comprachico
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Coined from Spanish roots by the French writer Victor Hugo in his 1869 novel L'Homme qui rit (The Man Who Laughs). The word is not generally known in Spanish.
Noun
[edit]comprachico (plural comprachicos)
- (folklore) A person who deliberately mutilates a growing child in order to induce freakish physical traits.
- 1969, Günther Weisenborn, The Man Without a Face, page 10:
- But here in England a comprachico is equal to a murderer, a candidate for the hangman's noose.
- 2016, George Eliot, Impressions of Theophrastus Such: Top Novelist Focus:
- He is angry and equips himself accordingly—with a penknife to give the offender a comprachico countenance, a mirror to show him the effect, and a pair of nailed boots to give him his dismissal.
Translations
[edit]Translations
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French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Spanish compar (“to buy”) + chico (“kid”), coined by Victor Hugo in 1869.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]comprachico m (plural comprachicos)
Categories:
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Folklore
- English terms with quotations
- en:People
- French terms derived from Spanish
- French terms coined by Victor Hugo
- French coinages
- French 4-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:People