scatterling

English

Etymology

From scatter +‎ -ling.

Noun

scatterling (plural scatterlings)

1. (obsolete) One who has no fixed residence; a vagabond.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vagabond

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 63:

     Long time in peace his realm establishd, / Yet oft annoyd with sundry bordragings / Of neighbour Scots, and forrein scatterlings.

   • 1839, Benjamin Disraeli, The Tragedy of Count Alarcos, published 1910, page 388:

     But ah! her fatal vengeance Struck to my heart. A banished scatterling I wandered on the earth.

   • 1986, Paul Simon (lyrics and music), “You Can Call Me Al”, in Graceland:

     He is surrounded by the sound, the sound / Cattle in the marketplace / Scatterlings and orphanages

References

• “scatterling”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• clatterings