▪ I. whore, n.
(hɔə(r))
Forms: 1–6 hore, 2–3 heore, 4–6 hoore, houre, 5–6 hour, 6 howr(e, howir, hoare, 6–7 whoor(e, whoar, 6– whore; Sc. 4–6 huir, 4–7 (9 arch.) hure, (6 hwr, huire); in comb. 2–7 hor-, 5 hoer-, 6 hoor-, whure-, wor-, 6–7 whor-; Sc. 5–7 hur-, 6 huyr-, hwyr-.
[Late OE. hóre, corresp. to (M)LG. hóre, MDu. hoere (Du. hoer), OHG. huora (MHG. huere, G. hure), ON. hóra:—OTeut. *χōrōn-, f. root represented also by ON. hórr, Goth. hôrs adulterer, OFris. hôr (also overhôr, urhôr), OHG. huor, ON. hór adultery, MLG. horre, MDu. huerre, OHG. huorra adulterer (:—*χōrjon-), and OFris. (over)⁓hôra to fornicate, MDu. hoeren, OHG. huorôn (G. huren), ON. hóra, Goth. hôrinôn; Indo-Eur. qār- appears in L. cārus dear, OIr. cara friend, caraim I love, Lettish kārs lascivious.
From the late occurrence of OE. hóre, it may be inferred that it was a. ON. hóra, together with hór adultery, hórcwene (ON. hórkona) adulteress, hórdóm whoredom, hóring whoremonger being in that case an English formation from it with -ing3.
The pronunciation (hʊə(r)), now dialectal, is the normal phonetic representative of OE. hóre; it was widespread in the 17th and 18th centuries, and continued into the 19th century; Smart states that it ‘is by no means universal or even common, yet it is sanctioned by good authority, and may be adopted, as Walker says, when we wish to soften the coarse effect of a coarse word’. The variation of (hʊə(r)) and (hɔə(r)) is due to the presence of r; cf. moor (mʊə(r), mɔə(r)) and the modern tendency to substitute (ɔə) for (ʊə) in pure, sure, and the like.
For the spelling with wh, which became current in the 16th century, see wh.
Whore is now confined to coarse and abusive speech, except in occas. echoes of historical expressions, as the whore of Babylon. The compounds are for the most part obs. or arch.]
1. a. A woman who prostitutes herself for hire; a prostitute, harlot.
| a 1100 Aldhelm Gloss i. 2940 (Napier 79/2) Prostituta pellax, i. meretrix quæ prostat, i. mendax, leas fyrnhicᵹe, hore. Ibid. 3329. 89/1 Meretricum, horena. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 103 He..maceð of cristes leoman heoranna leoman. [Cf. 1 Cor. vi. 15 Tollens Christi membra, faciam membra meretricis?] c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 29 Ȝef þu..best rumhanded to glewmen and to hores. a 1300 Cursor M. 26855 Hore or okerer, or Iogolour, Bot þai þair mister wille forsak, For fals penantes men sal þam tak. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 310 Whanne tweyne horis stryvede whos was þe child þat lyvede. 1382 ― Luke xv. 30 This thi sone, which deuouride his substaunce with hooris. 1483 Cath. Angl. 192/2 An Hure, vbi a common woman. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. ii. vii. (1867) 71 Hop hoore, pipe theefe. 1595 in Maitl. Club Misc. I. 73 Ane ressavear of huiris and harlottis in her hous. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 338 (Qo.) The whores cald him mandrake. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ii. 68 Let men take heed of Lais, Corinths whoore. 1728 Young Love Fame i. 67 The whore is proud her beauties are the dread Of peevish virtue, and the marriage-bed. 1894 Kipling Seven Seas, The ‘Mary Gloster’ 76 Your rooms at college was beastly—more like a whore's than a man's. |
b. More generally: An unchaste or lewd woman; a fornicatress or adulteress.
to play the whore (of a woman), to commit fornication or adultery.
In early use often as a coarse term of abuse.
