Philistine, n. and a.
(ˈfɪlɪstaɪn, -tɪn, fɪˈlɪstɪn)
Forms: α. 4 (Philisten, Palisten, -estine), 4–6 Philistyne, (5 Felystyne, 7 Philistin), 6– Philistine. β. 6–7 Philistim (pl. -im, -ims), 7 -thiim, -time. Also with lower-case initial. See also Philistee, Philistian.
[a. F. Philistin, ad. late L. Philistīnus, usually in pl. Philistīnī (-thīnī, thiīm, Palæsthīnī, all in Vulg.), ad. late Gr. ϕιλιστῖνοι, Παλαιστῖνοι (both in Josephus); found beside L. Philisthiīm = Gr. ϕυ-, ϕιλιστιείµ (LXX in Hexateuch), ad. Heb. p'lishtīm (or -iīm). Cognate with p'lesheth, Philistia, Palestine, Assyrian Palastu, Pilistu. (The word has been very doubtfully explained as = ‘wanderers, immigrants’; but was more probably a native name of the people, appearing in Egyptian as Palusata or Purusati.)
The Gr., L., Eng. forms in -είµ, -im, directly represent the Heb. pl.; with Philistims cf. Anakims, cherubims, etc. Several other forms appear, e.g. late Gr. ϕιλιστιαῖοι (Aquila), ϕυλ- (Symm.), L. Philistæī, -thæī, -tēī, Phyl-, ME. Philistee; late L. Philistiānī, OF., ME. Philistien, Eng. Philistian. (The pronunciation (fɪˈlɪstɪn) occurs chiefly in U.S.)]
A. n.
1. One of an alien warlike people, of uncertain origin, who occupied the southern sea-coast of Palestine, and in early times constantly harassed the Israelites. Also fig.
| [c 1340 Philisten; 1375–1489 Felystynys: see Philistian.] 1382 Wyclif Amos ix. 7 Wher Y made not Yrael for to stye vp of..Egypt, and Palistens of Capadocie [1388 Palestines; Vulg. Palæstinos; 1611 the Philistines from Caphtor]. ― Zech. ix. 6 Y shal distruye the pride of Philistynes [1388 Filisteis, Vulg. Philisthinorum]. 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. xvii. 10 Am not I a Philistyne? 1611 Bible ibid. 26 Who is this vncircumcised Philistine? 1812 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 40, I feel a little like ‘The Philistines are upon thee, Samson’. |
| β 1560 Bible (Genev.) 1 Sam. v. 1 Then the Philistims toke the Arke of God. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ecclus. xlvii. 8 He..rooted out the Philisthijms. 1620 Bp. Hall Hon. Mar. Clergy ii. §9 Like a Philistim, he hath pulled out the eyes of this Samson. 1637 R. Ashley tr. Malvezzi's David Persecuted 217 The Philistimes pitch their tents in Shunem. 1642 Cudworth Lord's Supper i. (1676) 4 Concerning the Philistims when they had put out Sampson's eyes. |
2. fig. Applied (humorously or otherwise) to persons regarded as ‘the enemy’, into whose hands one may fall,
e.g. bailiffs, literary critics, etc.; formerly, also, to the debauched or drunken.
| 1600 Dekker Gentle Craft D iij b, Looke here Maggy help me Firk, apparrel me Hodge, silke and satten you mad Philistines, silke and satten. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. ii. 2 Times are mended well Since late among the Philistines you fell. 1688 Miege Fr. Dict., Philistins, for lewd (or drunken) people, des Debauchez. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Philistines, Serjeants Bailiffs and their Crew; also Drunkards. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 14 They say, you went to Court last Night very drunk; Nay, I'm told for certain, you had been among Philistines. 1752 Fielding Amelia v. vi, If he had fallen into the hands of the Philistines (which is the name given by the faithful to bailiffs). 1775 Sheridan Rivals v. i, Above all, there is that blood thirsty Philistine, Sir Lucius O'Trigger. 1777 N. Jersey Archives Ser. ii. I. 392 On Monday last we had a brush with the Philistines, killing three lighthorsemen, four Highlanders, and one Lieut. Colonel. 1847 Mrs. Gore Castles in Air I. 286 [To] be pinched and kicked, in order to afford sport for the Philistines. |
3. = philister, applied by German students to one not a student at a university.
| 1824 J. Russell Tour Germ. (1828) I. iii. 128 The citizens he denominates Philistines. 1826 Beddoes Let. Poems (1851) p. lix, A little inn with a tea-garden, whither students and Philistines (i.e. townsmen who are not students) resort on Sundays. 1840 Blackw. Mag. XLVIII. 757 The people read it with great interest, from the fiery youths to the cautious old Philistines. [1863 M. Arnold Ess. Crit., Heine (1865) 157 Efforts have been made to obtain in English some term equivalent to Philister or épicier: Mr. Carlyle has..‘respectability with its thousand gigs’,..well, the occupant of every one of those gigs is, Mr. Carlyle means, a Philistine.] |
4. Hence: A person deficient in liberal culture and enlightenment, whose interests are chiefly bounded by material and commonplace things.
