cateran
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of cateran
1325–75; < Medieval Latin caterānus, Latinized form of Middle English ( Scots ) catherein < Scots Gaelic ceatharn; see kern 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No longer was he hunted by the cateran chief—no more were his lands devastated, or his cattle carried off.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 12 by Various
I would give them as short a shrift as ever a Highland cateran got from a Glasgow judge.
From The Mystery of Cloomber by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
It was the fault of yon Highland cateran, whom it is my curse to be cumbered with; but he shall go back to his glens tomorrow, or taste the tolbooth of the burgh.
From The Fair Maid of Perth Or, St. Valentine's Day by Sir Walter Scott
The kern or cateran of the Highlands was a light-armed infantryman, as opposed to the heavy-armed "gallowglass."
From Lady of the Lake by William Vaughn Moody
“Did you ever hear of the famous northern cateran, Ben Nevis?” asked Burdale.
From John Deane of Nottingham Historic Adventures by Land and Sea by William Henry Giles Kingston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