Occas. (
esp. with possessive) applied opprobriously to a concubine or kept mistress; also with distinguishing epithet to a catamite.
| c 1205 Lay. 7028 Nes nan swa god wif i þon londe þe he walde..þet he ne makede hore. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4082 He sluȝ Zabri..Hise hore bi-neðe and him abuuen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5661 A fol womman in spousbruche he huld vnder is wif. Sein dunston him sede wel þat it was a luþer lif... Wroþ was þe king & is hore þat he hor folie wiþsede. c 1440 Gesta Rom. i. 2, I knowe well þat my wif is an hore. 1535 in Lett. Suppr. Monast. (Camden) 58 The pope..gave hym licens to kepe an hore. 1535 Coverdale Ezek. xvi. 28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assirians. 1547 Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) I. 48 Marioun Ray amerciat for trubling of Agnes Hendersoun, calland hir huir and theiff. 1561 Child-Marriages 78 Beynge demaundid why she did,..contrary to the Lawe of wedlocke, play the hoore. 1605 Shakes. Lear i. iv. 137 Leaue thy drinke and thy whore. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. v. i. 20 Ther... Thou art thought to be Achilles male Varlot. Patro... What's that? Ther. Why his masculine Whore. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. Pantagr. Prognost. 237 Ingles, Fricatrices, He-whores. 1727 Gay Begg. Op. i. iv, Gamesters and Highwaymen are generally very good to their Whores, but they are very Devils to their Wives. 1749 Chesterfield Let. to Son 7 Feb., Achilles..had so little regard for his country, that he would not act in defence of it, because he had quarrelled with Agamemnon about a w―e. 1817 Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1160 Calling a married woman or a single one a whore is not actionable, because fornication and adultery are subjects of spiritual not temporal censures. [Referring to a case, an. 1703, in Raymond's Rep. (1743) 1004.] |
| transf. 1575 Gammer Gurton i. iii, Gyb, our cat, in the milke-pan she spied..‘Ah, hore! out, thefe!’ she cryed aloud. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 745 Their Epithites..attributed vnto them [sc. wolves] among seueral Authors are..demonstrations of their disposition; as sowre, wilde,..fierce, bold, greedy, whoare, flesh-eater. |
c. A male prostitute; any promiscuous or unprincipled person. (Esp. as a term of abuse.)
| 1633 [see worm n. 10 b]. 1906 J. Joyce Let. 19 Aug. (1966) II. 152 He began to shout..when the lazy whores of priests began to chant. 1957 P. Kemp Mine were of Trouble vi. 108 Lyall would interrupt with..‘But surely you can't expect the Irish to be any use in Spain? There aren't any hedges here for them to shoot from behind.’.. Lawler would storm out, shouting: ‘Ye great buckin' whore!’ 1968 E. Gaines in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 103 ‘You hear me whore?’ ‘I might be a whore, but I'm not a merciless killer,’ he said. 1976 New Yorker 12 Jan. 73/2 Gig Young can play the top whore in ‘The Killer Elite’ because his sad eyes suggest that he has no expectations and no illusions left about anything. |
2. fig.;
spec. in biblical use, applied to a corrupt or idolatrous community (
cf. whoredom 2), and hence in controversial use,
esp. in
phr. the whore of Babylon, to the Church of Rome (in allusion to
Rev. xvii. 1, 5, etc.).
| 1382 Wyclif Nahum iii. 4 The hoore fair and able [1611 wel-fauoured harlot],..whiche solde folkis in her fornycaciouns. ― Rev. xvii. 1 The dampnacioun of the greet hoore [1611 Whore; R.V. 1881 harlot],..with whiche kynges of erthe diden fornycacioun. 1530 Tindale Pract. Prelates F v b, The greate baude the hore of babylon [sc. the Pope]. c 1540 Pilgr. T. 342 in Thynne's Animadv. (1875) 86 Of antichristes fall I will..sum-thing tell; & of this howr, this leyder to hell. ? 1545 Brinklow Compl. xiii. (1874) 30 That abhomynable whore of Babylon (Rome I meane). 1632 Lithgow Trav. iv. 139, I may say of Constantinople..; A painted Whoore. c 1640 in Maidment Sc. Pasquils (1868) 132 So you to Christian Kings shall break the ground, To loath the scarlet whoor. c 1646 Milton Sonn., On new Forcers Consc. 3 Because you have thrown of your Prelate Lord,..To seise the widdow'd whore Pluralitie. 1684 Southerne Disappointm. ii. i, But if her thoughts run foul, her mind's a Whore. 1704 C. Leslie Wolf Stript (ed. 4) 31 They call her Episcopacy a Ragg of the Whore. 1743 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 3 Oct., He would have piqued himself on calling the Pope the w―e of Babylon. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xix, Image worship, and surplices, and sic like rags o' the muckle hure that sitteth on seven hills. |
3. † whore's son,
son of a whore = whoreson.
