cagot means A member of a persecuted minority in south-western France. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
cagot is pronounced /kəˈɡəʊ/.
Why “cagot” is a great word
CAGOT — [Noun] A member of a hereditary caste, systematically persecuted and ostracized throughout the medieval and early modern periods in south-western France and northern Spain. Borrowed from French cagot, from Occitan cagot, of uncertain origin; traditional speculation connects it to the Visigoths, while modern postulation suggests it may be from Occitan cagar ("to defecate") + the diminutive suffix -ot. Unlike "pariah," a general term for any outcast, or "heretic," one condemned for belief, the Cagot was shunned for an ascribed and inescapable identity, a taint believed to be in the blood. It is the separate, low door in the side of the church, the distinctive footprint carved on a baptismal font, the enforced trade in wood and water—the meticulous architecture of hatred built to contain a people whose only crime was existing.
Etymology
Borrowed from French cagot, from Occitan cagot, of uncertain origin, traditionally speculated to be connected to the Visigoths; according to modern postulation, possibly equivalent to cagar (“to defecate”) + -ot (diminutive suffix).
noun
- A member of a persecuted minority in south-western France.