gamin

[gam-in]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gamin ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a neglected boy left to run about the streets; street urchin.

Origin of gamin

From French, dating back to 1830–40, orig. boy assisting a glassblower, young boy; of uncertain origin

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

Related Words for gamin

lad, fellow, youth, youngster, child, guy, beggar, urchin, vagrant, orphan, waif, tramp, tatterdemalion, bum, vagabond, loafer, hobo, wastrel, guttersnipe, scarecrow

Examples from the Web for gamin

Historical Examples of gamin

She flashed him a gamin grin and they went on into the control room.
Masters of Space
Edward Elmer Smith
A group of youths who were standing near shouted "Well said, gamin."
The Silver Lining
John Roussel
The morrow when we shall need every man—nay, every gamin—will dawn soon.
The Parisians, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
I was as hot as fire, and some of the gamin's blood was still on my hand.
Explorers of the Dawn
Mazo de la Roche
Why not, if you are all republicans, and see no more in a prince than in a gamin?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 65, No. 400, February, 1849
Various

British Dictionary definitions for gamin

gamin

noun

a street urchin; waif

Word Origin for gamin

from French

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

Word Origin and History for gamin

"street urchin," 1837, from French gamin (18c.), perhaps from Berrichon dialect gamer "to steal." Introduced in English in translations of Hugo.

Un groupe d'enfants, de ces petits sauvages vanu-pieds qui ont de tout temps battu le pavé de Paris sous le nom éternel de gamins, et qui, lorsque nous étions enfants aussi, nous ont jeté des pierres à tous, le soir, au sortir de classe, parce que nos pantalons n'étaient pas déchirés; etc. [Hugo, "Notre-Dame de Paris"]