• henchman •
Pronunciation: hench-mên • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A loyal trusted assistant or helper. 2. A servile supporter in a criminal activity or undertaking who does the boss's bidding without question.
Notes: Although this word clearly contains historical evidence of a man, the -man in this word is pronounced [mên], indicating that it is a suffix not a regular word. The plural, however, is still henchmen, suggesting that it is not. What we have here is a word in the process of becoming a suffix but not quite there yet. If you like to raise eyebrows, you might try an adjective, henchmanly, as a henchmanly subservience. But don't look for it in the dictionaries.
In Play: The first meaning of today's word isn't used in the US today but may turn up elsewhere in the English-speaking world: "I have no henchmen I could trust to take my sister to the dance—and strangers are out of the question." Sounds odd, though, doesn't it? Much more often this word is used to refer to subordinate criminal accomplices: "Some thug and his henchman held me up for my watch saying, 'Rolex time!' to add insult to injury."
Word History: Today's word goes back to a word meaning "a groom, horse servant", beginning in Old English as hengest "horse, stallion" + man in the 14th century. Hengestmanni of 1360 were ordinary grooms but by the 16th century the royal henchmen were usually young men of rank. By the 18th century the word referred to any attendant but by the turn of the 19th century the Americans had reduced the meaning to that of a servile assistant in crime. Other words for "stable boy" came to more illustrious ends. Constable goes back to a Latin word meaning "officer of the stable" while our recent Good Word, marshal goes back to a term meaning "horse servant", based on the same root that now is mare. (Today we must thank Mark Bailey, a loyal and trusted Agoran who is a cornucopia of excellent words like today's, for suggesting this one.)
HENCHMAN
- Dr. Goodword
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HENCHMAN
• The Good Dr. Goodword
Well, better a Jute than a Hempman.
-gailr
who is not so keen on beer, but will be a henchpeep too, if that tavern serves mead...
-gailr
who is not so keen on beer, but will be a henchpeep too, if that tavern serves mead...
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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One of my favorite quotes from The Thirteenth Warrior:...-gailr
who is not so keen on beer, but will be a henchpeep too, if that tavern serves mead...
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan: [as Herger offers a mead horn] I can taste neither the fermentation of grape, nor of wheat.
[Herger laughs]
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan: What? Why do you laugh?
Herger the Joyous: [laughing, and handing over the bottle] HONEY! It's made from honey!
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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