whore's bird (also as one word, and
dial. wosbird): properly, the child [see
bird n. 1 c] of a whore, a bastard; but usually as a mere vulgar term of abuse or reprobation. So
whore's kitling.
| c 1500 Melusine 300 He cryed with a hye voys,..‘hourys sone & fals geaunt, comme speke with me!’ 1673 J. W[ade] Vinegar & Mustard (1873) 17 Thou was a base whore's bird. 1675 Char. of Town-Gallant 5 He admires the Eloquence of, Son of a Whore,..and therefor applyes it to every thing; So that if his Pipe be faulty,..Tis a Son of a Whore Pipe. 1694 Echard Plautus 9 They'd set some sturdy Whores-bird to..beat out ha'f a dozen o' my Teeth. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Whores-kitling, a Bastard. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. 21 Another Son of a Whore yells louder than Homer's Stentor. 1701 Sedley Grumbler i. i, I will first let you see how I am serv'd by this whoresbird. 1772 Graves Spir. Quix. iv. ix, D—mn you all together, for a pack of whores-birds as you are! 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. ii, ‘Imp'dent old wosbird!’ says he, ‘I'll break the bald head on un.’ 1891 Hardy Tess xxi, Jack Dollop, a 'hor's-bird of a fellow. |
4. Comb., as
whore-call,
whore-haunter;
whore-like adj.;
whore-hunt v., intr. to go after whores, practise fornication: so
whore-hunter,
whore-hunting (also
fig.; in
quot. 1714, spying after whores to extort hush-money);
† whore-keeper, one who keeps company with whores, a fornicator;
† whore-man, a fornicator;
whoremistress, a brothel-keeper;
† whore-play [
play n. 6 c], intercourse with whores, fornication;
whore's egg N. Amer. (chiefly
Newfoundland)
= sea-urchin 1;
whore-shop slang, a brothel;
whore-sty (
nonce-wd.), a brothel;
† whore-toll, a payment made by way of compounding for fornication or concubinage.
| a 1692 Shadwell Volunteers v. i, These Fiddles are Fop-Calls, and *Whore-Calls. |
| 1580 Orders for Orphanes A iv, If any manchilde be a Thiefe, or a Fellon, or a common *whore haunter. |
| 1597 Beard Theatre God's Judgem. ii. xx. (1612) 358 He went apart into Auignion, and there staied of purpose to doe nothing but *whore-hunt. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 164 He..Whore-hunting amang groves o' myrtles. |
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 666/1 Scortatores, which signifieth in englishe *whoore hunters. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 81 A notorious drunkard, whorehunter, cousiner, vsurer, &c. |
| 1532 Frith Mirror (1533) A v b, Yf..the watcheman be a slepe,..or gone..a *whorehuntinge. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades ii. ii. 124 That is spirituall adulterie & whore-hunting, when men doe partly loue and worship God, and yet..giue reuerence to straunge..Gods. 1620 Westward for Smelts (Percy Soc.) 44 Her husband..had used to goe on whore-hunting in the night. 1714 Ramsay Elegy on J. Cowper iii, Of Whore-hunting he gat his Fill, And made be 't mony a Pint and Gill. 1931 R. Campbell Georgiad i. 15 Lovelorn poets..troop whore-hunting down the country lanes. |
| 1530 Tindale Pract. Prel. B iij b, If any synne agenst y⊇ doctrine of Christ..so y{supt} he be a dronckarde & an *horekeper. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 68 There shall not be a whore among the daughters of Israell, nor a whore⁓keeper among the sonnes of Israel. |
| 1550 Crowley Epigr. 1288 Our wiues do passe their whoris in *whorelyke deckynge. 1974 H. J. Parker View from Boys 213 ‘A right scrubber’ is a girl who's rough-looking, whorelike. |
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4072 Ðo seide god to moysen, Ðe meistres of ðise *hore-men,..Ðe bidde ic hangen ðat he ben. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 515 Bella Cohen, a massive *whoremistress enters. 1969 A. Marin Rise with Wind xii. 154 Consejo..works for a whoremistress we call T{iacu}a Concha. |
