Philistine

Where “Philistine” sits in English frequency

Definition

1. 1
   A non-Semitic person from ancient Philistia, a region in the southwest Levant in the Middle East.
2. 2
   An opponent (of the speaker, writer, etc); an enemy, a foe.
3. 3
   In German universities: a person not associated with the university; a non-academic or non-student; a townsperson.
4. 4
   Alternative letter-case form of philistine (“a person who is ignorant or uneducated; specifically, a person who lacks appreciation of or is antagonistic towards art or culture, and who has pedestrian tastes”).

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English Philistyne, Philisten [and other forms], from Old English Filistina (genitive plural), from Old French Philistin (modern French Philistin) and Late Latin Philistinus, from Koine Greek Φυλιστῖνοι (Phulistînoi), a variant of Φυλιστιίμ (Phulistiím), Φυλιστιείμ (Phulistieím) (compare Koine Greek Παλαιστῖνοι (Palaistînoi)), from Hebrew פְּלִשְׁתִּים (p'lishtím, plural noun), from פְּלִשְׁתִּי (p'lishtí, “Philistine”, adjective), from פְּלֶשֶׁת (p'léshet, “Philistia”). An Anatolian origin should be considered, compare Hittite 𒁄𒄭𒅖 (pal-ḫi-iš /⁠palḫis⁠/, “wide, broad”), nominalized as lowland, plain + 𒊭𒀀𒆠𒄑𒍣 (ša-a-ki-ez-zi /⁠šākizzi⁠/, “seeks out”), nominalized as explorer, colonist, which would yield something like palḫis-sak or palḫis-sku. In light of the Philistines’ likely Aegean origins, several scholars have proposed Greek etymologies for the ethnonym: * Thomas Schneider proposes that it is derived from an archaic Greek term πλωϝιστοι (plōwistoi, “sailors,seafarers”) (cf. Mycenaean Greek 𐀡𐀫𐀹𐀵 (po-ro-wi-to /⁠plōwistos⁠/)). * Jan Driessen connects the Philistines with the people of the settlement of Pyla, yielding the term Πυλαϝαστοι (Pulawastoi, “inhabitants of Pyla”). Furthermore, Driessen suggests a link between the Philistine migration to the Levant and the abandonment of Pyla which occurred within the timespan described in the Medinet Habu reliefs. The English word is cognate with Akkadian 𒆳𒉿𒇺𒋫 (ᴷᵁᴿpi-lis-ta, “Pilistu”), 𒆳𒉺𒆷𒊍𒌓 (ᴷᵁᴿpa-la-as-tu₂ /⁠Palastu⁠/), 𒆳𒉿𒇺𒋫𒀀𒀀 (ᴷᵁᴿpi-liš-ta-a-a /⁠Pilištayu⁠/, “(people) of the Pilištu lands”), and is a doublet of Palestine. The archaic noun plural form Philistim is from Middle English Philistiim [and other forms], from Late Latin Philisthiim, from Koine Greek Φυλιστιίμ (Phulistiím), Φυλιστιείμ (Phulistieím); see further above. The adjective is derived from the noun. For the etymology of the "ignorant person" sense, see philistine.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hpilistine,phhilistine,phiilstine,philisitne,philisstine,philistien,philistinne,philistnie,philisttine,philitsine,phillistine,philsitine,phliistine,pihlistine,pphilistine

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Philistine - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Frequently Asked Questions