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tirade

 - 3 dictionary results

ti⋅rade

  [tahy-reyd, tahy-reyd]
Use tirade in a Sentence
–noun
1. a prolonged outburst of bitter, outspoken denunciation: a tirade against smoking.
2. a long, vehement speech: a tirade in the Senate.
3. a passage dealing with a single theme or idea, as in poetry: the stately tirades of Corneille.
Origin:
1795–1805; < F: lit., a stretch, (continuous) pulling < It tirata, n. use of fem. of tirato, ptp. of tirare to draw, pull, fire (a shot), of obscure orig.

Synonyms:
2. harangue, diatribe.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tirade
ti·rade   (tī'rād', tī-rād')   
n.  A long angry or violent speech, usually of a censorious or denunciatory nature; a diatribe.

[French, from Old French, act of firing, from tirer, to draw out, endure, probably back-formation from martirant, present participle of martirer, to torture (influenced by mar, to one's misfortune, and tiranz, executioner, tyrant), from martir, martyr, from Late Latin martyr; see martyr.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

tirade 
1801, "a 'volley of words,' " from Fr. tirade "speech, volley, shot, continuation, drawing out" (16c.), from tirer "draw out, endure, suffer," or the Fr. word is perhaps from cognate It. tirata "a volley," from pp. of tirare "to draw." The whole Romanic word group is of uncertain origin; some think it is a shortening of the source of O.Fr. martirer "endure martyrdom" (see martyr).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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