lout

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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Of dialectal origin, likely from Middle English louten (“to bow, bend low, stoop over”) from Old English lutian from Proto-Germanic *lutōną. Cognate with Old Norse lútr (“stooping”), Gothic 𐌻𐌿𐍄𐍉𐌽 (lutōn, “to deceive”). Non-Germanic cognates are probably Old Church Slavonic лоудити (luditi, “to deceive”),[1] Serbo-Croatian lud and Albanian lut (“to beg, pray”).

Noun[edit]

lout (plural louts)

  1. A troublemaker, often violent; a rude violent person; a yob.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:troublemaker
    • 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, “The Dissolution”, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 6:
      But the lout looked only to his market, and was not easily repulsed. “He’s there, I tell you,” he persisted. “And for threepence I’ll get you to see him. Come on, your honour! It’s many a Westminster election I’ve seen, and beer running, from Mr. Fox, […] when maybe it’s your honour’s going to stand! Anyway, it’s, Down with the mongers!”
    • 1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 5, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC:
      You see louts fresh from school kicking grey-haired servants.
  2. A clownish, awkward fellow; a bumpkin.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bumpkin
    • c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The First Booke] Chapter 13”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, →OCLC, page 89:
      The faire Pamela, whose noble hart I finde doth greatly disdaine, that the trust of her vertue is reposed in such a louts hands, as Dametas, had yet to shew an obedience, taken on a shepeardish apparell […]
    • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], page 35, column 1:
      Sebaſtian, I haue entertained thee, / Partly that I haue neede of ſuch a youth, / That can with ſome diſcretion doe my buſineſſe: / For ’tis no truſting to yond fooliſh Lowt;
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

lout (third-person singular simple present louts, present participle louting, simple past and past participle louted)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To treat as a lout or fool; to neglect; to disappoint.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English louten, from Old English lūtan, from Proto-Germanic *lūtaną. Cognate with Old Norse lúta, Danish lude (“to bend”), Norwegian lute (“stoop”), Swedish luta.

Verb[edit]

lout (third-person singular simple present louts, present participle louting, simple past and past participle louted)

  1. (intransitive, archaic) To bend, bow, stoop.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “lout”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams[edit]

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