Corsican, a. and n.
(ˈkɒsɪkən)
[f. Corsica: see -an.]
1. a. adj. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of Corsica or its inhabitants. b. n. A native or inhabitant of Corsica; the Corsican dialect of Italian.
the Corsican (the Corsican ogre, Corsican robber, etc.), Napoleon Bonaparte, who was born in Corsica.
| 1739 Gentl. Mag. June 330/2 The Marquis de Maillebois has attack'd the Corsicans in their Posts on the Mountains. 1768 Boswell Corsica 15 In general the Corsicans breathe a pure atmosphere. Ibid. 29 The Corsican villages are frequently built upon the very summits of their mountains. 1803 S. Hoole Anecd. J. Hoole 1 The barbarities perpetrated by the Corsican Robber. 1803 Ld. Nelson Let. 27 Aug. in Disp. & Lett. (1845) V. 187 That man of tyranny, Buonaparte; but I detest Europe for being so mean⁓spirited as to submit to the mandates of this Corsican. 1804 ― Let. 10 Feb., ibid. 411, I have no doubt but Egypt is the favourite and ultimate object of the Corsican tyrant. 1814 Southey Ode ii, If that perfidious Corsican maintain Still his detested reign. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xiii. 108 The Corsican monster locked up at Elba. Ibid. xxviii. 242 Could the Corsican but have waited in his prison until all these parties were by the ears, he might have returned and reigned unmolested. 1855 R. Martineau tr. Gregorovius' Corsica iv. vii. 283 That pantomimic dance of lament is called in Corsican the ballata. 1861 M. Arnold Pop. Educ. France 162 Corsican vengeance is proverbial. 1862 Chambers's Encycl. III. 258/2 The Corsicans under General Paoli made themselves in great part independent. 1880 Ibid. XIII. 494/2 In Southern Corsican dr for ll is conspicuous. 1882 Gentl. Mag. Jan. 1 The Iron Duke had thrashed the Corsican Ogre. 1897 Fortn. Rev. June 887 To remove the false impression of the Corsican bandit so dear to the transpontine stage. Ibid. 890, I could speak no Corsican. 1922 Chambers's Jrnl. 21 Jan. 113/2 Make up your mind to charm the Corsican. 1964 D. Warner Death of Dreamer ii. i. 45 A tough French dope merchant, one of the Corsican Brotherhood. 1968 Guardian 5 Jan. 9/7 The new rules for the baccalaureat do not allow..Basque, Catalan, or Corsican to be offered as subjects. |
2. Corsican cock, a variety of the domestic fowl;
Corsican moss,
Alsidium helminthocorton, a Mediterranean seaweed, formerly used as a vermifuge;
Corsican pine, a slender pine,
Pinus nigra maritima or
P. laricio, used for forest planting.
| 1854 Poultry Chron. I. 423 Chitteprat or Corsican Cock. 1855 Ibid. III. 518 Chitteprat or Corsican. |
| 1849 Balfour Man. Bot. §1130 Plocaria (Gigartina) Helminthocorton, under the name of Corsican Moss, was formerly used as a vermifuge. 1887 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. V. 26/1 As a medicine Corsican moss is of the past. |
| 1824 A. B. Lambert Pinus II. 28 Pinus Laricio. Corsican Pine. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 402/1 The ridges of the Crimea are clothed with Corsican pine. 1957 M. Hadfield Brit. Trees 76 The Corsican pine was first grown in Britain in 1759. |