argot

[ ahr-goh, -guht ]
See synonyms for argot on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a specialized idiomatic vocabulary peculiar to a particular class or group of people, especially that of an underworld group, devised for private communication and identification: a Restoration play rich in thieves' argot.

  2. the special vocabulary and idiom of a particular profession or social group: sociologists' argot.

Origin of argot

1
1855–60; <French, noun derivative of argoter to quarrel, derivative Latin ergōergo with v. suffix -oter

Other words from argot

  • ar·got·ic [ahr-got-ik], /ɑrˈgɒt ɪk/, adjective

Words Nearby argot

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How to use argot in a sentence

  • His songs were in argot French, imitations of what he had heard in low cabarets on the Seine when he was at work there.

    The Life of James McNeill Whistler | Elizabeth Robins Pennell
  • She smiled as portions of the argot the painter beside her was using, filtered into her consciousness.

    Thirty | Howard Vincent O'Brien
  • No sensible man can envy Asylas, to whom the language of birds was as familiar as French argot to our young décadents.

    Prose Fancies | Richard Le Gallienne
  • But in the outer salon the talk was to the last degree shoppy, and overflowed with the argot of the studios.

    In the Days of My Youth | Amelia Ann Blandford Edwards
  • You are really not at all sure that the white face belonged to argot, are you?

    The House Opposite | Elizabeth Kent

British Dictionary definitions for argot

argot

/ (ˈɑːɡəʊ) /


noun
  1. slang or jargon peculiar to a particular group, esp (formerly) a group of thieves

Origin of argot

1
C19: from French, of unknown origin

Derived forms of argot

  • argotic (ɑːˈɡɒtɪk), adjective

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