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glutton1

[gluht-n]
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noun
  1. a person who eats and drinks excessively or voraciously.
  2. a person with a remarkably great desire or capacity for something: a glutton for work; a glutton for punishment.
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Origin of glutton1

1175–1225; Middle English glutun < Old French glouton < Latin gluttōn- (stem of gluttō), variant of glūtō glutton, akin to glūtīre to gulp down
Can be confusedgluten glutton

Synonyms

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1. gourmand; gastronome; chowhound.

glutton2

[gluht-n]
noun
  1. the wolverine, Gulo gulo, of Europe.
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Origin of glutton2

1665–75; translation of German Vielfrass, equivalent to viel much + frass eating, derivative of fressen (of animals) to eat
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for glutton

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Yet the glutton was a glutton for danger as well as for fish.

  • A man must be a glutton for tomfoolery if he could not be satisfied with that.'

    Lord Kilgobbin

    Charles Lever

  • You'll want a beefsteak for your eye and not for your stomach, you glutton!

    My New Curate

    P.A. Sheehan

  • Though a magnificent host, the elder Beckford was no glutton.

  • The wolverene, or glutton, carries off the palm for cunning from all the other animals.

    The Western World

    W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for glutton

glutton1

noun
  1. a person devoted to eating and drinking to excess; greedy person
  2. often ironic a person who has or appears to have a voracious appetite for somethinga glutton for punishment
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Derived Formsgluttonous, adjectivegluttonously, adverb

Word Origin

C13: from Old French glouton, from Latin glutto, from gluttīre to swallow

glutton2

noun
  1. another name for wolverine
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Word Origin

C17: from glutton 1, apparently translating German Vielfrass great eater
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 glutton

n.

early 13c., from Old French gluton (Modern French glouton), from Latin gluttonem (nominative glutto) "overeater," formed from gluttire "to swallow," from gula "throat," from PIE *gwele- (see glut (v.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper