dragoman

[ drag-uh-muhn ]

See synonyms for dragoman on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural drag·o·mans, drag·o·men.

(in the Middle East) a professional interpreter.

Origin of dragoman

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

Other words from dragoman

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. 2023

How to use dragoman in a sentence

This she filled with a large retinue of dragomen, women, slaves, and Albanian guards.
Celebrated Women Travellers of the Nineteenth Century | W. H. Davenport Adams
Besides the doctors, there were interpreters and dragomen for the various expeditions in the field to whom wages were paid.
The Red Cross in Peace and War | Clara Barton
Dragomans, not dragomen, is the plural of dragoman, an Eastern interpreter.
Every-Day Errors of Speech | L. P. Meredith
Thus are people persecuted by dragomen, whose sole ambition in life is to get ahead of each other.
The Innocents Abroad | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
In the time of Chukri Bey they were kind, faithful dragomen who did their best to save us from being swindled in the bazaars.
A Prisoner in Turkey | John Still

British Dictionary definitions for dragoman

dragoman

/ (ˈdræɡəʊmən) /

nounplural -mans or -men

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

Origin of 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

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