Linguister
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of interpreter, particularly; A native interpreter assisting Europeans in colonial contexts. archaic, historical
"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 […]"
- 2 Synonym of interpreter, particularly; A native agent facilitating European trade in East and Central Africa in colonial contexts. archaic, historical
"One day a linguister, a native commission agent, arrived in a trading canoe, and stated that […] a prince some way up the river […] had [said] […] that if I sent him five longs and five gallons of rum he would […] let my trade pass."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More 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 […]"
Etymology
Probably from Portuguese lingüista (“linguist”) reinterpreted as linguist + -er.
More for "linguister"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.