strife

English

WOTD – 9 January 2016

Etymology

From Middle English strif, stryf, striffe, from Old French estrif, noun derived from estriver, from Frankish *strīban; compare Dutch strijven. More at strive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɹaɪf/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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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.
   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
     A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
     Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
     Do with their death bury their parents' strife.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 6:4:

     Hee is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions, and ſtrifes of wordes, […]

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, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     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)
• Azerbaijani: nifaq
• Basque: liskar
• Bulgarian: конфликт (bg) m (konflikt)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: svár (cs) m, konflikt (cs) m, potyčka (cs) f
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: geschil (nl) n, vijandige rivaliteit, strijd (nl), conflict (nl)
• Egyptian: (ḫrwyw)
• Esperanto: malpaco
• Finnish: selkkaus (fi), yhteenotto (fi), konflikti (fi)
• French: différends m pl, 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, Unfriede (de) m
• Greek: διαμάχη (el) f (diamáchi), διαπάλη (el) f (diapáli), αλληλοσπαραγμός (el) m (allilosparagmós)
• Gujarati: ^{(please verify)} હિંસક તોફાન,ઝઘડો, m (hĩsak tophāna,jhaghḍo,)
• Hebrew: מדון (he)
• Hungarian: viszály (hu)
• Irish: imreas m, bruíon f
• Italian: disputa (it) f, tenzone f
• Japanese: 争い (ja) (あらそい, arasoi)
• Korean: 투쟁 (ko) (tujaeng)
• Latin: iūrgium n
• Macedonian: ра́здор m (rázdor), распра́вија f (rasprávija)
• Maori: raweoi, rawehoi, tatauranga, taute
• Middle English: strout, strif
• Norwegian: strid m
• Occitan: brega (oc) f, disputa (oc) 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 (sv), tvist (sv), fejd (sv), kiv (sv), konflikt (sv) c
• Turkish: çatışma (tr), ihtilaf (tr)
• Ukrainian: чвари pl (čvary), конфлікт (uk) m (konflikt), боротьба (uk) f (borotʹba)
• Welsh: ymryson (cy) m or f
• West Frisian: strijf, striid (fy)

References

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

Anagrams

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