσπαραγμός (el) m (allilosparagmós)
• Gujarati: હિંસક તોફાન,ઝઘડો, m (hĩsak tophāna,jhaghḍo,)
• Hebrew: מדון (he)
• Hungarian: viszály (hu)
• Irish: imreas m, bruíon f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: disputa (it) f, tenzone f
• Japanese: 争い (ja) (あらそい, arasoi)
• Korean: 투쟁 (ko) (tujaeng)
• Latin: iūrgium n
• Maori: rawe(h)oi, tatauranga, taute
• Norwegian: strid m
• Occitan: brega (oc) f, disputa f, garrolha (oc) f
• Polish: konflikt (pl) m, kłótnia (pl) f, niesnaska f
• Portuguese: conflito (pt) m, disputa (pt) f, discórdia (pt) f
• Russian: раздо́р (ru) m (razdór), ра́спря (ru) f (rásprja)
• Scottish Gaelic: ceallach m
• Spanish: disensión (es) f, altercado (es) m
• Swedish: stridighet, tvist (sv), fejd (sv), kiv (sv), konflikt (sv) c
• Turkish: çatışma (tr), ihtilaf (tr)
• West Frisian: strijf, striid (fy)

References

• “strife”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Fister, firest, firste, fister, freits, refits, resift, rifest, sifter