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 530 Caymes sunes wroȝten vn-laȝe, Wið breðere wifes *hore-plaȝe. |
| 1829 T. C. Haliburton Hist. & Statist. Acct. Nova Scotia II. ix. 405 Shell fish. *Whore's egg. 1930 Amer. Speech V. 393 Whore's egg,..a small spring crustacean esteemed by the Italians as a delicacy. 1948 Z. N. Hurston Seraph on Suwanee 296 That damn whore's egg! Ruin you if only one spine gets into your hand. 1972 E. Staebler Cape Breton Harbour ix. 85 You be careful when you's swimming that you don't step on a whore's egg, they sea urchins is full o' prickles will give you a fester. |
| 1938 V. S. Pritchett You make your own Life 79 What a town like this wants is a couple of good *whore shops and a factory. 1972 A. MacVicar Golden Venus Affair vi. 67, I hate The Golden Venus... It's just a whoreshop. |
| 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 196 [Churches] turne[d] to barnes, stables, hogsties, and that which is worse, *whore-sties. |
| 1545 Coverdale Def. Chr. Man E ij b, Romishe prestes..take harlottes..whan they will,..and aske no question for conscience sake, so that they paye the bishope the *whore toll. |
▪ II. whore, v. [f. prec. n.] 1. a. intr. To have to do with a whore or whores; to commit whoredom, fornicate; (of a woman) to play the whore. Also
fig. (See also
whoring.)
| 1583 Babington Commandm. (1590) 178 Wee drinke, wee eate, wee surfet, wee sweare, wee play, wee daunce, wee whore. 1615 Goddard Neaste of Waspes G iv b, Sheel fight, whore, drinke, vntill shee cannot see. 1642 Bridge Serm. Norwich Volunteers 5 They thinke him a foole or a child that will not drink and be drunke, and whore. 1682 Shadwell Sat. to Muse 238 Against the Court, and David's-self he Roard, How ill he Govern'd, and how worse he W―d. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §13 To cheat, whore, betray, get drunk, do all these things decently, this is true wisdom, and elegance of taste. 1766 Midnight Spy v. 43 The gay courtezan with her pockets lined with gold, may whore with impunity. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas, Song Engl. iii, Hold ye the Faith..; Whoring not with visions. |
b. trans. To spend in whoring; (with
adv.) to get or bring by whoring.
| 1681 S. Colvil Whig's Supplic. (1710) 53 Their Officers..Had dic'd and drunk, and whor'd their Pay. 1682 A. Behn City-Heiress i. i, A man might whore his heart out. |
c. intr. fig. To pursue or seek
after (something false or unworthy). In allusion to
Exod. xxxiv. 15.
Cf. whoring vbl. n. (
quot. 1535).
| 1913 E. Pound Let. 13 Aug. (1971) 21 The unspeakable vulgo will I suppose hear of him [sc. F. M. Hueffer] after our deaths. In the meantime they whore after their Bennetts and their Galsworthys and their unspeakable canaille. 1937 J. M. Murry Necessity of Pacificism 24 The intelligence of Socialism went a-whoring after the strange gods of Russia. 1970 R. Long in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 421 The University was whoring after strange gods, they all seemed to say: technology, athletics, materialism. 1972 Language XLVIII. 425, I do not accept Chomsky's conception of social scientists as universally whoring after the surface features of other sciences, neglecting all fundamental problems, and taking refuge in spurious precision and trivialities. |
2. trans. To make a whore of; to corrupt by illicit intercourse; to debauch (a woman). Also
fig. Now
rare.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 64 He that hath kil'd my King, and whor'd my Mother. 1682 Dryden Medal 258 The Pander of the Peoples hearts,..Whose blandishments a Loyal Land have whor'd, And broke the Bonds she plighted to her Lord. a 1692 Shadwell Volunteers iii. i. (1693) 32 Did you mean to whore my Daughter? 1740 Richardson Pamela (1741) II. 224 She ask'd her,..if I was whor'd yet! There's a Word for a Lady's Mouth! 1969 A. Hunter Gently Coloured iii. 33 Some friend squeezing you dry, whoring your sister. |
▪ III. whore obs. form of
hoar,
where.