colporteur

[ kol-pawr-ter, -pohr-; French kawl-pawr-tœr ]

/ ˈkɒlˌpɔr tər, -ˌpoʊr-; French kɔl pɔrˈtœr /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR colporteur ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural col·por·teurs [kol-pawr-terz; French kawl-pawr-tœr] /ˈkɒlˌpɔr tərz; French kɔl pɔrˈtœr/.

a person who travels to sell or publicize Bibles, religious tracts, etc.

a peddler of books.

Nearby words

colpoptosis, colporrhagia, colporrhaphy, colporrhexis, colportage, colporteur, colposcope, colposcopy, colpospasm, colpostenosis, colpostenotomy

Origin of colporteur

1790–1800; < French, equivalent to colport(er) (see colportage) + -eur -eur

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for colporteur

Joshua, was colporteur in Syria and in Asia Minor about 1860.
Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ|Rev. A. Bernstein, B.D.
Art became a colporteur, a distributer of tracts, a mendicant missionary whose highest ambition was to suppress all heathen joy.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 11 (of 12)|Robert G. Ingersoll
But these are not my words,” said the colporteur, “they are the words of God.
In the Track of the Troops|R.M. Ballantyne
She was not thinking of the licensing magistrates of St Michael's nor the beautiful faith of the colporteur.
The Perpetual Curate|Mrs [Margaret] Oliphant

It was found to correspond exactly with that of the colporteur!
In the Track of the Troops|R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for colporteur

colporteur

/ (ˈkɒlˌpɔːtə, French kɔlpɔrtœr) /

noun

a hawker of books, esp bibles

Derived Forms

colportage, noun

Word Origin for colporteur

C18: from French, from colporter, probably from Old French comporter to carry (see comport); influenced through folk etymology by porter à col to carry on one's neck

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012