philippic: [16] The original philippics (in Greek philippikós) were a series of speeches in which the Athenian orator Demosthenes denounced the political ambitions of Philip of Macedon in the 4th century BC (the word was a derivative of the Greek name Phílippos ‘Philip’, which etymologically means ‘horse-lover’). The term was subsequently applied (as Latin philippicus) to the speeches of Cicero attacking Mark Anthony, and in due course became a general word for a ‘fierce denunciation’.
1590s, "bitter invective discourse," from Middle French philippique, from Latin (orationes) Philippicæ, translation of Greek Philippikoi (logoi), the speeches made in Athens by Demosthenes in 351-341 B.C.E. urging Greeks to unite and fight the rising power of Philip II of Macedon. The Latin phrase was used of the speeches made by Cicero against Marc Antony in 44 and 43 B.C.E.
双语例句
1. In an hour long philippic , the legislator denounced the lobbyist opposing his bill.