But often applied contemptuously by connoisseurs of any particular art or department of learning to one who has no knowledge or appreciation of it; sometimes a mere term of dislike for those whom the speaker considers ‘bourgeois’.
| 1827 Carlyle Misc. Ess. (1872) I. 58 [The partisans of Illuminism] received the nickname of Philistern (Philistines) which the few scattered remnants of them still bear. 1827 Examiner 70/2 If Germans require that species of assistance, the obtuseness of a mere English Philistine we trust is pardonable. 1831 [see philistinism]. 1839 A. H. Everett Addr. Germ. Lit. at Hanover, U.S.A. 40 Released from the importunity of this Philistine [Wagner],—to use an expressive German term,—Faust relapses into his former gloom. 1851 Carlyle Sterling i. vii. (1872) 41 At other times, Philistines would enter, what we call bores, dullards, Children of Darkness. 1864 Froude Short Stud., Sci. Hist. 31 A professor at Oxford..spoke of Luther as a Philistine..meaning an.. enemy of men of culture or intelligence such as the professor himself. 1869 M. Arnold Cult. & An. 20 The people who believe most that our greatness and welfare are proved by our being very rich, and who most give their lives and thoughts to becoming rich, are just the very people whom we call the Philistines. 1879 L. Stephen Hours in Library III. 306 In common phraseology he [Macaulay] is a Philistine—a word which I understand properly to mean indifference to the higher intellectual interests. 1890 T. B. Saunders tr. Schopenhauer's Wisd. Life (1891) 44 A man who has no mental needs, because his intellect is of the narrow and normal amount, is, in the strict sense of the word, a philistine—..one who is not a son of the Muses. |
B. adj. 1. Of or pertaining to the people of Philistia.
| 1842 Longfellow Warning 6 The Israelite..at last led forth to be A pander to Philistine revelry. |
b. transf.| 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 132 So did he by that Philistine Poem of Parthenophill and Parthenope, which to compare worse than it selfe, it would plunge all the wits of France, Spaine, or Italy. |
2. Characteristic of, or of the nature of, the modern ‘Philistine’; uncultured; commonplace; prosaic. (Of persons and things.)
| 1831 Carlyle Germ. Poetry in Misc. Ess. (1872) III. 241 To a German we might have compressed all this long description into a single word. Mr. Taylor is simply what they call a Philister; every fibre of him is Philistine. 1848 T. Sinclair Mount 57 The philistine division of our own critics. 1869 Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 216 Byron..had in him a cross of the true Philistine breed. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. Notes 235 Critics consider that he symbolizes the Philistine element in German life,—the hopelessly material, prosaic and commonplace. |
C. Comb.| 1817 Coleridge Fire, Famine, etc. Apol. Pref., Afterward this philistine-combatant went to London, and there perished of the plague. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 8 Oct. 4/1 What purpose some of them serve would be but a Philistine-like question. |
Hence
ˈphilistinely adv., like or after the manner of a social Philistine. Also
philistinian (
-ˈtɪnɪən)
a. = B. 1;
philistinic (
-ˈtɪnɪk)
a. = B. 2;
philistinish (
ˈfɪlɪstaɪnɪʃ,
-ɪnɪʃ)
a. = B. 2.
| 1881 Society 1 June 9/2 A dress of black cashmere, *philistinely tight. |
| 1773 J. Ross Fratricide i. 636 (MS.) The *Philistinean stride of him of Gath. 1882–3 Schaff's Encycl. Relig. Knowl. III. 1829 The name of the Philistine harbor, Majuma, is entirely Egyptico-Philistinian. |
| 1869 Black In Silk Attire I. 114 The audience..applauding *Philistinic politics over their raw chops. 1883 Gd. Words Aug. 493/1 There are some among us, nowadays, who sneer at all common-sense as philistinic. |
| 1881 Standard 30 Aug. 5/2 Unhappily, we live in *Philistinish times. 1903 Edin. Rev. Oct. 407 His work sometimes lacks distinction..but it is never Philistinish. |