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vaurien. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
vaurien, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
vaurien in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
vaurien you have here. The definition of the word
vaurien will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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English
Etymology
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
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
- ^ 2004, M. O. Grenby, The Anti-Jacobin Novel: British Conservatism and the French Revolution, page 104.
French
Etymology
From vaut (“is worth”), third person singular of valoir + rien (“nothing”). Compare German Taugenichts or Dutch deugniet.
Pronunciation
Noun
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