colporteur
Americannoun
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a person who travels to sell or publicize Bibles, religious tracts, etc.
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a peddler of books.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of colporteur
1790–1800; < French, equivalent to colport ( er ) ( see colportage) + -eur -eur
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.
See Examples For:
A colporteur was reading the parable of the Prodigal Son in a Paris cafe much frequented by North African workmen.
From Time Magazine Archive
And the colporteur helps Vincent find permanent lodging with a farming family in Wasmes, the community he's serving.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
“I take but the proper price,” answered the colporteur, returning most of them to him.
From Count Ulrich of Lindburg A Tale of the Reformation in Germany by Kingston, William Henry Giles
So whispered a small vestry-man Unto a colporteur.
From Gaudeamus! Humorous Poems by Scheffel, Joseph Victor von
“I have books to sell, and will show them to you forthwith,” answered the colporteur, unslinging his pack.
From Count Ulrich of Lindburg A Tale of the Reformation in Germany by Kingston, William Henry Giles
But mostly the word is spread by the Society's volunteer workers and colporteurs, hawkers of Holy Writ who carry Bibles, pamphlets and records by donkey and jeep, camel and subway in 123 different countries.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some facts: Total number of Bibles, New Testaments and portions of Scripture distributed last year: 11,888,226, of which 7,604.625 copies were sold by the colporteurs.
From Time Magazine Archive
By far, the larger part of this total circulation is distributed by sale to individuals, through colporteurs, pastors, mission workers and others.
From Time Magazine Archive
The English colporteur, Mr. Copley, has given away 1,000 copies of the New Testament during the year, and he is aided by a band of foreign colporteurs quite as active as himself.
From Cities of the Dawn by Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
Another expression of the Government's enmity toward the activities of our missionaries was the treatment being accorded the colporteurs, or persons who went about selling Bible tracts.
From Under Four Administrations From Cleveland to Taft by Straus, Oscar S.
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.
