sans-culotte

[sanz-kyoo-lot, -koo-; Fr. sahn-ky-lawt] Origin

sans-cu·lotte

[sanz-kyoo-lot, -koo-; Fr. sahn-ky-lawt]
noun, plural sans-cu·lottes [sanz-kyoo-lots, -koo-; Fr. sahn-ky-lawt] .
1.
(in the French Revolution) a revolutionary of the poorer class: originally a term of contempt applied by the aristocrats but later adopted as a popular name by the revolutionaries.
2.
any extreme republican or revolutionary.

Origin:
1780–90; < French: literally, without knee breeches

sans-cu·lot·tic [sanz-kyoo-lot-ik, -koo-] , adjective
sans-cu·lot·tish, adjective
sans-cu·lot·tism, noun
sans-cu·lot·tist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To sans-culotte

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Sans-culotte is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
sans-culotte (ˌsænzkjʊˈlɒt, French sɑ̃kylɔt)
 
n
1.  during the French Revolution
 a.  (originally) a revolutionary of the poorer class
 b.  (later) any revolutionary, esp one having extreme republican sympathies
2.  any revolutionary extremist
 
[C18: from French, literally: without knee breeches, because the revolutionaries wore pantaloons or trousers rather than knee breeches]
 
sans-cu'lottism
 
n
 
sans-cu'lottist
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

sans-culotte
"lower-class republican of the French Revolution," 1790, from Fr., lit. "without breeches;" see sans + cullotes. Usually explained as referring to the class whose distinctive costume was pantalons (long trousers) as opposed to the upper classes,
EXPAND
which wore culottes (knee-breeches), but this is not certain.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT