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tatterdemalion

adj
/tætədəˈmeɪliɒn/UK

Etymology

First attested circa 1608. An early spelling was tatter-de-mallion, rhymed with Italian. The first part of the word is tatter; the origin of the second part is uncertain; Ebenezer Cobham Brewer suggested it might be from de maillot (“shirt”).

Definitions

  1. Tattered.

    • For the same reason the kings of Europe could not resist the tatterdemalion soldiers of the Convention.
    • Thus, too, we have the woman social reformer, trailing along ridiculously behind a tatterdemalion posse of male utopians, each with something to sell.

  2. A person with tattered clothing.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for tatterdemalion. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA