urchin

[ur-chin]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR urchin ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a mischievous boy.

any small boy or youngster.

sea urchin.

either of two small rollers covered with card clothing used in conjunction with the cylinder in carding.

Chiefly British Dialect. a hedgehog.

Obsolete. an elf or mischievous sprite.

Origin of urchin

1300–50; Middle English urchun, urchon hedgehog < Old North French (h)erichon, Old French heriçun < Vulgar Latin *hēriciōn- (stem of *hēriciō), equivalent to Latin ēric(ius) hedgehog + -iōn- -ion

Synonyms for urchin

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR urchin ON THESAURUS.COM

1. rascal, scamp.

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

Related Words for urchin

ragamuffin, brat, punk, waif, imp, cub, gamin, dickens, pup

Examples from the Web for urchin

Contemporary Examples of urchin

Despite enjoying singing, and a tiny role as ‘Urchin No. 30’ in a production of Oliver!
Eddie Redmayne’s Star-Making Turn
Marlow Stern
December 25, 2012

Historical Examples of urchin

The urchin looked proudly up in his face, but made no reply.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
"They've stopped to take a drink, you can go your money on it," said the urchin.
The Downfall
Emile Zola
All at once the urchin came to a halt and planted himself in front of Henriette.
The Downfall
Emile Zola
First Urchin (to Captain who has just bought a new motor-horn).
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, December 30, 1914
Various
So ended the Urchin's first introduction to a university education.
Pipefuls
Christopher Morley

British Dictionary definitions for urchin

urchin

noun

a mischievous roguish child, esp one who is young, small, or raggedly dressed

See sea urchin, heart urchin

an archaic or dialect name for a hedgehog

either of the two cylinders in a carding machine that are covered with carding cloth

obsolete an elf or sprite

Word Origin for urchin

C13: urchon, from Old French heriçon, from Latin ēricius hedgehog, from ēr, related to Greek khēr hedgehog

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 urchin

late 13c., yrichon "hedgehog," from Old North French *irechon (cf. Picard irechon, Walloon ireson, Hainaut hirchon), from Old French herichun "hedgehog" (Modern French hérisson), formed with diminutive suffix -on + Vulgar Latin *hericionem, from Latin ericius "hedgehog," from PIE root *gher- "to bristle" (cf. Greek kheros "hedgehog;" see horror).

Still used for "hedgehog" in non-standard speech in Cumbria, Yorkshire, Shropshire. Applied throughout 16c. to people whose appearance or behavior suggested hedgehogs, from hunchbacks (1520s) to goblins (1580s) to bad girls (c.1530); meaning "poorly or raggedly clothed youngster" emerged 1550s, but was not in frequent use until after c.1780. Sea urchin is recorded from 1590s (a 19c. Newfoundland name for them was whore's eggs).