colporteur
/kɒlpɔː(ɹ)ˈtɜː(ɹ)/
colporteur · noun — A peddler of publications, especially of religious books. It carries an Arena rating of 1444, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, colporteur ranks #1,631 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,632 of 17,201 for Funniest Words, #1,911 of 17,167 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,795 of 17,180 for Most Ingenious Words.
colporteur is pronounced /kɒlpɔː(ɹ)ˈtɜː(ɹ)/.
Why “colporteur” is a great word
A traveling vendor of books, newspapers, and pamphlets, often of a religious nature, who carries his wares from door to door. Borrowed from French *colporteur*, a blend influenced by *col* ("neck") and *porteur* ("carrier, porter"), from earlier *comporteur*, from the verb *comporter*, from Latin *comportō* ("to bring together, carry"). Unlike a general "peddler" hawking pots or linens, or a stationary "bookseller" operating from a shop, the colporteur is defined by his mobile evangelism of the printed word. He is the figure on a dusty road with a satchel heavy with prophecies and primers, the knock at the isolated farmhouse door offering salvation for a penny, the distributor of ideas into the hinterlands where light was scarce—a humble, persistent artery for the circulation of thought.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
Borrowed from French colporteur, from comporteur by influence of col (“neck”) (re-analyzed as col + porteur (“porter”)), from verb comporter, from Latin comportō (English comport).
noun
- A peddler of publications, especially of religious books
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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