Pronounced: ME-grim, noun
Notes: Not a word I’ve heard
Yesterday’s word
The word Argus is a
- hundred-eyed creature of Greek mythology
- watchful guardian
First usage
I could not find information about when this word came into English
Background / Comments
As I noted yesterday, our word was a marginal case. I was aware of the Argus from Greek mythology, but I wasn’t very clear about the other definition. I think I’ve read the word with that meaning somewhere – perhaps in one of Dorothy Sayers’s books. According to the story in Greek mythology, after the death of Argos, his eyes were placed on the tail of the peacock.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 