glutton

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English glotoun, from Old French gloton, gluton, from Latin gluttō, gluttōnis (glutton).

The use for the wolverine is a semantic loan from German Vielfraß, itself a folk etymology for Old Norse *fjallfress (literally mountain cat).[1][2] The popular belief that the wolverine is particularly voracious only developed because of this name. See the German for more.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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glutton (comparative more glutton, superlative most glutton)

  1. Gluttonous; greedy; gormandizing.
    • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; [], London: [] Iohn Williams [], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
      A glutton monastery in former ages makes a hungry ministry in our days.
    • 1597, William Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV i 3:
      So, so, thou common dog, didst thou disgorge
      Thy glutton bosom of the royal Richard?

Noun

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glutton (plural gluttons)

  1. One who eats voraciously, obsessively, or to excess; a gormandizer.
    Such a glutton would eat until his belly hurts.
  2. (by extension) One who consumes anything voraciously, obsessively, or to excess.
    • 1705, George Granville, The British Enchanters:
      "Gluttons in murder, wanton to destroy."
    • 1878, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native:
      "A good few indeed, my man," replied the captain. "Yes, you may make away with a deal of money and be neither drunkard nor glutton."
    • a. 1887 (date written), Emily Dickinson, “Hope is a subtle glutton”, in M[abel] L[oomis] Todd, editors, Poems, Third Series, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1896, page 15:
      Hope is a subtle glutton; / He feeds upon the fair;
  3. (now rare) The wolverine, Gulo gulo.
    • 1791, Joseph Priestley, Letters to Burke, section VII:
      [A] civil establishment [] is the animal called a glutton, which falling from a tree (in which it generally conceals itself) upon some noble animal, immediately begins to tear it, and suck its blood [] .
  4. (colloquial) A giant petrel.

Synonyms

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Translations

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See also

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Verb

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glutton (third-person singular simple present gluttons, present participle gluttoning, simple past and past participle gluttoned)

  1. (archaic) To glut; to satisfy (especially an appetite) by filling to capacity.
    • a. 1657, Richard Lovelace, On Sanazar's Hundred Duckets by hte Clarissimi of Venice:
      Glutton'd at last, return at home to pine.
    • 1915, Journeyman Barber, Hairdresser, Cosmetologist and Proprietor:
      In some cities their [local branches] have become gluttoned with success, and in their misguided overzealous ambition they are 'killing the goose that lays the golden egg.'
  2. (obsolete) To glut; to eat voraciously.
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References

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  1. ^ glutton”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  2. ^ glutton” in Duden online