scullion

See also: Scullion

English

Etymology 1

Either from Middle French escouillon (“a swab, cloth”), diminutive of escouve (“broom, twig”) from Latin scopa, or an alteration of Old French souillon (“scullion”) by influence of scullery.

Noun

scullion (plural scullions)

1. A servant of the lower classes.
   • 1762, [Laurence Sterne], chapter IX, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume V, London: […] T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, […], →OCLC, page 52:

     They all looked directly at the ſcullion,—the ſcullion had juſt been ſcouring a fiſh-kettle.

2. (obsolete, derogatory) A low, base person. [1400s]
   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     Away, you scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian!

Etymology 2

Noun

scullion (plural scullions)

1. Alternative form of scallion

Anagrams

• Cullison, cullions