doryphore
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
A 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 edit
doryphore (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 edit
French edit
Etymology edit
From New Latin Doryphora (the former genus of the Colorado beetle), from Ancient Greek δορυφόρος (doruphóros, “lance-bearing; lance-bearer”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
doryphore m (plural doryphores)
Further reading edit
- “doryphore”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Norman edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French doryphore, from New Latin Doryphora, its former genus.
Noun edit
doryphore m (plural doryphores)