linguister Now only U.S.
(ˈlɪŋgwɪstə(r))
Also 7 linkister, 8 languister, 9 lingster, linkster.
[f. prec. + -er1.]
1. An interpreter; = linguist 2.
| a 1649 Winthrop New Eng. (1826) II. 237 He, being linkister (because he could speak the language). 1713 in G. Sheldon Hist. Deerfield (Mass.) (1895) I. 350, J Jmployed my Indian Languister to talk to her. 1760 Let. to Gov. Fort St. George in A. Dalrymple Orient. Repert. (1793) I. 396, I was no further concerned, than as a Linguister for the King's Officer who commanded the Party. 1840 J. F. Cooper Pathfinder xiii, On the Atlantic..where a seafaring⁓man has occasion sometimes to converse with a pilot or a linguister in that language [French]. 1885 H. M. Stanley Congo I. 123 Massalla, the lingster of Chinsalla village. 1889 F. R. Goulding Marooner's Isl. (1890) 65 Linkster..is a word in common use in many parts [of Georgia and Florida], being a corruption of linguister, and means interpreter. |
¶ 2. nonce-use. A linguist, philologist.
| 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 265 He who writes to be read, does not write for linguisters. |