dragoman

[ drag-uh-muh n ]

/ ˈdræg ə mən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dragoman ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural drag·o·mans, drag·o·men.

(in the Near East) a professional interpreter.

Nearby words

dragline, dragline crane, dragnet, drago, drago, luis maría, dragoman, dragomanic, dragon, dragon beam, dragon fruit, dragon lady

Origin of dragoman

1300–50; < French; replacing Middle English drogman interpreter < Middle French drog(o)man, dragoman < Medieval Greek drago(u)mános < Semitic; compare Arabic tarjumān, Akkadian targumannu

Related forms

drag·o·man·ic

[drag-uh-man-ik] /ˌdræg əˈmæn ɪk/, drag·o·man·ish, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for dragoman

Ibrahim the Egyptian, a Roman Catholic, as it seemed, had volunteered to act as dragoman.
When It Was Dark|Guy Thorne
He then spoke very fast to my dragoman, who informed me that the Pacha wished me to go with him as far as lower Scutari.
Soyer's Culinary Campaign|Alexis Soyer
"It was more a change of nomenclature," replied his dragoman.
Another Sheaf|John Galsworthy
And a dragoman would have had a reputation and a patronage he'd fear to lose.
The Palace of Darkened Windows|Mary Hastings Bradley

She constituted herself the dragoman of our political travels.
The New Machiavelli|Herbert George Wells

British Dictionary definitions for dragoman

dragoman

/ (ˈdræɡəʊmən) /

noun plural -mans or -men

(in some Middle Eastern countries, esp formerly) a professional interpreter or guide

Word Origin for dragoman

C14: from French, from Italian dragomano, from Medieval Greek dragoumanos, from Arabic targumān an interpreter, from Aramaic tūrgemānā, of Akkadian origin

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