quarrons

English

Alternative forms

• quaroms, quaromes, quaroon, quarren, quarrom, quarrome, quarromes, quarroms, quarron, quarrones, quarrow

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly from Italian carogna (“carrion”) or French charogne, caroigne (“carrion”); hence from Latin caro (“flesh”). If so, cognate with English carrion, carnage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɒɹənz/

Noun

quarrons (plural quarronses)

1. (obsolete, thieves' cant) The body.
   • 1707, “The Maunder's Praise of his Strowling Mort”, in Farmer, John Stephen, editor, Musa Pedestris‎^[1], published 1896, page 33:

     White thy fambles, red thy gan, / And they quarrons dainty is; / Couch a hogshead with me then, / And in the darkmans clip and kiss.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     Unfallen Adam rode and not rutted. Call away let him: thy quarrons dainty is. Language no whit worse than his.

   • 1932, Wystan Hugh Auden, The Orators:

     Salmon draws Its lovely quarrons through the pool.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:quarrons.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:body

References

• Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “quarrons”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volume II (L–Z), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, page 161.
• John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1902) “quarrons”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume V, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, page 340.