Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TER'MA-GANT, a. [In Sax. tir or tyr is a deity, Mars or Mercury, and a prince or lord. As a prefix, it augments the sense of words, and is equivalent to chief or very great. The Sax. magan, Eng. may, is a verb denoting to be able, to prevail; from the sense of straining, striving or driving. Qu. the root of stir.]

Tumultuous; turbulent; boisterous or furious; quarrelsome; scolding. The eldest was a termagant, imperious, prodigal, profligate wench. Arbuthnot.