noun
Meaning 1
Synonym of interpreter, particularly
A native interpreter assisting Europeans in colonial contexts.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, historical
Examples
- 1666, letter from William Acworth, in Siam, to George Oxenden of the British East India Company, cited in John Anderson, English Intercourse with Siam in the Seventeenth Century, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1890, p. 105, [...] the Portuguese very privatly gives information [...] that it [the murder] was done by one of my people and by my order[;] this young man whom they accused was my linguister [...]
- 1701, trial of William Kidd, in Carrie J. Harris (ed.), State Trials of Mary, Queen of Scots, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Captain William Kidd, Chicago: Callaghan, 1899, p. 183, Mr. Coniers: What did you take from this ship? [Robert] Brad[inham]: Capt. Kidd took out Parker, and a Portuguese for a Linguister. Mr. Coniers: A Linguister, What do you mean by that? Brad.: An interpreter;
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided