doryphore
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editA modification of doriphore, borrowed from French doryphore (“Colorado beetle”) by Harold Nicolson in 1952, presumably under the influence of the various senses of pest. The French term was a translation of the New Latin genus Doryphora, itself from Ancient Greek δορυφόρος (doruphóros, “lance-bearing; lance-bearer”).[1]
Noun
editdoryphore (plural doryphores)
- (rare, humorous) A petty pedant, a person who complains about minor mistakes.
- 1952 August 22, Harold Nicolson, Spectator, page 238:
- 1960 December 9, Daily Telegraph, page 19:
- The idiomatic implications of such a word as doryphore in his own text is left for the ignorant to guess. (It means a Colorado beetle and, hence, a pest.)
References
edit- ^ "doryphore, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Anagrams
editFrench
editEtymology
editFrom New Latin Doryphora (the former genus of the Colorado beetle), from Ancient Greek δορυφόρος (doruphóros, “lance-bearing; lance-bearer”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editdoryphore m (plural doryphores)
Further reading
edit- “doryphore”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Norman
editEtymology
editBorrowed from French doryphore, from New Latin Doryphora, its former genus.
Noun
editdoryphore m (plural doryphores)
Categories:
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from New Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
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- en:People
- French terms derived from New Latin
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- fr:Biology
- fr:Insects
- Norman terms borrowed from French
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- nrf:Biology
- nrf:Insects