gentry mort
English
[edit]Noun
[edit]gentry mort (plural gentry morts)
- (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) A gentlewoman; a lady.
- 1707, John Shirley, “The Maunder's Praise of his Strowling Mort”, in The Triumph of Wit:
- No gentry mort hath prats like thine, / No cove e'er wap'd with such a one.
- 2006, Sally Watson, The Outrageous Oriel:
- Chastity sighed in profound relief. To know a gentry mort like this was the most wondrous event of her life, and she craved her approval more than she did God's.
- 2015, Sabrina Jeffries, The Art of Sinning:
- You said I wasn't to use cant around a gentry mort, and here she's using it more than me.
Related terms
[edit]References
[edit]- [Francis Grose] (1788) “Gentry mort”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC.
- Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “gentry mort”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, page 400.
- John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1893) “gentry mort”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume III, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, page 132.