ventriloquist

English

WOTD – 10 September 2008

Etymology

Etymology tree

English ventriloquy

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)

Proto-Hellenic *-tās

Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs)

Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor.

Latin -istader.

Old French -istebor.

Middle English -ist

English -ist

English ventriloquist

From ventriloquy + -ist.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /vɛnˈtɹɪl.ə.kwɪst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪst

Noun

ventriloquist (plural ventriloquists)

1. A person, especially an entertainer, who practices ventriloquism.
   • 1871, Benjamin Jowett, The Sophist, translation of original by Plato:

     Most ridiculous is the discomfiture which attends the opponents of predication, who, like the ventriloquist Eurycles, have the voice that answers them in their own breast.

   • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, “Chapter 15”, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:

     "Oh, I am a ventriloquist," said the little man. "I can throw the sound of my voice wherever I wish, so that you thought it was coming out of the Head. […] "

Synonyms

• biloquist
• ventriloque (obsolete)

Derived terms

• ventriloquistic
• ventriloquistical
• ventriloquistically

Related terms

• ventriloquial
• ventriloquially
• ventriloquism
• ventriloquy

Translations

a person who practices ventriloquism

• Arabic: مُتَكَلِّم مِنْ بَطْنِه (mutakallim min baṭnih)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܡܡܠܠ ܡܢ ܟܪܣܐ

• Catalan: ventríloc m, ventríloqua f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 口技表演者 (kǒujì biǎoyǎnzhě), 腹語者 / 腹语者 (fùyǔzhě)

• Czech: břichomluvec (cs) m
• Danish: buktaler c, ventrilokvist c
• Dutch: buikspreker (nl) m
• Finnish: vatsastapuhuja (fi)
• French: ventriloque (fr) m or f
• German: Bauchredner (de) m, Bauchrednerin (de) f; Ventriloquist (de) m, Ventriloquistin (de) f (not generally understood)
• Greek: εγγαστρίμυθος (el) m (engastrímythos)

  Ancient Greek: ἐγγαστρίμυθος m (engastrímuthos)

• Hungarian: hasbeszélő (hu)
• Icelandic: búktalari (is) m
• Ido: ventroparolanto, ventroparolero (io)
• Italian: ventriloquo (it) m, ventriloqua f
• Japanese: 腹話術師 (ja) (fukuwajutsushi)
• Latvian: vēderrunātājs m, vēderrunātāja f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: buktaler m, buktalerske m or f, ventrilokvist m

  Nynorsk: buktalar m, buktalerske f, ventrilokvist m

• Polish: brzuchomówca (pl) m, brzuchomówczyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: ventríloquo (pt) m, ventríloqua (pt) f
• Romanian: ventriloc (ro) m, ventrilocă (ro) f
• Russian: чревовеща́тель (ru) m (črevoveščátelʹ), чревовеща́тельница (ru) f (črevoveščátelʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: трбухозборац m

  Latin: trbuhozborac (sh) m

• Slovak: bruchomluvec m
• Spanish: ventrílocuo (es), ventrílocua (es) f
• Swedish: buktalare (sv) c, buktalerska (sv) c
• Tagalog: bentrilokwo
• Turkish: vantrilok (tr)
• Yiddish: בויכרעדער m (boykhreder), בויכרעדערין f (boykhrederin)