vaurien

See also: Vaurien

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)

  1. (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

  1. ^ 2004, M. O. Grenby, The Anti-Jacobin Novel: British Conservatism and the French Revolution, page 104.

French

Etymology

Univerbation of vaut rien. Compare German Taugenichts or Dutch deugniet.

Pronunciation

Noun

vaurien m (plural vauriens, feminine vaurienne)

  1. good-for-nothing (person regarded as useless or worthless)
    Synonym: (archaic) vaunéant
    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.

Descendants

  • Haitian Creole: voryen

Further reading

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