Dictionary

myrmidon en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈmɜː.mɪ.dən/ (UK)
• /ˈmɝ.mɪ.dən/ (US)
• /ˈmɝ.mɪˌdɑn/ (US)
• /ˈmɜː.mɪˌdɒn/ (UK)

Etymology

From Myrmidon, from Latin Myrmidones, from Ancient Greek Μυρμιδόνες (Murmidónes).

Meanings

1. A soldier or a subordinate civil officer who executes orders of a superior without protest or pity (sometimes applied to bailiffs, constables, etc).
   • Tobias (to Jonas Fogg, manager of a madhouse): "I will die ere I submit to you or your vile myrmidons." 1847, George Dibdin Pitt, The String of Pearls; or, The Fiend of Fleet Street (play), act III, scene II:
   • […]headed for a revelation to the District Attorney that would probably result in my having the pleasure of meeting H. R. Corbett or some other flatfooted myrmidon[…] 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam edition, published 1992, →ISBN, pages 177–178:
   • Antonia bustled round the ransack'd room, / And, turning up her nose, with looks abused / Her master, and his myrmidons, of whom / Not one, except the attorney, was amused; […] 1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto I, stanza CLIX, page 82:
   • My heart wells up in admiration of the man, as I think of his participation in the memorable struggle of Homestead. He fought the Pinkertons, the myrmidons of Capital. 1912, Alexander Berkman, chapter 6, in Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist:
   • When the day came round for my return to the scene of the deed of violence, my terrors reached their height. Whether myrmidons of Justice, especially sent down from London, would be lying in ambush behind the gate; […] 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XII, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 197:
   • He cared no more for the Devil and all his myrmidons, for he kenned brawly he was damned. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

Forms

Deriveds

myrmidonian

Relateds

catchpoll · catchpole

Synonyms

underling · yes man · follower · disciple · bootlicker · sycophant · acolyte · minion · hireling · right-hand woman · footman · retainer · inferior · aide · myrmidon · lickspittle · lackey · poodle · servant · adjutant · right-hand man · man Friday · satrap · vassal · toady · stooge · subordinate · lap dog · flunkey · henchman