monger

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See also: Monger

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English mongere, mangere, from Old English mangere (merchant, trader, dealer), from Proto-West Germanic *mangārī, from Latin mangō (dealer, trader), perhaps from Ancient Greek μάγγανον (mánganon, contrivance, means of enchantment), from Proto-Indo-European *mang- (to embellish, dress, trim).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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monger (plural mongers)

  1. (chiefly in combination) A dealer in a specific commodity.
    Hyponyms: costermonger, fishmonger, ironmonger
    • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], lines 369-72:
      If I could meet
      that fancy-monger, I would give him some good
      counsel, for he seems to have the quotidian of love
      upon him.
    • 2005, Los Angeles Magazine, volume 50, number 11, page 111:
      For the freshest wild catch, ask your monger when the fish are running.
  2. (in combination) A person promoting something undesirable.
    Hyponyms: warmonger, sleazemonger, scaremonger
  3. A small sea vessel.
    • 1790, Wilson Lt. Robert (RN), The Seaman's Manual
      monger: a small sea-vessel used by fishermen.
  4. Clipping of whoremonger.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:prostitute's client

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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monger (third-person singular simple present mongers, present participle mongering, simple past and past participle mongered)

  1. (transitive, British) To sell or peddle something.
  2. (transitive) To promote something undesirable.
    • 2019 April 25, Samanth Subramanian, “Hand dryers v paper towels: the surprisingly dirty fight for the right to dry your hands”, in The Guardian[1]:
      Once these fears have been mongered, their spread is irresistible.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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