vaurien
See also: Vaurien
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French vaurien; used by Isaac D'Israeli for the name of the eponymous character of his 1797 novel Vaurien: or Sketches of the Times.[1]
Noun edit
vaurien (plural vauriens)
- (archaic) A good-for-nothing; a scoundrel.
- 1841, William Jesse, Notes of a Half-pay in Search of Health, Volume 1, James Madden & Co., page 62:
- Quarantine, a disagreeable thing at all times, was rendered perfectly disgusting by the manner in which the spoglia was conducted, the vermin, and the disobliging conduct of the director, who was a regular “vaurien.”
References edit
French edit
Etymology edit
From vaut (“is worth”), third person singular of valoir + rien (“nothing”). Compare German Taugenichts or Dutch deugniet.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
vaurien m (plural vauriens, feminine vaurienne)
- good-for-nothing, a person regarded as useless or worthless
- Cet esclave est un vaurien: même le fouet ne le rend pas productif.
- That slave is a good-for-nothing, even the whip doesn't make him productive.
Further reading edit
- “vaurien”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.