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lecher

[lech-er]
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noun
  1. a man given to excessive sexual indulgence; a lascivious or licentious man.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to engage in lechery.
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Origin of lecher

1125–75; Middle English lech(o)ur < Anglo-French; Old French lecheor glutton, libertine, equivalent to lech(ier) to lick (< Germanic; compare Old High German leccōn to lick) + -eor -or2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lecher

Historical Examples

  • The lecher, does not he steal away the honour of his mistress?

    The Visions of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Villegas

    Dom Francisco de Quevedo

  • Leyr or lecher wite, is the privilege of punishing adultery and fornication.

  • He was a satyr, a lecher; he was a man with a sexual obsession.

    The Eyes Have It

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • A lecher of your practice, and close carriage To be discovered thus?

  • I knew the fellow for years and years, and he was a lecher to the very last.

    The Satyricon, Complete

    Petronius Arbiter

British Dictionary definitions for lecher

lecher

noun
  1. a promiscuous or lewd man
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Word Origin

C12: from Old French lecheor lecher, from lechier to lick, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German leccōn to lick
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 lecher

n.

"man given to excessive sexual indulgence," late 12c., from Old French lecheor (Modern French lécheur) "one living a life of debauchery," especially "one given to sexual indulgence," literally "licker," agent noun from lechier "to lick, to live in debauchery or gluttony," from Frankish *likkon or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *likkojan "to lick" or some other Germanic source (see lick). The Old French feminine form was lechiere. Middle English, meanwhile, had lickestre "female who licks;" figuratively "a pleasure seeker," literally "lickster."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper