apple of discord
/ˈæp(ə)l əv ˈdɪskɔɹd/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.43 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
3
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "He has determined to enter the cabinet surrounded with creatures only, and, as to the Parliament, to trust to his dexterity and strength in throwing the apple of discord, occasions for doing which will, he imagines, soon and frequently occur."
- "He [Pope Pius VII] had hardly regained Rome when a domestic incident in the Bonaparte family became the immediate cause of that struggle between Pope and Emperor which only ended with the downfall of Napoleon's power. This apple of discord was the outraged honour of a Protestant girl, which the Holy Father maintained in the face of her angered Imperial brother-in-law."
- "The apportionment of U.S. military assistance to Turkey and Greece has become an apple of discord almost as bitterly disputed by the recipients as the one Aphrodite received from Paris, which touched off the Trojan Wars."
- "As in the old days when the tribes were fighting each other over hunting grounds, territories and agricultural land, today DRC [the Democratic Republic of the Congo] is prone to many internal conflicts. Especially in the eastern part of the country today's apples of discord appear to be the much-coveted minerals such as gold, diamonds, coltan, and uranium."
Etymology
A reference to the μῆλον τῆς Ἔριδος (mêlon tês Éridos, “apple of Eris”) in Greek mythology, a golden apple inscribed ‘for the fairest female’ which Eris (known as Discordia to the Romans), the goddess of discord and strife, tossed in the midst of the feast of the gods at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus. This provoked a dispute among Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera as to who was the most beautiful, and eventually led to the Trojan War.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈæp(ə)l əv ˈdɪskɔɹd/
- British English: /ˈæp(ə)l əv ˈdɪskɔːd/