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colporteur

[ kol-pawr-ter, -pohr-; French kawl-pawr-tœr ]
/ ˈkɒlˌpɔr tər, -ˌpoʊr-; French kɔl pɔrˈtœr /
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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.

RELATED WORDS

huckster, salesperson, seller, costermonger, hawker

Nearby words

  1. colpoptosis,
  2. colporrhagia,
  3. colporrhaphy,
  4. colporrhexis,
  5. colportage,
  6. colposcope,
  7. colposcopic,
  8. colposcopist,
  9. colposcopy,
  10. colpospasm

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

British Dictionary definitions for colporteur

colporteur

/ (ˈkɒlˌpɔːtə, French kɔlpɔrtœr) /

noun

a hawker of books, esp bibles
Derived Formscolportage, 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