English
Timonism
From Timon + -ism, after the 5th-century-BCE person Timon of Athens (as described by Plutarch, Lucian, and Aristophanes), possibly by way of William Shakespeare's play Timon of Athens (c.
Formed from Timon + -ism
Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to perceive’
Ancient Greek τῑ́ω ‘to pay honour to a person’
Ancient Greek τῑμή ‘honor’
Ancient Greek Τῑ́μων
English Timon
The story
From Timon + -ism, after the 5th-century-BCE person Timon of Athens (as described by Plutarch, Lucian, and Aristophanes), possibly by way of William Shakespeare's play Timon of Athens (c. 1607). Erroneously attributed to Herman Melville, who popularized it later in 1852.
Today it means
noun A form of bitter misanthropy, a despair leading to hatred or contemptuous rejection of mankind, like Timon of Athens.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Timonism