miser

See also: Miser and misër

English

Etymology

From Late Latin miser (wretched, unfortunate, unhappy, miserable, sick, ill, bad, worthless, etc.).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmaɪzə(ɹ)/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  •  :Rhymes: -aɪzə(ɹ)

Noun

miser (plural misers)

  1. (derogatory) A person who hoards money rather than spending it; one who is cheap or extremely parsimonious.
    Synonym: see Thesaurus:miser
    Ebenezer Scrooge was a stereotypical miser: he spent nothing he could save, neither giving to charity nor enjoying his wealth.
    Mr. Krabs, Plankton, Dr. Eggman, Mr. Burns, Bugsy Siegel, Benny Goodman, Katharine Hepburn, and Howard Hughes were all famous examples of misers.
  2. A kind of earth auger, typically large-bored and often hand-operated.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From mise + -er.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mi.ze/
  • (file)

Verb

miser

  1. (gambling) to bet (place a bet)

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Romanian: miza

Further reading

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *misseros, of unknown origin. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *mēwdʰ- (to complain, be emotional about), the same root of Latin maereō[1] and Ancient Greek μῖσος (mîsos, hatred).

Pronunciation

Adjective

miser (feminine misera, neuter miserum, comparative miserior, superlative miserrimus, adverb miserē or miseriter); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

  1. poor, wretched, pitiful
    • ca. 54 BC, Catullus. Catullus 8
      Miser Catulle, dēsinās ineptīre
      Poor Catullus, stop with the nonsense
    • 29 bc. Vergil. Aeneid, Book I
      nōn ignāra malī miserīs succurrere discō
      being not unacquainted with woe, I learn to help the unfortunate
    • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.517:
      ‘dīque virīque locī, miserae succurrite mātrī!’
      “Gods and men of this place, hasten [your] aid to a wretched mother!”
      (The poetic voice is that of Ino (Greek mythology).)
  2. miserable, unhappy
    Synonyms: maestus, trīstis, infēlīx, aeger
    Antonyms: laetus, alacer, fēlīx
  3. worthless, null
    Synonyms: vīlis, inānis
  4. tragic, unfortunate
  5. sick
    Synonyms: aeger, languidus, fessus
    Antonyms: sānus, salvus, validus, integer, intāctus, salūber
  6. tormenting

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative miser misera miserum miserī miserae misera
Genitive miserī miserae miserī miserōrum miserārum miserōrum
Dative miserō miserō miserīs
Accusative miserum miseram miserum miserōs miserās misera
Ablative miserō miserā miserō miserīs
Vocative miser misera miserum miserī miserae misera

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  • miser”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • miser”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • miser in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • (ambiguous) to live a happy (unhappy) life: vitam beatam (miseram) degere
  • H. H. Mallinckrodt, Latijn Nederlands woordenboek (Aula n° 24), Utrecht-Antwerpen, Spectrum, 1959 [Latin - Dutch dictionary in Dutch]
  1. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “miser”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 383
  2. Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “mjerë”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 270
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.